Cannibalism - #6: Fat

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TRANSCRIPT OF EPISODE: Cannibalism (munching) “could you eat a whole human being? (more munching) With the help of a doctor, a scientist and a chef, I set out to see if it’s possible. Cannibalism: part six – fat”. (burp)

For many serial killer and cannibals, fat is nothing more than a mess and there’s a good reason why.

2016, Stefano Brizzi was murdered by Gordon Semple. To dispose of the body, he severed the limbs and filled the bath with hot water, sodium hydroxide and a variation of hydrofluoric acid. Investigating, the police spotted globules of fat in the bath, and - alerted by the ‘stench of death’ – they found “pools of human fat in the oven”. That’s because fat is one of the hardest parts of the human body to destroy.

When John George Haigh tried to dissolve the body of Olive Durand Deacon in sulphuric acid, he had no idea that although it boils at 638 degrees Fahrenheit (or 337c), it would still leave 28 pounds of fat.

Fat cells are seemingly fragile, as they liquify at 130f, but it can’t be completely destroyed until 1900f, which is why a crematorium furnace burns as high as 2300f, as fat isn’t a liquid, but it also isn’t a solid.

But isn’t just an unsightly blight on our bodies we grumble about daily, as fat, known as adipose tissue absorbs vitamins, moves and stores energy, and regulates our metabolism and hormones. It keeps us warm, it protects our vital organs, and it is critical for our survival. We have three kinds of fat; white is our body fat, brown which burns energy (a byproduct of when as mammals we hibernated), and the superficial fascia, which if removed, would fulfil Ed Gein’s dream of owning a one-piece skin suit.

Fat is a valuable source of energy when eaten especially during times of survival and hardship. In 1934, during the fallout of the Great Depression, Alonzo Robinson broke into the Cleveland home of Aurelius Turner and his pregnant wife. Mutilating both bodies with an axe, when arrested, police found a packet of human hair, and a bag of human flesh which had been salted and cured to ensure it lasted.

So, if we strip Steve, our average UK male of his fat, with a body mass made up of 23% fat, he’s carrying 19.3 kilos (42.5lbs), the equivalent of 20 litres of water, a professional drum kit, or a newly born bison.

Back in the palaeolithic era, our ancestors ate flesh especially the fat for nutrition and warmth, as just 1 gram of fat provides 9 calories. So, with the NHS suggesting we eat no more than 100grams a day, it would take 193 days to digest all of Steve’s fat, from his jowls, his love handles and his muffin top.

In the 1800s, Stefan von Kotze, a travel writer supposedly attended a cannibal feast at the Bismarck Archipelago in New Ireland. Having paid a fee, and in doing so funding the murder of a young girl who became the main course, with her flesh roasted on a fire spit, he said "it tasted like foie gras pâté" – described as “like a meat-flavored butter, a silky, melt-in-your-mouth texture and a very subtle taste”.

At the meal, it was said, they ate her crackling. As like with pigs, different pieces of fat can be made into scratchings (fried once so they’re crunchy) or crackling (twice fried at a higher heat so they’re soft). So rather than destroy the fat, wouldn’t a more civilized cannibal make themselves a tasty snack?

But not everyone is a gourmet. In 2007, a dinner party was hosted by Marco Evaristti, a pretentious artist famed for painting an iceberg red, draping the peak of Mont Blanc with fabric, and putting 10 goldfish in 10 blenders to see which gallery patrons would liquify these live fish. Yes, he’s an arsehole, and predictably, to cause a stir, at the meal he served meatballs made from his own liposuctioned fat.

Unlike meat, fat isn’t a meal, it’s a contributor to the flesh’s flavour, so unless a cannibal wants to spend 480 days eating meat, and 193 days eating fat, it may be best to make saleable goods out of it.

Human fat has long been prized for its medicinal use as across the 15th to the 18th centuries, executioners were known to supplement their income by selling “fat, flesh and bone" to apothecaries, as a remedy for broken bones, sprains and arthritis, with crushed up skull used to treat epilepsy.

Plastic surgeon Dr R Berkowitz said of liposuction clinics, that although fat is currently used in research, it can’t be repurposed, “it’s picked up in a red bag marked ‘medical waste hazard’ and incinerated. It isn’t used to make soap or candles as suggested in Fight Club” - at least not today, as far as we know.

1940, Leonarda Cianciulli, an Italian serial killer murdered three women, she said “I threw the pieces into a pot, added seven kilos of caustic soda, stirred it until it dissolved into a thick dark mush and emptied into a tank… when it had melted, I added a bottle of cologne and after a long time on the boil I was able to make some most acceptable creamy soap. I gave bars to neighbours and acquaintances”, and no-one could tell the difference. But it wasn’t the only consumable she made from a woman’s fat.

Fat is useful and nutritious, few people eat it because of the gristle, and the fact that eating too much red meat and fat can cause excessive flatulence and bad breath. So, unless a cannibal wants to be farting until 2026, maybe they should set up a pork scratching shop, or a little stall selling soap.

Join me tomorrow to examine the largest organ in the human body – the skin.