The fat required for good cooking and to make food palatable.

As practical cooks we are concerned mainly with serving good food, i.e. food that is nourishing, well flavoured and pleasing to the eye. We maintain that the present weekly fat ration of 3 oz. butter, 4 oz. margarine and I oz. cooking fat for one person is inadequate for the presentation of food in an appetizing and attractive manner, if all meals have to be provided at home. Weekly reversal of the butter and margarine allowances does not ease the cook's problem, for theie is a tendency to enjoy the extra butter for table use, leaving even less fat for cooking purposes. The larger the number to be catered for, the easier it is to spread out the fat ration in order to spare a reasonable amount for cooking, and it cannot be too strongly stated that the position of the oneor two-person household, particularly where age, infirmity or expense prevent occasional dining-out, is not enviable. When such households do much cooking there is almost no fat left for table use. It is true that in many families children, adolescents and adults have at least one meal away from home 5 days in the week in school, canteens, restaurants or hotels. Even so, the extra amount of fat consumed in this way does not bring the present allowance of 8oz. weekly up to the pre-war suggested amount (Hutchison & Mottram, 1936; Macdonald, 1938; Plimmer, 1941) of 3-4 oz. fat daily (made up of visible and invisible fat), even with the invisible fat obtained from the present ration of meat, bacon, eggs, and the visible fat from suet, oily fish, nuts, peanut butter, oils and soya flour. Most housewives will now make use of the trimmings of fat from the meat ration, fat from bacon, fat from sausages, and skimmings from bone stock, but it takes an expert cook to turn these small amounts to good use. Suet is difficult to get, and olive oil and almond oil, occasionally seen in the shops, are exorbitant in price. Those concerned with large-scale catering generally maintain that ordinary nonpriority canteens in category C also find the fat ration inadequate, but that for industrial canteens in categories A and B the fat allowance is sufficient for the preparation of varied, nourishing and attractive meals. Where a fish fryer is installed matters are much easier. The extra ration of cooking fat then allowed makes it possible for a great variety of dishes to be presented. Not only is the food value of the dishes increased because of the small amounts of fat absorbed from the cooking medium, but the food has a