Fry light when the time is right

I think oil serves two main purposes and it's important to know the difference:

- The first purpose is as a ingredient in and of itself, where oil or some other fat is crucial in adding to the taste and flavour of the dish. Think of a salad with an olive oil dressing, or The Elvis peanut butter sandwich, which is heavily buttered on the outside as well the inside, or butter fried mushrooms where you want to experience the taste of butter in the end product. In these cases, you can only skimp so much on the fat before it takes the edge off the dish.

- The second purpose is purely functional, where oil acts as a non-stick surface or as a medium for spices to release their flavour. Examples include buttering cake trays, frying eggs in oil, stir-frying, and cooking the spice base for many curry dishes. In all these cases, I find you can reduce oil to the absolute minimum needed to get the job done. The calorie saving can be quite surprising. For example, when frying an egg a few squirts of Fry Light, or a home-made oil-water spray, add about 10 calories to the dish, whereas a teaspoon of oil adds 40 calories. A desert spoon of oil would add 80 calories, which is about the same as the egg!

PS - We've used a bottle of fry light for half a year now, mainly for frying eggs, stir-fry, etc, and there's still some left in the tank.