SC - Deep fat frying/rabbits

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Jessica Tiffin wrote:

> There was rather a scare in this country (South Africa) a year or so ago
> about re-used frying fat in fast food places - apparently re-using it too
> often causes it to break down in such a way that it becomes carcinogenic.
> (OK, I'm an English major, not a chemist - I fear I have no recollection of
> the actual process).  Anyone know if this is urban legend or what?

No, that is more or less reality, although the conditions under which it
is primarily true are such that the oil has to get pretty vile before it
is an issue. A simple way of saying it is that if you eat a LOT of
[fried] fast food, you will die from heart problems or a stroke long
before you can get cancer. If you only eat such foods rarely, you
probably have nothing to worry about.
> 
> Second query, re all the rabbit recipes.  This has bothered me for a while.
> That lovely illustrated Medieval Cookbook by Maggie Black has a note to a
> picture (p. 29) that says rabbits were imported into Britain by the Normans.
> Does anyone know if this is actually the case, and it's only hares that were
> actually native to Britain, or was it simply a different species that the
> Normans brought in?
> (Mere idle curiosity - rabbit is not really commercially available in these
> parts, and hare is certainly not).

Hares are indigenous to the British Isles. Rabbits are not. They appear
to have been introduced by the Romans, but been eliminated to the point
of local extinction some time between 410 AD, when the Romans left, and
the coming of the Normans. Normans brought some more, which survived.

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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