Savory perfection, thy name is beef tallow. And Valley restaurants are seeing the light.
By Marilyn Hawkes | Photography by Angelina Aragon
Your ancestors probably cooked food using beef tallow, a creamy fat made from rendering beef that imparts a rich, savory flavor. Tallow fell out of fashion in the late 1980s in favor of vegetable oils, which were deemed heart-healthier. Even McDonald’s replaced tallow with vegetable oil to fry its legendary french fries.
But tallow has made a comeback in wellness circles due in part to its wealth of nutrients and vitamins, and Valley chefs are jumping on the bandwagon. At Barley & Smoke (10144 W. Lake Pleasant Pkwy., Peoria, 623-572-2816, peoriaartisanbrewing.com), chef Michael Mahalick serves tallow and bread ($17, pictured) with a twist, fashioning a candle from beef tallow that’s lit at the table and slowly melts into a puddle of shimmering, aromatic dipping oil, paired with grilled house-made sourdough bread. Mahalick makes the tallow from beef brisket trimmings laced with onions and seasonings, smoked low and slow for five hours. The subtle smoky flavor and fluid texture will surprise you. “It’s a candle. You don’t expect it to be tasty,” Mahalick says.
Another popular use of beef tallow is in the deep fryer. Chef Jordano Sessions at The Ends (7137 E. Stetson Dr., Scottsdale, 480-37-9900, endsrestaurant.com) whips up a first-rate plate of skin-on tallow fries ($9) kissed with sea salt and served with ramekins of house-made tallow aioli and ketchup. The crispy fries are piping hot, loaded with beefy flavor and impossible to resist. Sessions renders his tallow from high-grade Kobe and Wagyu beef trimmings with some bison thrown in. He also uses it in the restaurant’s Caesar dressing, Dijonnaise sauce and in the banana bread. “Does it make food taste better? 100 percent,” he says.
Chef/owner Mauro Martina of OEB (17757 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale, 480-597-4463, us.eatoeb.com), a Canada-based breakfast spot in north Scottsdale, agrees that tallow makes food taste more delicious and always uses animal fat rather than seed oils in his restaurants. “Beef tallow goes through a natural rendering process, and… supports your immune system and your bone and skin health,” Martina says. He fries corn tortilla chips in tallow for chilaquiles ($18.50) layered with pinto beans, pickled onions, avocado, house-made salsa and crema verde, and crowned with two fried eggs. The tallow-fried corn tortillas have a rich, earthy taste that anchors the dish. “If you’re working with good ingredients – like tallow – you can make any dish shine,” Martina says.
