Spain's olive oil crisis revives lard frying debate

Spain's poor olive oil harvest revives the case for frying with lard

Does extra virgin olive oil deserve its pedestal? The debate began in August 2015 with an uncomfortable premise: a very poor olive harvest and the idea that it was time to change the fat used in the pan. Less product, rising prices, and on paper, the perfect opportunity to rethink kitchen habits. This sparked a thesis that continues to have repercussions: that more stable and cheaper fats exist for frying. The conversation stretched until late 2016 without anyone closing the issue.

The argument: saturated fats for frying

The starting point was not a culinary hunch, but chemistry. An oil is a mixture of fatty acids, and oleic acid—the majority component in olive oil—lacks a hydrogen atom to be stable. Translated: a carbon double bond makes it less heat-resistant. The conclusion drawn was that olive oil withstands frying worse than saturated fat, and that frying is where most oil is consumed. The corollary was clear: for frying, pork lard is better, and coconut oil even better. Duck and goose fats, commonly used by the French, also made the list.

The same reasoning indicated that olive oil’s best use is raw: in salads, sandwiches, or drizzled over cooked food. This led to the economic aspect. If olive oil is reserved for dressing, domestic consumption plummets. Less supply, less demand. A habit change that, in the logic of the proposal, responded to upcoming price hikes.

Which oil best withstands frying temperatures?

Here the narrative gets complicated, because not all olive oils are equal. Extra virgin has a relatively low smoke point, and degradation begins above that temperature. With this figure in hand, many deduce that olive oil is a bad option. It is a half-truth: refined olive oil has a very high smoke point, among the highest found in a normal supermarket. Below it would be other refined oils—corn, sunflower, coconut, soy—and below all of them, extra virgin itself.

When an oil heats up, isomers and oxidation products are generated. Unsaturated fatty acids have cis double bonds, U-shaped, which the body processes well; the trans form, N-shaped, is problematic. The key is that these trans fats appear mainly during hydrogenation, not refining. So, heating at home and industrial refining are not the same. This nuance dismantles the easy headline that all hot oil is poison.

Sunflower for frying, olive for dressing: what happens at home

In practice, most people did not fry with extra virgin olive oil. Traditionally, sunflower oil has been the frying oil and olive oil the one used raw. Some compared it to mayonnaise or ketchup for Americans: a condiment, not a cooking medium. Sunflower oil is also cheaper, so it is discarded sooner without pain. Against this, the most repeated alliance is extra virgin for salads, stews, and raw use, and another oil for frying.

Some opted to return to pork lard for frying and reserve extra virgin for salad, and it is not a residual habit. The proportions cited by one participant make it clear: extra virgin olive oil for stews and raw, sunflower for frying, pork lard for blood sausage (morcilla), and butter for toast. The exact distribution of each fat surprises those who see it written down. Homemade mayonnaise is another battleground: some make it with pure sunflower, others mix half-and-half with extra virgin for punch. There is also a defense of grilling over frying, rebutted by the argument that char marks from direct contact are equally debatable.

Cholesterol and the lipid hypothesis: what is claimed and what is not

The most controversial leap in the proposal is health-related. It argues that Ancel Keys’ lipid hypothesis, dominant for 50 years, is outdated, and that blaming cholesterol and saturated fats has fueled an epidemic of cardiovascular disease and obesity. This is a current circulating strongly, but should be taken with distance: these are claims beyond consensus, attributed to "what is now being discovered" rather than specific studies.

Something similar peine with butter. The publication of a study on it, funded by the industry itself, concluded it is bad for health. The response was that its conclusions remained anchored in the lipid hypothesis. It is the type of discussion where each side accuses the other of starting from the conclusion. Regarding health, any such decision should be consulted with a healthcare professional.

From mill to pan: control, storage, and price

There is an issue that slips in sideways and is more uncomfortable than the chosen fat: quality control. In a high-volume olive mill buying olives from producers in many villages, reception was limited to quantity and leaves, discounted by eye. In the lab, only moisture and oil content were measured. Little for such a labeled product.

Storage also has a deadline. Extra virgin lasts a maximum of two years, and it is optimal not to exceed one or one and a half years from production. Refined oil, however, is described as oil converted into tasteless, odorless fat, to which a splash of virgin is added to sell it. The proposed alternative is to buy directly from the producer: cooperatives twenty minutes from Madrid sell oil nothing short of Andalusian quality. And the saving of one or two euros per bottle adds up.

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Ultimately, the question of whether to ditch olive oil answers itself: for the pan, many kitchens had already made that change long before prices rose. The only new thing is that now there is chemistry—and some faith—to justify it.