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aprince
03/25/11
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aryckman
04/03/11
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pointshoot
04/15/11
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dannick9
04/14/11
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ccooper
03/12/11
June 20, 2012
Olive oil, what else?
According to medical studies it has multiple health benefits, not the least of which is decreasing the chance of heart disease by lowering “bad” cholesterol. And it's been doing it for as far back as 3000 BC, when olives were grown commercially in Crete.
The problem for olive oil lovers today is how do we know this liquid gold isn't fool's gold?
Think a label reading "extra virgin" is a guarantee of quality? If you proceed to your pantry and remove a bottle, you’ll see that nowhere does it say that extra virgin olive oil must be made 100% from olives. Plus, a major criterion for grading olive oil is its level of acidity, which should be no more than one percent.
So what do you choose? Some experts say to look for extra virgin olive oil that is estate bottled, cold pressed, unfiltered and looks cloudy. (You know, the kind we used to throw away.)
Then there's also this trusting problem. I don’t mean to alarm you but international arrest warrants have been issued in Italy. Evidence seems to indicate the biggest olive oil brands have for years been systematically diluting their extra virgin olive oil with cheap, highly refined hazelnut oil from Turkey.
(I’m sure Armando Manni's magnificent Tuscan oil is unaffected, but it does cost over $500 a liter.)
But then olive oil has always been adulterated.
In the First Century AD, one of the world’s first gourmands, Marcus Gavius Apicius, published a sly formula in “De Re Coquinaria” to convert cheap Spanish oil into the more expensive stuff from Istria.
Richard J. Sullivan, ex-president of the North American Olive Oil Council, said, "When the price of supermarket olive oil is too low, it is a ransom price for seed oil.”
There is no doubt that the IOCC-less U.S. has long been a dumping ground for the world’s worst oil.
Beyond Health Magazine has searched for a high quality, unadulterated oil that meets their standards and selected Bariani, produced by the Bariani family on a small farm in the central valley of California. Whether any Bariani relatives are working for the publication is not known.
I do know I’m not a part owner of Fairway Market in New York City, although I’d like to be. They claim they know more and sell more olive oil than any store in the world. If you don’t believe it, they say so right on the wall.
My Italian friends, who like nothing, agree with the New York Times, that said “Their private extra Virgin oil tasted better than ones selling at four times the price.”
As a general rule, it's always wise to buy from a store with a lot of turnover. Never buy “light” oil. Forget large tins, unless you own a restaurant. And if it doesn’t have a “use by date” let someone else get stuck.
I do hope I’ve helped a little in your quest for the fresh, good stuff. Because it’s clearly (and cloudily) that essential to our lives.
OK, I've divulged some of my sources. And tips.
Terrific recipes? Great brands? Undiscovered gems? Have a brother in law in the business? Don't, well, bottle up your thoughts on the subject.
still thinking about today...
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ccooper
03/12/11
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nolanseye
04/11/11
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mwecker
03/04/11
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DEEBLACK
03/13/11
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dnerland
03/24/11
Gotta be careful.
Greed abounds.
Even in olive oil.
Reminds me of Popeye and Olive Oyl.
Every word of this is True .......
"Light/Lite" anything is as useless as Tits on a Nun .......
That's naughty Ivan, you'll have to break the habit
A piece of useless information that could be constructed into a fallacious argument ........Spain, Italy and Greece are the world's most prolific producers, accounting for 75% of global production....
Extra virgin oil is unsuitable for Chinese cooking which has a high smoke point. In fact, olive oil is traditionally not used. Dried olives are a popular snack food, I often had a packet of it on my desk when I was working in Singapore
I got nothin'...
Amazing - where there's a commodity there's a racket of some sort. The new Olive Oil snoobbery is somwhere between pathetic and amusing. I remember the days when olive oil was stuff you got at the pharmacy in tiny bottles to cure the earache - I think you warmed it up and poured it into offending ear'ole, then shove in a bit of cotton wool. Hmmm.
One year, I did buy a big can of olive oil so I could use up all the pretty glass bottles I'd saved and made nice offerings as Christmas presents - you know the stuff, costs a fortune in posh cookery shops. Shove a clove or two of garlic into the bottle, add a large sprig of rosemary from the garden, put a small funnel on the bottle and pop in coloured peppercorns, salt, maybe a couple of little red chili peppers. Top up with olive oil. Clean the outside of the bottles with hot soapy water and while they dry off, get out the calligraphy pens and do 'Handmade by Haze, Just for you' labels. Done in September, just right for Christmas.
Haha! The ads that pop up on the left hand side!!!! Somebody is offering me fuel oil and lubricants deliveries.
Oh Ivan ~ Early morning chuckle -- thanks.
Hazel, how lovely!! I would hve liked one of those!!
That's really interesting!! Elixer of life.
With all the mountains of containers they have dug up was it really something for the rich? Did the poor guys have to use lard?
Mom's doc told her in the 40's to use it instead of oleo or butter.
Man does not live by bread alone!!
Marketing: if there is nothing new, make a bigger deal out of something old.
It would be surprising if the trendy boutique olive oil and balsamic vinegar shops existed in any form in a few years relying as they do on too few making too much of and paying too much for too little.
On two occasions, one inadvertent and one as a test, our eaters have noticed and disapproved of the use of olive oil in a curry despite the presence of a number and amount of spices that would last some cooks a year.
They do not comment on canola but notice and prefer grape seed oil.
Pretty sophisticated taste buds.
That said, there is nothing like a good olive oil for for grilling or roasting vegetables or lamb but buttered noodles still need butter.
A loaf of French bread, extra virgin olive oil with herbs, a jug of vino and my personal "thee", and I'm in heaven.
Was the olive tree the tree of knowledge?
Olive you, I love olive you...worked for me in a bar; she thought I was so clever...martini or two helped..
Tree of knowledge?
As Adam reportedly said: "I.. I don't know, bare ass me later."
It is one of my grill's best friends when brushed liberally on veggies and meats with kosher salt and with balsamic vinegar a perfect dip for bread and dressing for tomato, onion, mozzarella salads. I feel like Ali Baba with a fresh bottle and think the labels are so cool especially peasant girls with shoulders exposed smiling large. Where's the Chianti????
Stoney--that is so-oooooo clever!
Stoney, obviously you think it was a fig tree.
Funny! Road Yacht
Ivan- Good visual...I add from 30k feet...teats on a boar hog...
The 16.9 oz. bottle in my galley claims: "Three different olive varieties grown in California's fertile Central Valley, are blended together for an exceptionally flavorful olive oil with a mild peppery finish. " Ingredients: Extra Virgin Olive Oil
It's bottled by Nature's Best in Brea, CA under the label of "Cadia".
it's not the most delicious I've ever tasted but, it isn't the most expensive by a long way.
Nothing like olive oil in a plate (in the sun) with a pool of balsamic vinegar (from Modena), some lovely, crusty bread and some serious red wine....
There's a take-out joint just south of the IL/WI border on Hwy 41 called Captain Porkys. The owners are Greek and they sell big liter bottles of cloudy olive oil for $20. They make it themselves from their own trees (at least that's what they tell me). I'm not a taste expert, but it tastes good to me and the price is right. For those of you who live around here, check it out. Their food is pretty good too. Sometimes they have some really cool specials behind the counter like those ginormous mushrooms that grow in the wild around around here--they make that into a mushroom salad. I've seen aligator meat in the freezer too. I don't use a whole lot of olive oil; I use grapeseed oil when I am going to saute a steak or other meat. I use butter for eggs and to finish a sauce. And I'm a lazy bum who buys bottled salad dressings. Oh the horror!
I think Extra Virgin Olive Oil is greatly overrated and misunderstood. Some of the television personality chefs would have you think its all you need in your kitchen, when in fact, Extra Virgin Olive Oil (first pressing of the olives) should only be eaten "crudo" or uncooked. Purchasing it is a slippery slope as well. First,
there is the rotation factor in the supermarket--stale olive oil is horrible! Plus how do you know how long the oil was stored in a warehouse or sat out in the sun on the dock, etc. Then there is the flavor factor which is very personal. I do not like Greek olives for olive oil. In fact, I prefer Italian olive oil over any. Easy enough? I think not! Look at the bottle--there's the gorgeous Signorina, the map of Italy, etc. Now turn the bottle around and read where the oil (s) actually comes from. Sometimes there are as many as six different countries of origin!
I haven't googled it, but my impression was that Canola was another name for Grapeseed oil that Canadian marketing experts came up with in the 80s. I like both. I like them both for cooking and for salad dressing etc. Peanut oil is wonderful for frying as it can reach a very high temperature without changing (unlike olive oil of any kind)but the allergy factor is a real consideration.
Ivan - That was a good grin! I had heard of "useless as tits on a boar hog" but not the nun!
No purist on olive oil...use a little for salads and cooking, but no particular kind. I will note PE recommendations for future grocery buying.
I am still on friend's laptop and the touch and commands are different from my usual, so am not adept with this one....was trying to attach a link to the town we visited Tues., Cassadaga, FL, a town of mediums and psychic healers....2 of us had readings....very intriguing...unlike anywhere else....This town has a good website if you look at www.cassadaga.org.
Then we went on to Mt. Dora, a cute town on the lakes north of Orlando....think Carmel, CA, Fairhope, AL, or Naples, FL for shopping in little stores, boutiques, sidewalk cafes, and delis/ice cream shops. Lots of gals oohing and ahhing over little house wares, and guys sitting on many benches waiting for them. Nice atmosphere, shade trees with moss, and plenty of parking.
Tomorrow to the winery in St. Augustine, lunch there, and
Ivan - That was a good grin! I had heard of "useless as tits on a boar hog" but not the nun!
No purist on olive oil...use a little for salads and cooking, but no particular kind. I will note PE recommendations for future grocery buying.
I am still on friend's laptop and the touch and commands are different from my usual, so am not adept with this one....was trying to attach a link to the town we visited Tues., Cassadaga, FL, a town of mediums and psychic healers....2 of us had readings....very intriguing...unlike anywhere else....This town has a good website if you look at www.cassadaga.org.
Then we went on to Mt. Dora, a cute town on the lakes north of Orlando....think Carmel, CA, Fairhope, AL, or Naples, FL for shopping in little stores, boutiques, sidewalk cafes, and delis/ice cream shops. Lots of gals oohing and ahhing over little house wares, and guys sitting on many benches waiting for them. Nice atmosphere, shade trees with moss, and plenty of parking.
Tomorrow to the winery in St. Augustine, lunch there.
Ivan, my dad's version of that expression was 'you need that like a bishop needs an extra set of balls'. That expression has lost it's context and meaning with all of the revelations surrounding the clergy of the Catholic Church.
I use Lite mayo. I looked at the ingredients, and it doesn't look too bad. I really like mayo, but not the calories. I eschew most "diet" and "lite" foods. How would you get a Lite olive oil? Mix it with water?
A lot of marketing is involved. In marketing the thing is ,that it sounds better to to tell a woman that she looks like the first breath of spring than that she looks like the end of a long hard winter
haze, thank you for your 6:33 a.m. recipe.
Plan to try it.
If you do, lotlot, give the bottles a shake/twirl once a month to keep the ingredients dispersed.
I like butter. Is it totally "out" now? I think Ivan says it's totally out, or should be, I forget now which. Anyhow, whenever I'm out and dining on an olive-oil driven menu, I wait to be transported into the upper levels of gustatory delight, but nothing happens. I'll look around me and everybody's looking very trendy and transported, except for me who remains grounded. I think, the thing is with me, is that I am sick unto death of pasta and pasta side dishes and there's olive oil or its cousins in all of that kind of cooking, say Mediterranean or Italian- pasta is way overdone, to my mind, and not in the sense that it's past al dente. It's just everywhere, and it pretty much bores me to pieces...
park 4--I agree. I prefer the taste of butter in food. Heavenly experiences? The goulash soup we had in Budapest with a butter-slick on the top of it. OMG! And the Shrimp Bacchanalia at the restaurant of the same name on the south side of Chicago. I'm pretty sure it's butter, not EVOO. And shrimp and all sorts of veggies over linguine. But when I am at an Italian restaurant, I do like the EVOO with cheese and Balsamic to dip my bread it. Do I like it better than butter? No, it's just different. And I try not to put butter on my bread because then I remember how good it is, so I do the oil and have a special treat, but I can take it or leave it.
Moose- Surfed St. Augustine area 2 summers ago and had more than a few superb meals. A cool town to trolley around and a lot of pricey art.
I don't know a lot about the inner-workings of olive oil. I do like it; was really introduced to it as an adult Growing up we weren't compromisers...we demanded that our lard be pure.. I usually buy the extra,extra virgin on the chance it might make a difference. but like tuna...I'm looking for Olive Oil that tastes good, not oil with good taste . Are ya feeling me?
I don't know a lot about the inner-workings of olive oil. I do like it; was really introduced to it as an adult Growing up we weren't compromisers...we demanded that our lard be pure.. I usually buy the extra,extra virgin on the chance it might make a difference. but like tuna...I'm looking for Olive Oil that tastes good, not oil with good taste . Are ya feeling me?
Berp!!!
For a possible great food topic this one sure did not seem to be a winner.
I see Ivan's feeling rather firisky. Good laugh.
Hazel, I've done those oil jars, did them with vinegar, too. They make nice & yet inexpensive gifts.
I learned about olive oil way back in the 1950 from Celie Selso's mom who was from Sicily. The after school snack often was home made bread and olive oil with a few herbs: dip and enjoy. Other times it would be home made Sicilian pizza with olive oil drizzled on it. Loved to go to Celie's.
PARK I like butter too. Many chefs when asked what their "secret" is reply "Butter and salt."
Dipping crusty-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside in a dish of olive oil, herbs, and salt is very good.
Slathering that same chunk of bread with butter instead is terrific.
But niether compares to using said bread to sop up the gravy from a bowl of spagetti and meatballs, which is divine.......the third or fouth best thing next to an orgasm that I know of.....Which means it is very, very, good, or, I really live a sheltered and boring existence.
I do likes it a bunch! I think I'm on a quest for a place with checkered table clothes and chianti bottle candle holders.
Peace out....
Park4, IMargarie...count me in! I much prefer butter..and I never take marjorine
ChefDeb, I think canola oil is a derivative or at least related to rapeseed which used to be a lubricant. I stopped using canola oil after I read some scary stuff on it, which may be spurious, but I'm not taking any chances.
Does anyone here use rice bran oil? That's what I use, it's very good for reducing cholesterol, stores better than olive oil, has a high smoke point suitable for stir frying and beats olive oil in vitamin E. Olive Oil has better heart protecting anti oxidant stuff though
http://www.livestrong.com/article/424742-rice-bran-oil-vs-olive-oil/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_bran_oil
margarine ....
I always buy Olive Oil in the glass....and use high quality grade..."everything that you can do in a Wok, you can do in a frying pan"....Save money$$$ so you can purchase the fresh Ginger..always freeze the Ginger leftovers.....the outdoors in Pennsylvania was mighty fine at picnic-time.today.....nothing like a cold cup of vanilla ice cream topped off with Root Beer...on a 92 degree summer Horse Camp Day...all 50 horses enjoyed getting a hose down of cool spring water... after riding all sunny morning..sweating all over and even under the tail.....Once my daughter brought a stray grey cat home, She called the sweet kitten "Olive," So trying to get through the last lap of motherhood and daughter sibling rivalry with my older sisters....I used to say....jokingly....to the cat .....outloud...to calm myself over trifle,,,really trifle contrite..problem...realities.of sibling rivalry..***...."Olive....I'll Live....I'll Live...Olive....My wonderful mother was home two months......made a decision to live in Minnesota @48 degrees...'.n' all....then off to the state of Washington....Mom, always loves all her children...she is 82 and no medication just a baby aspirin on occassion...so olive oil and promise margarine our her secrets...to long life...too...also golf....on a year-long basis.
MISS SPRING: " That word "Naughty" is a Middle-English word that has nothing to do with the connotation it has been given, and was first erroneously/improperly used by an Irish Nun named, Ciprian ... further, it never applies to me ...I don't have to break a damn'd thing ... Let us be clear about that, and preclude further misanthropy ... Understand the Concept of the Statement and you'll understand why it is a pro pos ... While I am unaccustomed to being called down by a Pup, I should like to impart to you a serious piece of advice; Before you can even begin to think of teaching me any thing ... You must first know more than I do ... and Good Luck on that .......
MISS PARK4: Butter, always Butter ... The only difference between Margarine and the plastic tub it comes in, is a few Carbon Radicals ... Dangerous Trans-Fatty Acids in that crap too, as well as its being Nutritionally Bankrupt ... Stop being concerned about Calories ... Your Body needs Calories to keep operating at 98.6 Degrees, and you need the Fats in your Body, because Fat is where we get AcetylCholine from, which is the precursor to all your Hormones and Enzymes, it is also where we get the Sinovial Fluid from in the Bursa of our Joints, and the Lubrication for out Nostrils, Throat, Bowels and other parts ...
Dietary Fat does not make people fat ... CAR BO HYDRATES are what make people Fat ... The explanation for that is too long, so just trust me ... Ask your Pharmacist or a BioChemist ... Why do you think God put Fat in our Bodies in the first place ??? ... Conventional Wisdom about Fats and a few other substances is crap ... The worry people do over all the crap they hear from Allopathic Physicians and the National Enquirer does them more harm than whatever it is they're railing about ... I have eaten a High Fat Diet all of my life ... BP 110/60 Cholesterol is 102 Triglycerides under 80, virtually non-existent Blood Sugar 114 ... and I never worry about any of that stuff ... "God Looked at Everything He Had Made and Said, It Is Good ..." so who the hell am I to argue ??? That attitude has bept me in the Pink for near three Quarters of a Century ... Stress is the Big Killer ... worrying about stupid crap, and things that can't be changed anyway ... "Which of You by Worrying, Can Add One Day to His Life or One Hair to His Head ..." Worry is tantamount to Doubt, and Doubt will stop all Blessings from flowing ... just not a good way to spend one's time while he is here ....... Butter is Good on everything ... Enjoy it ... Besides, Scripture tells us, "All The Fat is The Lord's ..." He likes it ... Can't be all bad .......
oh Ivan, I was just being naughty, making a pun on the word habit, the garment worn by nuns..
No offence intended!
'Avoid one moment of anger, and save yourself from 100 days of sorrow!***** "IF YOU REMAIN CALM, EVERYONE ELSE WILL REMAIN CALM...." Two of my favorite sayings...otherwise get the icebag out....and Buffrin..... if you really have a head-ache...that seems to linger..extra excederin...may work out your pain...too.
Real butter is best...just use in small portions...mix with maple syrup or brown sugar...or lemon zest...or honey.....cream cheese....herbs...spices.....egg yolk....orange zest....I love blueberries with cherry pie filling......a good mix....
Real butter "spun" with honey on a hot cat head or a fresh roll....somebody's gettin' slapped.
SEAPANSIE: You're Batting 500 .......
Miss Park 4 I agree! Margerine placed outside tempts NO flies or bugs, it has the same costituants as the plastic. I went to Cassadega, had some readings and was hoping for a ghost or some dis-embodied entity to appear at night in my room but No-thing!