Goose fat

his Christmas season I won't blame if you think of goose fat looking at Nigella Lawson's voluptuous curves. After all, it is she who is credited with re-introduction of this traditional product to the British market.

Goose fat has a high burning temperature which means that you can fry you potatoes on a very high fire without acrid fumes smarting your eyes. And the results are spectacular. It is a sort of a known fact that quick cooking is best: compare succulent Thai vegetable stir-fries to multi-hour North European stews where you'd be pressed hard to recognise the original ingredients.

When I was a kid, goose fat was the best remedy for chapped lips - we go a lot of those when the red-tinted alcohol in thermometers - mercury would have already frozen! - used to hit -65 Celcius. It is a half-forgotten method now that we have all these fancy lip balms.