Since olive oil is critical to a lot of my recipes, I thought I'd start off making sure that we're all agreed as to what makes olive oil worth drinking (or cooking with).
First of all, since some of you might be watching your weight, I want to be clear on light and extra light olive oil. They are not, repeat, NOT, lighter in calories/fat/cellulite than their brethren. What they are is so overly processed that all traces of yummy taste have been removed. In theory, these would be good oils for baking, if I believed in disgracing my pantry with crap like that. So, have we got that straight? Light olive oil makes baby Jesus cry, and it won't save you a single weight watcher point. If you already own some, save it for cake baking, or dump it and send up a prayer of repentance to God, or Buddha, or Joe Pesci. Whatever floats your boat.
OK, so all that said, here's the kind of olive oil you SHOULD buy: extra virgin olive oil. (hehe ... virgin.) This means the olives have been cold-pressed by beautiful Italian virgins in breezy, white dresses. Or something. The point is, EVOO is what makes the world go round, so don't entertain the thought of buying anything else, OK?
Of course, all EVOO are not made equal. The trick to making sure it's a decent one is looking for a dark glass bottle ... EVOO leeches tastes from plastic and light is its worst enemy. Of course, you can get all super fancy and spend $30 on a liter of Spanish organic EVOO, but I just buy whatever looks good at the grocery store. As long as it's extra virgin and it's in a dark bottle, it'll be all good. Colavita and DaVinci are good brands. Don't refrigerate it -- the oil expands when it's cold and that can lead to a big mess. And it lasts like a year in the cupboard ... just not *my* cupboard.
Happy shopping!
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4 comments:
I think that this first post is absolutely perfect. Because I would assume that most people think that olive oil is the enemy, so they'd be hesitant to use it in the recipes you will post. Not to mention that most people don't know the difference between light olive oil and EVOO. (send a prayer to Joe Pesci??? LOL)
I must say that I'm very impressed that you've really done your research on the EVOO. Not just the differences between them, but also how to store them (about the plastic leaching the taste, and the oil expanding in the fridge!)You really know your stuff, and you're sharing it with us! You're enlightening the world one olive oil user at a time. You're like today's Gandhi...minus the shaved head and loin cloth.
How can it be that I am LEARNING things from the toddlers I once tortured during babysitting sessions?? I was proud of my nieces ALREADY, but what with this EVOO talk, well I am just bursting. Swearda God, I am considering bathing in it later.
What's olive oil ? Does it come in 10-w 30 ? Will it work ok in my lawn tractor, even if I don't grow olive bushes ?
So THIS is a blog. I always thought "blog" was something you wiped off with a hankie.
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