For years, fat was the villain—whispered with guilt, trimmed away, labeled lite. Then somewhere between butter boards, Wagyu menus, and jars of tallow at boutique markets, something shifted. Fat came back—not just to our plates but to our language.
I’m not surprised. The problem was never fat itself. It was our fear of it. Butter is back and here to stay.
The Decade We Forgot What Flavor Was
If you cooked through the 1990s, you remember the panic. Margarine was marketed as virtue, olive oil was “foreign,” and low-fat got stamped on everything from yogurt to frozen waffles. People believed cutting fat made them healthy; what they lost instead was flavor—and satisfaction.
I saw that thinking seep into professional kitchens, too. Corporate dining rooms wanted dishes that photographed lean. A sauce couldn’t have shine; a steak couldn’t have marbling. We stripped food of its humanity in the name of eating healthier.
Why Fat Matters More Than Ever
Fat is how flavors find each other. It carries scent, cushions acidity, and makes texture feel intentional. In a vinaigrette, oil doesn’t just balance vinegar—it softens it, lets it linger on the palate.
Modern guidance has matured, too: Harvard’s Nutrition Source summarizes that unsaturated fats (olive oil, nuts, seeds, fish) are associated with lower cardiovascular risk, and what matters most is the type of fat, not a blanket “low-fat” rule.
I think of the lamb shanks I braised one winter—browned in olive oil, finished with lemon. Without that slick of fat in there, the acid would’ve shouted. Together, they sang.
Walk into any specialty market right now and you’ll see it: $14 jars of ghee, cultured butters wrapped like fine chocolate, “heritage fats” with tasting notes that read like wine labels. Fat has gone from forbidden to fetishized. Walk into Costco and you’ll even see beef tallow sold as food — and as skincare. As Grub Street put it, “Butter is no longer a supporting player. It has become a star, and it isn’t going to move out of the spotlight anytime soon.”
In the U.K., flavored butter has gone from niche to “affordable luxury”: Worldpanel reports a 24% jump in spending and Ocado searches for flavored butter are up 184%. As Mintel’s Alice Pilkington puts it, “There are several factors driving the popularity of flavoured butter, including the emergence of a ‘foodie’ culture and social media’s increasing influence.”
The glow has spilled into beauty, too: tallow is trending in skincare explainer pieces (and pushback pieces) across mainstream magazines like Vogue. And yes—Fatworks beef tallow is even available via Costco Same-Day in some markets, which says a lot about where everyday shopping has landed.
A decade ago, Paula Deen was widely lampooned for “a stick of butter with everything”—part of a broader media caricature. Today, the culture is re-examining her entire persona via a new documentary on the festival circuit; whatever you think of her, it’s a neat marker for how far the conversation has moved from shame to flavor booster.
The irony is rich—literally. The same cooks who once felt guilty about butter now post photos of it smeared across cutting boards. It’s the pendulum swing: fear to fascination.
But the truth is simpler. Fat never needed a comeback. It was always there, waiting for us to remember what good food actually tastes like.
The Honest Ingredient
Every cook eventually realizes fat is what makes a dish feel finished. A soup without it tastes flat. A crust without it turns tough. Even the healthiest home kitchens keep oil within arm’s reach—not for indulgence, but for integrity of the dish itself.
The secret isn’t to glorify it; it’s to respect it. Fat isn’t there to cover mistakes—it’s there to make decisions stick to the pot. It tells the palate where to linger and when to move on.
Maybe that’s why I find comfort in using it: butter melting into rice, a dollop over roasted vegetables, the quiet shimmer of a pan right before you lay in the fish. Butter is how you know you’re cooking, and not just heating food in an air fryer.
The Return to Real Flavor
When I see the trend cycle finally catch up to what cooks have known forever, I don’t roll my eyes. I just smile. Beneath the glossy trends, something genuine is happening. We’re remembering that food doesn’t have to apologize for tasting good.
We Are Embracing Flavor Again
For years, fat was the villain—whispered with guilt, trimmed away, labeled lite. Then somewhere between butter boards, Wagyu menus, and jars of tallow at boutique markets, something shifted. Fat came back—not just to our plates but to our language.
I’m not surprised. The problem was never fat itself. It was our fear of it. Butter is back and here to stay.
The Decade We Forgot What Flavor Was
If you cooked through the 1990s, you remember the panic. Margarine was marketed as virtue, olive oil was “foreign,” and low-fat got stamped on everything from yogurt to frozen waffles. People believed cutting fat made them healthy; what they lost instead was flavor—and satisfaction.
I saw that thinking seep into professional kitchens, too. Corporate dining rooms wanted dishes that photographed lean. A sauce couldn’t have shine; a steak couldn’t have marbling. We stripped food of its humanity in the name of eating healthier.
Why Fat Matters More Than Ever
Fat is how flavors find each other. It carries scent, cushions acidity, and makes texture feel intentional. In a vinaigrette, oil doesn’t just balance vinegar—it softens it, lets it linger on the palate.
Modern guidance has matured, too: Harvard’s Nutrition Source summarizes that unsaturated fats (olive oil, nuts, seeds, fish) are associated with lower cardiovascular risk, and what matters most is the type of fat, not a blanket “low-fat” rule.
I think of the lamb shanks I braised one winter—browned in olive oil, finished with lemon. Without that slick of fat in there, the acid would’ve shouted. Together, they sang.
If you want an easy way to keep flavor at arms reach when you are cooking, try my compound butter you can stash in the freezer.
The New Luxury (and the Old Truth)
Walk into any specialty market right now and you’ll see it: $14 jars of ghee, cultured butters wrapped like fine chocolate, “heritage fats” with tasting notes that read like wine labels. Fat has gone from forbidden to fetishized. Walk into Costco and you’ll even see beef tallow sold as food — and as skincare. As Grub Street put it, “Butter is no longer a supporting player. It has become a star, and it isn’t going to move out of the spotlight anytime soon.”
In the U.K., flavored butter has gone from niche to “affordable luxury”: Worldpanel reports a 24% jump in spending and Ocado searches for flavored butter are up 184%. As Mintel’s Alice Pilkington puts it, “There are several factors driving the popularity of flavoured butter, including the emergence of a ‘foodie’ culture and social media’s increasing influence.”
The glow has spilled into beauty, too: tallow is trending in skincare explainer pieces (and pushback pieces) across mainstream magazines like Vogue. And yes—Fatworks beef tallow is even available via Costco Same-Day in some markets, which says a lot about where everyday shopping has landed.
A decade ago, Paula Deen was widely lampooned for “a stick of butter with everything”—part of a broader media caricature. Today, the culture is re-examining her entire persona via a new documentary on the festival circuit; whatever you think of her, it’s a neat marker for how far the conversation has moved from shame to flavor booster.
The irony is rich—literally. The same cooks who once felt guilty about butter now post photos of it smeared across cutting boards. It’s the pendulum swing: fear to fascination.
But the truth is simpler. Fat never needed a comeback. It was always there, waiting for us to remember what good food actually tastes like.
The Honest Ingredient
Every cook eventually realizes fat is what makes a dish feel finished. A soup without it tastes flat. A crust without it turns tough. Even the healthiest home kitchens keep oil within arm’s reach—not for indulgence, but for integrity of the dish itself.
The secret isn’t to glorify it; it’s to respect it. Fat isn’t there to cover mistakes—it’s there to make decisions stick to the pot. It tells the palate where to linger and when to move on.
Maybe that’s why I find comfort in using it: butter melting into rice, a dollop over roasted vegetables, the quiet shimmer of a pan right before you lay in the fish. Butter is how you know you’re cooking, and not just heating food in an air fryer.
The Return to Real Flavor
When I see the trend cycle finally catch up to what cooks have known forever, I don’t roll my eyes. I just smile. Beneath the glossy trends, something genuine is happening. We’re remembering that food doesn’t have to apologize for tasting good.
Fat doesn’t make food heavy — it makes it honest.