Powerful? Taste-wise, lard is not as bland as canola oil, but not as flavorful as most good olive oils. For real strength, there are many of us hardy souls who save bacon grease, the magic flavoring. Lard was used in Mexico and elsewhere because it was the available cooking fat until very modern times. The appeal of lard is why Crisco is white, to appear similar to those for whom it was the new secret to frying. The traditional cattle of Mexico, "Corrientes, ain't exactly packed with suet. Even today, every grocery/supermarket in parts of the US Southwest with substantial Mexican American populations will display lard prominently along side other fats/oils.

According to some of the Mexican cuisine "Authorities", Diana Kennedy, Rick Bayless, etc., and the lady in Cordoba, VC who demonstrated the dish for me more than 50 years ago, the "frying" in lard guarantees that the pork, generally very lean in Mexico, does not dry out during cooking. How credible is the claim? Well, "traditionalists" among Mexican cooks tend to use lard for everything including greasing hubs of wooden wheeled carts, sunburn and mosquito repellant.