# Lard History: Leaf Fat, Pastry Flake, and the Oil That Lost the Twentieth Century
How rendered pig fat built pies, tamales, and fryers — then lost shelf space to industrial vegetable oils
Canonical URL: https://thefoodthatshapedus.com/food/lard
Summary: What is lard? Trace rendered pig fat through pastry, tamales, soap, Crisco’s rise, and the modern cooking-fat comeback.
Category: ingredients
Primary topic: lard history
Published: 2026-07-20
Updated: 2026-07-20
Word count: 322
Reviewer scope: Market and economic context review: Amine Naini — Packing-house lard markets, Crisco competition, and pastry-fat commodity history. | Source and factual review: Mehdi Iarab — Leaf-lard pastry terminology, pig-fat rendering, and shortening-displacement chronology.
## Primary Image
- Name: Lard primary image
- Image URL: https://thefoodthatshapedus.com/images/foods/history-and-origin-of-lard.webp
- Dimensions: 1200x630
- Encoding: image/webp
- Alt text: Block of white lard beside pie dough and a cast-iron skillet
- Visual description: Block of white lard beside pie dough and a cast-iron skillet
- Caption: Lard is rendered pig fat, long central to pastry and frying before vegetable shortenings took over.
- Visible entities: Lard, Rendered fat, Pig
- Credit: The Foods That Shaped Us Research Desk
- Image terms: https://thefoodthatshapedus.com/image-rights#terms
- Permission information: https://thefoodthatshapedus.com/image-rights#request-permission
## Key Takeaways
- Lard is rendered pig fat; leaf lard from around the kidneys is prized for pastry.
- It was a default frying and baking fat in many European and American kitchens.
- Twentieth-century vegetable shortenings and health marketing pushed lard aside.
- Heritage baking and fat revival brought it back as a specialty fat.
## Historical Timeline
- Ancient-medieval: Pig-keeping cultures render fat for cooking, lighting, and soap
- 19th century: Packing houses industrialize lard supply in the United States
- 1911 onward: Hydrogenated vegetable shortenings compete with lard in home baking
- 21st century: Pastry chefs and heritage cooks rehabilitate leaf lard
## Historical Notes
- Leaf lard is lower in flavor and prized for flaky pie crusts.
- Lard can be raw-rendered or processed into firmer commercial blocks.
- Many traditional tortillas and tamales depend on pork fat.
## What Is Lard?
Lard is rendered [pork](/food/pork) fat. Leaf lard, from the soft fat around the kidneys and loin, is especially valued for pie crusts because it is mild and makes tender flakes [1][4]. Broader kitchen lard seasons beans, fries foods, and enriches doughs. “Lard history” is the story of a default animal fat before barrels of neutral oil took over supermarket aisles.
## Pastry, Fryers, and Everyday Cooking
European and American bakers relied on lard for biscuits and pies; Mexican and other pork-raising foodways used it in masa and frying. Packing-house America turned pig fat into a commodity alongside meatpacking fortunes [2][3]. Where butter was expensive or reserved for dairy meals, lard did the weekday work.
## Crisco and the Twentieth-Century Displacement
Hydrogenated vegetable shortenings marketed themselves as cleaner, more modern, and more “digestible” than animal fats. Home economists and advertising helped push lard to the cultural margins even when pastry performance still favored it. That marketing war is essential food history: taste did not alone decide which fat won the shelf.
## Comeback Without Medical Sermons
Heritage bakers and fat-curious cooks brought leaf lard back for crusts and frying. On this site the frame stays culinary and historical — beside [butter](/food/butter), [beef tallow](/food/beef-tallow), and schmaltz — not a diet prescription.
## Sources & References
1. Alan Davidson “The Oxford Companion to Food.” Oxford University Press (2014)
2. Kenneth F. Kiple and Kriemhild Conee Ornelas, eds. “The Cambridge World History of Food.” Cambridge University Press (2000)
3. E. Melanie DuPuis “Nature’s Perfect Food.” NYU Press (2002)
4. Harold McGee “On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.” Scribner (2004)
Related canonical pages: [Pork](https://thefoodthatshapedus.com/food/pork) | [Butter](https://thefoodthatshapedus.com/food/butter) | [Beef Tallow](https://thefoodthatshapedus.com/food/beef-tallow) | [Bread](https://thefoodthatshapedus.com/food/bread)