Fried food not a direct cause of heart risk, new research finds

By Eric Pfeiffer | The Sideshow

Let them eat chicken fried steak

A new study has found that there is no direct correlation between the amount of fried food people eat and their risk of heart disease. Instead, the research found that long-term heart risk depended more on what kind of oil was used in the cooking process — olive oil and sunflower oil are considered the healthiest.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, studied the eating and cooking habits of 40,000 people in Spain for nearly 15 years. The Mediterranean diet favored by most individuals in the study leans heavily on fried foods, particularly fried fish, but also the healthier olive and sunflower oils for the frying.

How to cook perfect garlic bread

"Anyone who says they don't like garlic bread must be fibbing" declare the authors of retro recipe bible The Prawn Cocktail Years – and, as usual, I'm in complete agreement. Hot and crisp from the oven, sodden with rich, punchy butter, it's the pleasure that never, ever palls. Even the plastic-wrapped supermarket version, pallid yet powerful, has its tawdry charms: it seems garlic butter can do no wrong.

That said, not all members of the pungent pantheon are created equal: Nigel Slater's quite outrageously good parmesan garlic bread has been closest to my heart for some many years now – and has sustained many, many house parties over the years: a burnt tongue being apparently a small price to pay for seizing the first slice from the steaming foil, especially after a few drinks – but could there be something even better lurking quietly out there in a pool of delicious grease? The Pandora's box of possibility finally opened, I can't stop until I'm satisfied I've tasted the best garlic bread has to offer me.

Fried food not a direct cause of heart risk, new research finds

By Eric Pfeiffer | The Sideshow 

Let them eat chicken fried steak

A new study has found that there is no direct correlation between the amount of fried food people eat and their risk of heart disease. Instead, the research found that long-term heart risk depended more on what kind of oil was used in the cooking process — olive oil and sunflower oil are considered the healthiest.