My family being from Vermont, one of the main ingredients of most cooking was lard. Not present day, soybean/sunflower/or light oils! Lard, grease from pigs. It was used to grease pans, fry meats and sometimes even make cakes.
One of the hardest meats to cook correctly was venison. To be honest, I couldn't tell you how to cook it. The art was lost with my Grandparent's generation.
