From Catfish to Cottonseed Oil
February 16, 2010 On Thursday, February 18, food-fact-hungry host Bobby Bognar of History Channel’s new hit TV series “Food Tech” traces the amazing journey that quintessential Southern ingredients make from farm to plate. Cottonseed oil, America’s first cooking oil, plays a starring role.
In the show’s fifth episode, “Southern Fried,” Bognar employs his hands-on hosting approach, wading among 275,000 catfish in one scene and daring to grab a gator from its holding tank in another. He later treks to Texas in search of the perfect frying oil to prepare such Southern staples. He finds it in some big, white, fluffy piles of cottonseed.
At the production facilities of cottonseed crusher PYCO Industries in Lubbock, Bognar takes viewers through the step-by-step process of extracting the precious oil from each of the tiny, fuzzy seeds. He then lines up alongside PYCO workers to bottle 100% pure trans-fat free cottonseed oil, ready to go to market.
“You know the old saying: if it grows together, it goes together,” Bognar says. “Cottonseed oil is produced throughout the South and has become a favorite for frying locally farmed catfish and alligator, not to mention hushpuppies, chicken and other Southern fried standbys.”
Getting that golden-colored oil out of the seeds has its rewards, he notes. “We learned that the bland, ‘neutral’ flavor of cottonseed oil is a good thing in the culinary world because it doesn’t mask the food’s flavor. Rather, cottonseed oil allows the natural flavors of foods to shine through. Plus, you’ve got to love cottonseed oil’s ultra high smoke point; it can definitely take the heat.”
According to Ben Morgan, executive vice president of the National Cottonseed Products Association, cottonseed oil has the longest history of any vegetable oil in America.
“Cottonseed oil is considered to be ‘America’s original vegetable oil’ and was first bottled in 1882,” he says. “The oil dominated the U.S. market for almost 100 years and has maintained an important position as a premium cooking and frying oil ever since. Its key attributes – most notably high stability and neutral flavor – have helped cottonseed oil stand the test of time as a workhorse ingredient.”
The “Southern Fried” episode of Food Tech airs this Thursday, Feb. 18, at 9 p.m. EST on History Channel. Visit www.history.com/shows.do?episodeId=538806&action=detail for additional airtimes. For more history, facts and photos on cottonseed oil, visit www.cottonseedoiltour.com.
NCPA is the national trade association for the cottonseed processing industry.For more information on cottonseed oil, see: www.cottonseed.com
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