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Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

theguardian.com

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Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#71

Post by eksith »

tptacek wrote: post #59
eksith wrote: post #2

I use olive oil regularly in my cooking and now, I don't know what to think. I'm curious why the original article wasn't the one submitted (though it's inserted at the bottom of that entry). http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/13/extra-virginity-...

If you're cooking with it, it doesn't much matter. Heat very rapidly destroys the flavor of good olive oil. Personally: stories like this should read as good news; they mean you have a lot to gain for dorking around with new oils.

Well, I've never fried with olive oil and light cooking didn't seem to affect the flavor too much. Also, I use it mostly for the health benefits, not so much the flavor alone. I've also been experimenting with sesame oil. Made this the other night and it came out pretty well :

http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2012/01/recipe-for-bok-choy-...

Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#72

Post by _delirium »

rafcavallaro wrote: post #70
_delirium wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently I have bad memory, because 3-L is what I was thinking of, not 5-L. I'm not Italian myself, but my Italian landlord brings these kinds of things (not the same brand, but same format) regularly: http://www.colavita.com/store/images/products/EV_Oils/Med-Ti... Most households in Greece will have something like that, and they're easy to find in any country if you go to a Turkish, Greek, or Arab supermarket. I c…

Don't confuse olive oil for cooking (commonly purchased in 3 liter tins) with extra virgin olive oil. This article is about extra virgin olive oil. EVOO is usually consumed raw, unheated, with bread, cheese, on salads - it would completely defeat the purpose of the EVOO production technique which is one of low temperture, purely mechanical extraction, to heat EVOO to high temperatures as is commonly done with lower g…

Just checked my 3-L tins to be sure, and they're extra-virgin also. The problem with the lower grades is that they're extracted with chemical means (hexane solvents) and generally worse for any usage. The modest price savings isn't really worth it, since better stuff is affordably priced anyway.

It varies by country, but heating doesn't necessarily exclude an oil from "extra-virgin olive oil"; the separate "cold-pressed" label covers that.

Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#73

Post by [deleted] »

tptacek wrote: post #69
thezilch wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, unless you are "serious" about oil, you have to take a shot in the dark? I'm no professional cook, but I do have a passion and cook new dishes weekly. I couldn't possibly know, from the store labels, what I can expect out of the 50 versions of EVO on the shelves. They're all EVO, unless I'm serious? They're all from Italy or Greece, unless I'm serious? There's no grounds for oils between Bertolli and "serious" oi…

Yes, if you're buying olive oil at the supermarket, it's going to be a crap shoot. But you're going to know immediately that you've got bland oil (if it tastes anything like other supermarket oils, it's bland; the difference isn't subtle --- again, think about the difference between an IPA and a lager). Again, a good way to handle this is to drop $35 on a bottle from some place like Zingermans, and just use it as a b…

[deleted]

Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#74

Post by ballard »

tptacek wrote: post #59
eksith wrote: post #2

I use olive oil regularly in my cooking and now, I don't know what to think. I'm curious why the original article wasn't the one submitted (though it's inserted at the bottom of that entry). http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/13/extra-virginity-...

If you're cooking with it, it doesn't much matter. Heat very rapidly destroys the flavor of good olive oil. Personally: stories like this should read as good news; they mean you have a lot to gain for dorking around with new oils.

Definitely. There's a handy table on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_point I'm thinking about the table color-coded smoke pt and a space for notes. A bit "paint by number", but there's plenty of other variables.

Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#75

Post by lostlogin »

jseliger wrote: post #36

For more on this, see the New Yorker's 2007 article "Slippery Business: The trade in adulterated olive oil" at http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/13/070813fa_fact_... . I'm surprised "they" haven't worked to further regulate the field; apparently one problem is that developing chemical tests to reliably discern real from fake olive oil is very difficult.

Similar problems apply in other markets too (as I'm sure you are aware). Fake Manuka honey is one that causes locals here some grief. http://i.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8928858/Manuka-hone...

Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#76

Post by tptacek »

ballard wrote: post #74
tptacek wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're cooking with it, it doesn't much matter. Heat very rapidly destroys the flavor of good olive oil. Personally: stories like this should read as good news; they mean you have a lot to gain for dorking around with new oils.

Definitely. There's a handy table on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_point I'm thinking about the table color-coded smoke pt and a space for notes. A bit "paint by number", but there's plenty of other variables.

Smoke point is another good thing to know about (you can saute in olive oil but probably don't want to double-fry french fries in it) but you'll degrade the flavor of a good Greek olive oil way before you hit 160c.

Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#78

Post by arbitrarywords »

thiswave wrote: post #43
rustynails wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Italians have been caught selling rancid and impure olive oil in Australia about once per year (ie. just about every time it's checked). It applied to cheaper and expensive oils, so cost wasn't a judge. I don't buy Italian olive oils any more because of the wide-spread deception. To be fair to the Italians, they were as dishonest as the Greeks and the Spanish. The list of brands was very long and the levels of ra…

You might be thinking of Cobram Estate[1] Olive Oil? My mate actually works in their factory in Lara, Victoria. Apparently the family who owns it are very generous, and he comes home with a box of olive oil every other month (with one or two bottles then finding their way into my hands). Cobram Estate, as well as many other Australian olive oil brands are certified by the Australian Olive Association[2]. For some rea…

Can recommend their "Robust Flavour" line. Really quite nice, fresh and olicey.

Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#80

Post by foobarbazqux »

colanderman wrote: post #4

Does anyone have any tips for finding quality olive oil? The only way I've had success is to buy inexpensive single-source stuff, even if it's inexpensive and non-Italian. Best olive oils I've had were single-sourced from Spain; $2 from a discount store. Maybe no-one wants to fake non-Italian oil?

If you don't know what you're looking for, you don't have someone you trust to help you, and you're unable to sample each oil in a taste test, the best way to buy high quality Italian olive oil is to look for the D.O.P. (in Italian; P.D.O. in English) certification symbol on the bottle [1, 2]. There's a similar looking symbol if the produce is also organic. This symbol means that inspectors have physically gone over the entire operation of the producers and checked it against a list of standards.

Other things to look for: the bottle says if it's filtered or unfiltered (the unfiltered stuff has much more of a peppery kick), there is a production date, there is a best before date, it says that the oil has been cold-pressed and mechanically extracted, and there is an indication of the region of Italy that the olives come from.

I have never been disappointed by using this method, but of course not every good oil is certified. For reference, today I bought Planeta DOP Val di Mazara oil, which is even available on Amazon [3]. Their price is 50% more expensive than what I paid though.

[1] http://italian.about.com/b/2008/07/19/waiter-my-cheese-has-b...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographical_indications_and_t...

[3] http://www.amazon.com/Planeta-Extra-Virgin-Olive-Oil/dp/B005...

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