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In the ancient Minoan culture, and in many of the other early Mediterranean cultures, olive oil was a very important commodity and at times used as a measure of wealth.
Different varieties of fat have seen, and indeed still see, much use as lubricants, although recently various synthetic substances and petroleum derivatives has taken over in most industrial applications.
In cooking, products with a high fat content are often used as enhancers of taste, for example butter, milk, cheese and other dairy products.
Animal fat or "drippings" are also used in the traditional cuisine of European countries. In Denmark pork fedt (the fat from the frying pan after the meat has been cooked) is drained and filtered to strain any large particles. It is then placed in a container and cooled down until solid. It can be kept for extremely long periods of time in a refrigerator. Often it is used as a more flavourful alternative to butter or margarine, and is easily spread even when cold.
In traditional Jewish cuisine the fat from chickens, known as schmaltz, is used.
Another use of fat in cooking is as heat conductor in frying.
Fat is one of the three main classes of food and, at approximately 38 kJ (9 Cal) per gram, as compared to sugar with 17 kJ (4 Cal) per gram or ethanol with 29 kJ (7 Cal) per gram, the most concentrated form of metabolic energy available to humans.
Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble meaning they can only be digested, absorbed, and transported in conjunction with fats. Fats are sources of essential fatty acids, an important dietary requirement.They also serve as energy stores for the body. In food, there are two types of fats: saturated and unsaturated. Fats are broken down in the body to release glycerol and free fatty acids. The glycerol can be converted to glucose by the liver and thus used as a source of energy. The fatty acids are a good source of energy for many tissues, especially heart and skeletal muscle.
All varieties of fat have an extraordinary energy content. In animals, fat acts as an energy reserve, and is stored in fatty tissue, normally located subcutaneously or surrounding organs. Fatty tissue consist of fat cells, designed to store energy in the form of fat.
Energy is stored as fatty tissue when the nutrition/energy content of the blood remains higher than is consumed by muscular and other activity. When the energy content in the blood lessens, the fatty tissue reacts by releasing a corresponding amount of energy from the fat cells. This activity is controlled by insulin and other hormones in the body.
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