What food product is tasteless and flavourless? Shortening!
- Shortening is a type of fat used in cooking and food, primarily to improve the texture of baked goods, by making them less dense and more delicately textured.
- Shortening is typically made from hydrogenated (partially or fully solidified) vegetable oils such as palm, soybean, or coconut.
- The term ‘shortening’ was used loosely to refer to lard and margarine, until the 1900s invention of the vegetable based version, although it is still sometimes the case.
- Shortening quickly became a more viable product than the similar functioning lard, as it was more cost effective and did not need to be refrigerated.
- ‘Shortening’ is also known by brand names such as ‘Copha’, ‘Cookeen’ and ‘Crisco’, even though they are made from different vegetable oils and may have a different consistency.
- Shortening is often used in pastry making to make it flaky, as well as a replacement for margarine or butter, and because it contains less water, it is a safer fat to use for the purpose of frying food.
- Shortening was first produced as a commercial product in 1911, in the United States by Procter & Gamble, a company that produced soap, candles and lard at the time, and they called it ‘Crisco’, said to be short for ‘crystallized cottonseed oil’, and prior to its launch, the product had been intended for soap making purposes.
- Shortening originally contained an unhealthy quantity of trans fat, however in some cases, processes have been adjusted to achieve a product that now contains less or none of this type of fat.
- Shortening typically has a long expiry date, of up to two years unrefrigerated, and once opened, generally up to a year.
- Shortening is generally tasteless and flavourless, but butter-flavoured varieties are available in some brands.
Bibliography:
Shortening, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortening
What is Shortening?, 2014, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-shortening.htm
