A spaghetti and meatballs recipe called for it. The guy was very specific and said NOT to buy the cheap shit. So I went ahead and got the fancy stuff (certified and all that jazz).
Man, the difference is like night and day! I had no idea. The above mentioned recipe turned out great but what I’ve really been enjoying is using it as a dipping sauce for bread (just mix in some herbs and spices).
So I guess I’m posting this to see if there are any other EVOO aficionados out there. And maybe some recommendations for it use?
I use it in its raw form all of the time, from dressings to simply bread dipping (just EVOO and fresh cracked pepper for me) as you noted. I sometimes cook with it, but not for things like searing a steak. While it has a higher smoking point than most cooks realize, it can still lose some of its flavors over 350-400. I can’t speak for everyone, but somewhere in that range, I simply switch to a high quality regular olive oil as I can’t tell the difference any more at that point.
Since you seem to love the flavor, you need to make some homemade focaccia. Of all of my recipes, that probably has the greatest EVOO to other ingredients ratio.
Do not see the light. “Light olive oil” is an abomination: They start with olive oil, and then process it to remove all of the olive oil flavor so it appeals to disgustingly-bland American tastes.
But as long as you’re seeing the non-light olive oil, we’re all good.
I’ve got a serious weakness for caprese salads. The better the quality of olive oil, tomato (I prefer darker heirloom varieties), mozzarella (fresh as possible) and balsamic vinegar (not traditional, but I prefer versions with it - preferably very thick, syrupy, reduced balsamic) - the better.
I go through quite a bit of olive oil. Many argue it is stupid to use the more expensive stuff to cook with (the more complex flavors you’re paying for with the better stuff to some extent break down with heat) and you should ideally keep separate bottles for cold and hot preparations But I only occasionally bother with that. Right now I’m going through a 1L bottle of Monini GranFruttato, which I think is a pretty solid oil. Not the priciest by any means, but not the cheapest by a long shot.
I went to a store once that was giving out samples of the fancy stuff. It was really good, so I bought a bottle. It was a fairly large bottle, and although I used it for multiple things, it went rancid before I could use it up, which was sad.
I haven’t bought such an expensive/fancy one since, though I would if I could get a smaller bottle.
I have repeatedly heard rumors that a lot of inexpensive olive oil did not have its origins in any part of the olive tree or its products. So it’s neither extra virgin nor moderately deflowered or even professionally adept prostitutional olive oil. It’s some other oleaginous substance.
I like to buy this local California olive oil from the old Italian guy who sells it at the farmers market. Actually, the old Italian guy hasn’t been there in a while; it’s someone else at the booth now.
If a company tried to sell something as “olive oil” that wasn’t produced from the fruit of Olea europaea, in any remotely-civilized nation (and yes, that includes the US), they’d get in big legal trouble for it.
Though of course, there probably are some very slutty olive oils out there sold with pretensions of quality. I once saw some product on a supermarket shelf that claimed to be “the ideal blend of olive and canola oil”, which means that, realistically, they’re selling 97% pure canola for olive oil prices.
I have at least three different levels of olive oil in the cabinet. There’s a larger bottle of the mid-priced stuff, a smaller bottle of “boutique” California-grown olive oil, and a small bottle of really pricey stuff that was apparently pressed between a maiden’s thighs by the light of a new moon or something. Each has its place in the kitchen.
In recent years, countless undercover operations by the Italian police have uncovered massive scams in which tons of cheap, low-quality oils from Syria, Turkey, North Africa, and Spain are being bottled and sold as authentic Italian extra virgin to foreign markets. Among the biggest victims of this olive oil fraud is the U.S., to which Italy exports around 30 percent of its olive oil.
Surprisingly, Italy only makes 15 percent of the world’s olive oil.
I am in this group as well, with one change from QS’v variant, I use finely minced red onion, but not the baby cucumbers. Instead I add thin strips of home-pickled roasted red bell peppers. Just a bit more sweet and sour to compliment the rest.
It has to smell intensely fruity. The good stuff is supposed to be the best possible juice squeezed out of the fruit of Olea europaea.
Drizzled over green beans and potatoes, it really transforms the latter. The flavors develop as you eat, and the last few bites are glorious. Great on toast, too (white bread), and I’ve been told good things happen when you add some honey to that.
I like Trader Joe’s Greek extra virgin olive oil, and the price is reasonable. I use it for salads and dipping. It’s at the midpoint between yellow & buttery and green & spicy. That reminds me, now that ripe tomatoes and basil are in, I have to make a bruschetta dinner.
For cooking, I buy a more plebeian one at the supermarket for less money.
Most of the Mediterranean basin grows olives, and then there are the climatologically similar places in other parts of the world (California, Chile) So to me 15% of world output sounds pretty much where I’d expect Italy to fall. And since the past decade the US imports as much or more (varies per year) from Spain as from Italy.
Coming from Puerto Rico, our go-to OO source in the island and among the stateside community is Spain. Among us, for generations, oil to be used for flavoring as in a salad, dip or sauce has been by definition olive (this as opposed to cooking/frying oil, which in my lifetime has tended to be whatever Big Ag is pushing at a given time – before that we fried with lard)
I’m a little skeptical of the Italian police’s impartiality when it comes to the relative quality of Italian olive oil vs. foreign olive oil. Is there any reason to think that Syrian olive oil (for example) is any less delicious than Italian, short of what we hear from Roman fuzz?