[Question:]{.underline} Can I use lard to cook food on Fridays?
[Answer:]{.underline} Although the law of abstinence frequently does not oblige every Friday in virtue of the positive law of the Church after Vatican II (with the exception of Great Britain, in which it was re-introduced in 2011), it is nevertheless our Catholic duty to keep the precepts of the Church in the traditional way, for they clearly indicate the mind of the Church, and show us, amongst other things, how to do penance.
It is Canon 1250 of the 1917 Code which regulates this question, and which states that “the law of abstinence forbids the eating of meat and of broth made of meat, but does not exclude the use of eggs, milk and milk products, nor any [seasonings of food, although made from the fat of animals]{.underline}”. This means that soup, made by boiling meat flesh or bones of animals is forbidden on days of abstinence. It also means that lard, which is animal fat, may not be used for cooking, if a substantial quantity is to be consumed.
However, if a small quantity of lard is used in order to give taste to food or vegetables, or to grease a pan in cooking, then it would be considered not as food itself, but rather as seasoning of food. This is what Father Prummer has to say on the issue: “Under the name of seasoning is to be understood whatever, with it be liquid or not, is used in a small quantity, so that the principal food acquires taste, such as a few small pieces of lard employed to give taste to vegetables”. (Man. Th. Mor. II, §663). Consequently one ought not to be concerned about using a little lard for baking of cakes, bread and other foods to be consumed on a Friday.
Answered by Father Peter Scott, SSPX.