#beef tallow

🥪 Sloppy Joe: Messy, Bold, and Packed with Character

I have never searched it. I have never whispered it. I have never, in a moment of weakness, thought “you know what my life is missing? rendered cow fat.”

And yet, here you are. Relentless. Unwavering. So sure of me. More faith than I’ve ever had in myself.

How the struggling Steak 'n Shake became the MAHA/MAGA fast food chain of choice: It turned to beef tallow-- and promoting MAGA/MAHA propaganda

Daniel Wu at WaPo:

Steak ’n Shake was looking for change. The Indianapolis-based fast food chain for burgers and milkshakes replaced its leadership after a lackluster 2024. In mid-January, it announced thatall of its restaurants would switch to cooking their french fries with beef tallow.

Executives said the move would make for tastier fries. It also aligned Steak ’n Shake with President Donald Trump’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has made replacing seed oils a key plank of his plans to overhaul America’s food industry. Conservatives hailed Steak ’n Shake’s decision as a win for Trump’s controversial Cabinet pick. The company leaned in. “We RFK’ed our fries,” Steak ’n Shake COO Dan Edwards said in a February Fox News interview. Now, Steak ’n Shake’s X account posts images of Tesla-themed storefronts on Mars and slogans like “Make Frying Oil Tallow Again” printed on MAGA-esque red hats. The account reposted endorsements from conservative firebrands like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) and Laura Loomer, who snapped a picture of herself dining at the establishment.

A Florida Steak ’n Shake was the backdrop of a Fox News interview between Kennedy and host Sean Hannity that aired Monday, where the Health and Human Services secretary gushed: “People are raving about these French fries.” Marketing researchers said Steak ’n Shake is the latest example of brands targeting increasingly polarized consumers across the country. Some questioned the suddenness of Steak ’n Shake’s pivot and whether, in a time where other brands seen affiliating with Trump or his policies have faced boycotts and violence, the publicity would beget sales or backlash. “This really feels like a Hail Mary,” said Marcus Collins, a former marketing professional and a clinical assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan. Steak ’n Shake CEO Sardar Biglari and HHS did not respond to requests for comment. But in interviews and earnings reports, Steak ’n Shake has framed the ingredient change as a long time coming and grounded in consumer preferences. Steak ’n Shake, which was founded in Illinois in 1934, hassuffered a rocky two decades. Biglari acquired the company in 2008 when it sagged amid the global financial crisis and returned it to profitability. In 2020, after another period of sustained losses, the restaurant simplified its menu and replaced servers with self-service kiosks. As of last year, the company had shed 200 locations from a peak of 626 in 2018, according to an annual report by Biglari Holdings, Steak ’n Shake’s parent company, which also owns the Western Sizzlin chain of restaurants, Maxim magazine and several insurance, oil and gas businesses. [...]

That team’s decision to move to beef tallow was years in the making, COO Edwards told Fox News in February. Steak ’n Shake hadn’t been able to find a supplier for beef tallow without additives or preservatives until recently, he said. Some other fast food restaurants, including Buffalo Wild Wings and Popeyes, also fry their foods in beef tallow, according to their websites. [...] Steak ’n Shake is far from the first food or beverage brand to wade into the political fray or align itself with a movement. Collins, the professor of marketing, cited ice-cream company Ben & Jerry’s progressive stance on social issues, including its support of racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights. However, entering the political arena hasn’t always worked out. Mark Lang, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Tampa, pointed to the recent boycotts of Goya and Bud Light after both companies waded into hot-button political issues. Those serve as warnings to companies about how polarized American consumption has become, Lang said. [...] The company also appeared to forge alliances with Tesla, the car company headed by Trump ally Elon Musk. Tesla claimed on X that it had signed deals to build charging stations at Steak ’n Shake locations. Steak ’n Shake shared an illustration of a futuristic-looking diner on Mars — which Musk’s SpaceX hopes to one day colonize — with both Steak ’n Shake and Tesla motifs. Another Steak ’n Shake post teased Musk about buying the company. Steak ’n Shake’s overtures have been noticed. Prominent conservative figures like Musk, Charlie Kirk and Kari Lake posted on X praising the company. And during Kennedy’s interview Monday on Fox News, a Steak ’n Shake restaurant took center stage: a server delivered Hannity and Kennedy trays of burgers and fries before the two heaped praise on the company. [...] Lang said there could be merit to Steak ’n Shake’s decision to double down on an appeal to conservatives, a demographic that has championed red meat and fast food — Trump has made serving McDonalds a recurring image of his political career. Red states including Florida, Ohio and Indiana have some of the most Steak ’n Shake locations in the country. But positioning Steak ’n Shake so closely to Kennedy and Musk, who have courted some of the most controversy out of those in Trump’s administration, runs the risk of staking the brand too far on the fringe of political opinion, Lang said.

Beef tallow, once a staple in kitchens across the world, is making a comeback. For decades it was pushed aside in favour of seed oils such as soybean, canola, and sunflower oil, marketed as heart-healthy alternatives. Yet new research and growing public awareness have turned that narrative upside down. Today, more people are learning that beef tallow may hold the key to better health, while seed…

Made a tallow sculpture in class today, I decided to do a coiled snake :D