I remember cooking in Italy with a friend, and as she was dousing another platter of vegetables in olive oil, she said, "In Italy olive oil is a flavor. It's not just to keep things from sticking to the pan." I feel the same way about butter in France. If you've had a warm croissant from a pastry shop, you know how important (and transcendent) the flavor of butter is.
Like many food trends, beef tallow's resurgence demonstrates a cyclical nature, where ancestral culinary practices are re-embraced, driven by modern dietary movements and interests.