Atora is a popular British brand offering pre-shredded
suet
Suet ( ) is the raw, hard fat of beef, lamb or mutton found around the loins and kidneys.
Suet has a melting point of between and solidification (or congelation) between . Its high smoke point makes it ideal for deep frying and pastr ...
(the hard fat around the kidneys). As suet most commonly needs to be shredded in its typical uses in
British cuisine
British cuisine consists of the cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom, including the regional cuisines of English cuisine, England, Scottish cuisine, Scotland, Welsh cuisine, Wales, and Northern Irish cuisine, Nort ...
(e.g. in pie crusts, steamed puddings, and dumplings), Atora can be seen as a labour-saving convenience item. Atora only uses suet from cattle and sheep.
Atora is also available in a vegetable fat-based version labeled "vegetable suet".
History
In the past, it was common to be able to find blocks of suet at grocery shops; however, it was not until 1893 that the first pre-shredded suet became available. This was the brainchild of Gabriel Hugon, a Frenchman living in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
. He observed his wife struggling to cut blocks of suet in the kitchen and set about to create ready-shredded suet.
Etymology
Hugon named his product "Atora", deriving the name from "toro", the Spanish word for bull. To reinforce this connection, prior to the Second World War, the suet was transported around the country in painted wagons pulled by six pairs of
Hereford bulls.
Ownership
In 1974 production was moved from the factory in Ogden Lane,
Openshaw
Openshaw is a suburb of Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, about three miles east of the Manchester city centre. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Lancashire, Openshaw was incorporated into the city of Manchester in 1890. ...
, Manchester to another site at
Greatham, near
Hartlepool
Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...
. Production at Greatham ended around 2002–2003.{{citation needed, date=June 2017
In 1963, Rank Hovis McDougall acquired the Atora brand, and it subsequently became part of Premier Foods in March 2007, along with the rest of their assets.
References
External links
Official Website
Food brands of the United Kingdom
Cooking fats
Premier Foods brands
British royal warrant holders