urmaniac13
Executive Chef
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2005
- Messages
- 4,764
Someone posed a question on how to select a good olive oil on another thread, I thought it a worthy topic to be discussed on a separate thread. I have the good fortune of living where many different kinds of olive oil are readily available at less cost, and I am afraid certain kinds of real high quality olive oil may be quite pricy, or not even available in many other parts of the world. So I would appreciate the opinions of people from elsewhere as well to help everyone from everywhere...
Personally, we use extra virgine olive oil for just about everything, except for baking sweets (where butter is better fit), and deep frying. (Since olive oil has a lower boiling point, it is not suited for deep frying.)
We keep two types, one, sort of "generic" evoo, something you can find at lower prices in supermarkets for everyday sautèing and grilling (they are available at about 3+€ for every 1litre here). "Generic" they may be, they have enough nutty, fruity aroma to add to the food. And also a very good quality evoo, our favourite is from Sardinia, but also sometimes Tuscan, which is world famous. This kind of oil are used raw, for salad, bruschetta etc. to enjoy the maximized full flavour. Using them for pan frying is, something like using filet mignon for goulash, the special flavour and texture will be wasted...
Extra virgine oil, to go into a little more in detail, is made from perfect olives crushed immediately after harvest and processed without the use of heat, thus maintaining the original flavour, aroma and vitamins of the olive fruit. (These oils are sometimes called "cold pressed" or "first cold pressed" but these terms are being phased out, as pressing is often replaced by centrifugation.) Extra Virgine must have perfect fruity full flavour and odour and a free acidity expressed as oleic acid (an indication of quality) of no more than 0,8%.
Naturally, we are much more used to the Italian product, but the Spanish olive oils are said to be equally of high quality. Anyone who is in the know about Spanish olive oils here?
Also I have found some useful links here to learn some more about this wonderful nature's gift...
http://www.internationaloliveoil.org/tm/canada/askus.asp?lang=english
http://www.jrnet.com/olive/#GRADE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil
Personally, we use extra virgine olive oil for just about everything, except for baking sweets (where butter is better fit), and deep frying. (Since olive oil has a lower boiling point, it is not suited for deep frying.)
We keep two types, one, sort of "generic" evoo, something you can find at lower prices in supermarkets for everyday sautèing and grilling (they are available at about 3+€ for every 1litre here). "Generic" they may be, they have enough nutty, fruity aroma to add to the food. And also a very good quality evoo, our favourite is from Sardinia, but also sometimes Tuscan, which is world famous. This kind of oil are used raw, for salad, bruschetta etc. to enjoy the maximized full flavour. Using them for pan frying is, something like using filet mignon for goulash, the special flavour and texture will be wasted...
Extra virgine oil, to go into a little more in detail, is made from perfect olives crushed immediately after harvest and processed without the use of heat, thus maintaining the original flavour, aroma and vitamins of the olive fruit. (These oils are sometimes called "cold pressed" or "first cold pressed" but these terms are being phased out, as pressing is often replaced by centrifugation.) Extra Virgine must have perfect fruity full flavour and odour and a free acidity expressed as oleic acid (an indication of quality) of no more than 0,8%.
Naturally, we are much more used to the Italian product, but the Spanish olive oils are said to be equally of high quality. Anyone who is in the know about Spanish olive oils here?
Also I have found some useful links here to learn some more about this wonderful nature's gift...
http://www.internationaloliveoil.org/tm/canada/askus.asp?lang=english
http://www.jrnet.com/olive/#GRADE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil