Olive oil vs EVOO - Which has more flavor?

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vanwingen

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I'm making some Focaccia bread this weekend. My delima is which oil to use for dipping???

****olive oil or the virgin olive oil stuff?****

I want FLAVOR ! Which is best?

please help !!!

~thanks !!!!
 
Extra virgin olive oil is what you want. EVOO is the first cold pressing of the fruit. That will by far be the most/best flavor you will get. Olive oil is the second (I think) pressing which will be a lot less flavorful.
 
GB is right. EVOO will have the best flavor. Also, diffefent EVOOs will have different flavors. Some will have a more pronounced flavor than others.
 
Regular oilive oil doesn't have much taste. IMO would be like dipping bread in Wesson oil. May work for Florence Henderson, but your foccacia deserves something tastier.
 
Dang, I feel like and idiot. It took this topic for me to realize what EVOO meant . . . . . . :whistling :doh:

Just gimme my sign now, I deserve it . . . . . :wacko:
 
lololo! Don't worry bigdog! I was married to a Greek for a number of years before I figured it out.
 
Unfortunately, it seems to me that most "extra virgin olive oil" commerical products in the USA are pretty flavorless.

If you can't find a truly flavorful olive oil yet live somewhere near a store (deli? deli section of supermarket? health food store? natural foods store?) that sells olives in open buckets (that is, olives in a big container submerged in olive oil) and provides small plastic containers for you to remove the amount you want for purchase then...

Just fill that container mostly with the oil from an olive you like (you may actually have to throw in a few olives with the oil to get past the checkout counter). This olive oil will have a definitive taste. It is not for cooking but great for dipping.
 
I lived in Spain for ten years, and olive oil a very freely available there and there are dozens of different brands on the shelves. All have them have a slightly different flavour. You had to try them out and choose your favourite.

It was widely held that to say that evoo is better than ordinary olive oil is (IMHO) meaningless. It is like saying use sherry in a recipe. What kind of sherry, dry, amontillado, cream,and so on. And no two types of sherries taste the same, (Tio Pepe is different from La Ina, and different from Domecq's Manzanilla or Bristol Dry) just as no two olive oils taste the same.

In Spain there is not the automatic preference for extra virgen olive oil. Each cook and each restaurant chooses what is believed to be the best flavour.

Just for a moment consider making comparison between Spanish evoo, Italian evoo, Californian evoo and Greek evoo. They will all have different flavours.

Ya pays ya money and ya makes ya choice.
 
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BigDog]Dang, I feel like and idiot. It took this topic for me to realize what EVOO meant . . . . . . :whistling :doh:

Same here, only I am way past feeling like an idiot. I just figured it was a new fad type oil. I don't get out much.............
 
currently, Spanish and Turkish evoo are very fruity. SOme Italian oils are "grassy" ; all are deep and rich in tones of flavors...yes just like wines! the region, its weather, the blend or purity of crop(s) the handling, etc. THere are olive oil boutiques where you can taste hundreds of small label brands. Enjoy your search and discovery.
 
Robo410 said:
yes just like wines!
And also just like wines, just because you like a brand this year does not mean you will like it next year. The flavors will changes with the harvest of the olives.
 
bethzaring said:
BigDog]Dang, I feel like and idiot. It took this topic for me to realize what EVOO meant . . . . . . :whistling :doh:

Same here, only I am way past feeling like an idiot. I just figured it was a new fad type oil. I don't get out much.............

I too had no idea what EVOO meant, none I know here calls it that, so I searched it and voila!I suggest EVOO if you want something with real taste.
 
Ripliancum said:
EVOO? Have you been watching 30 minuit meals with Rachael Ray on the TV food network?
She might have popularized the term, but she did not come up with it. :cool:
 
If money is no object, extra virgin is better, it smokes more, but all that happens in high heat is that it loses its virginity... from what i can tell.
 
Extra virgin means that it comes from the first pressing of the olives, contains no more than 0.8% acidity. Certainly flavour is more delicate and aromatic than regular Olive Oil. However if you use a real quality EVOO, I recommend a usage that doesn't include cooking, like drizzling on a salad, bruschetta, already cooked pasta etc. As Ardor mentioned, it tends to lose its distinct flavour as it gets cooked. We just use more generic type of EVOO to cook with, and save the special EVOO from Sardinia for this sort of usage.

BTW, the term EVOO is widely used in Italy, too, not an invention of Ms. Ray.
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But in the US, the EVOOs are the way to go for a dipping oil. And there can be a wide difference in taste. You want to spend a bit of money on it. If you have a Costco membership, their Kirkland brand of Italian/Tuscan oil is VERY good.
Some oil are floral in nature and some can be very spicey and sharp. There is a store available oil that begins with Cal____ that has a couple of "grades". Get the one for "dipping".
A very lucious combination for dipping is a good oil, a good balsamic and Parmigianno Reggiano.
Otherwise put the oil in a dish and give it a couple of good grinds of coarse black pepper.
 
The only olive oil I use for everything & anything is extra virgin olive oil.

Cooking, dipping, salads, garnishing. I don't buy the artisinal types for my all-purpose use. Buy it by the gallon from CostCo. Bertolli's. Has a nice light, but olivey, flavor that works very well as a healthy, all-purpose oil.
 
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