Val, I have tried to obtain some pork fat to render lard myself, but the pigs in South Africa are really very low fat and all excess fat is removed by butchers for sausage making. Unfortunately, ducks are not very common in this country and are seldom, if ever, found in supermarkets or butchers. In my region they are raised more for pest control in vineyards than for eating.

Holsum is a solid white vegetable fat manufactured out of palm oil and is used in the baking world as a substitute for butter or other fats used to prolong the shelf life of bread and other baked goods. It has no flavour and contains no salt. This is why I was thinking of trying it in the pastry for pork pies. I do believe that some commercial companies use it in manufacturing of puff pastry.

Thanks for your reply but lets see if anybody else has any thoughts on it or an alternative recipe. John.

Eileen, thanks for that. I am presuming that Trex is basically the same as Holsum - a vegetable fat. We do not get it here but if it is, I will try the Holsum during the next week and let you folk know the results.

Many thanks to everybody who gave input. Experimentation is next.

Thanks Aly. Unfortunately, it is very hard for a South African to go to any of the Schengan countries, which includes France. However, I did have a six month visa in 2011 and delivered a yacht to Lorient. I then took my time driving to Paris to get my flight back home and had a wonderful time visiting butchers and bakeries in both Lorient and in a number of villages. Very enlightening and enjoyed it. My crew thought I was mad! Ah, the youngsters of today have no sense for adventure and discovery. Maybe they were just too cheesed-off being with me for six weeks on a small yacht. I did the same when delivering a yacht to Nice about four years back. I am off to Grenada in a month so need to experiment with getting my pork pies perfected before I depart on the six week delivery. John