Mentioned in yesterday’s post about fats used in restaurants…

Something has been on my mind recently, particularly when ordering food at restaurants. When I ask for my food to be cooked in butter rather than industrial seed oils, I want to be confident they’re using real butter. I also worry about hidden cooking oils that restaurant kitchens may use without customers knowing. Even when a menu says a dish is cooked in butter, I sometimes wonder whether they use other oils during preparation. With my history of heart problems, I am especially mindful of the fats I consume and want to make informed choices about what I eat. I realize I cannot always know exactly what goes into the food prepared in a restaurant kitchen, but asking questions and being aware of the ingredients is one way I can take greater responsibility for my health.

After we returned to Marloth Park from Nelspruit on Thursday, following Tom’s ophthalmology appointment, we decided to dine out rather than defrost something to prepare at home. Tom suggested we go to Amazing Kruger View so I could enjoy their grilled calamari tubes, which I always order and absolutely love. It sounded like a perfect way to unwind after our stressful drive, but something else was on my mind that would ultimately change our dinner plans.

We sat in a prime spot on the veranda, with expansive views of the Crocodile River. We brought our camera and binoculars, hoping Tom could see some of the wildlife more clearly through them while his eye continues to heal. After ordering our drinks and settling in, I asked a question that had been bothering me about restaurant cooking oils.

I asked our server to check with the chef about what oil was used to prepare the grilled calamari and, if I requested butter instead, what they would use. She returned shortly after with an answer I wasn’t expecting. If I didn’t specifically request butter, they used seed oils. If I requested butter, they used margarine!

I was disappointed and surprised. I stopped using margarine years ago because of concerns about its ingredients and how it is manufactured. I try to avoid industrial seed oils whenever possible, so learning that margarine was their butter alternative certainly didn’t make me feel comfortable ordering my favorite calamari.

Margarine is often made with vegetable oils, although its ingredients and manufacturing methods vary by product. Some older formulations contained substantial amounts of industrial trans fats, which are particularly harmful to cardiovascular health. Today, many margarines have eliminated industrial trans fats, though not in many countries; I still prefer to know exactly what I’m eating. I don’t want to assume that something labeled as butter is actually butter or that a dish prepared without an obvious oily taste contains no added oils.

Tom looked at me after the waitress explained the situation and said, “Let’s not eat here tonight. Let’s go to Giraffe instead.”

That sounded like a good plan!

At Giraffe, I know they grilled the chicken for my salad without oil, as I specifically requested. The chicken is well seasoned and delicious, and I dip the pieces in full-fat sour cream instead of using salad dressings, which usually contain seed oils. Even then, I sometimes wonder if the sour cream is the traditional dairy product I expect or a substitute containing added vegetable oils. Reading labels at home is one thing, but we don’t have that opportunity when ordering at a restaurant.

Of course, I realize that avoiding added oils entirely when dining out isn’t always possible. I generally choose meals that don’t require frying or sautéing, and I ask questions whenever I can. Still, unless we know the restaurant well and trust the people preparing our food, we can’t be completely certain about every ingredient.

I don’t use olive oil. Olive oil isn’t always pure olive oil, even when the bottle or menu says “olive oil.” There are two separate issues: whether the oil in the bottle is authentic olive oil and whether a restaurant is using only that oil when preparing your meal.

At Jabula, where we dine twice a week, I feel confident that Dawn and Leon understand my health preferences and would never deliberately mislead me. They are dear friends who know how carefully I approach my food choices. They use real butter, not margarine.

This experience reminded me that asking questions matters, even when the answers aren’t what we hoped to hear. We can’t control everything prepared in a restaurant kitchen, but we can speak up, make informed decisions, and choose where we feel most comfortable dining.

For now, I’ll keep asking about cooking oils, requesting no added oil when possible, and hoping the answers we get are accurate. When we eat out, we sometimes have to do the best we can with the information available.

Of course, it’s annoying when I order food at a restaurant where I don’t know what ingredients they use. In the future, I will say, “I have allergies. I am gluten- and sugar-free and can’t consume vegetable oil, but can have real butter, not margarine. Please inform your chef (cooks).”  In today’s world, all cooks and chefs should know what this means.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, October 10, 2016: