Olive Oil

[foodguy]

i'd say you should take almost everything said on this page with, er, a grain of salt.

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by foodguy

i'd say you should take almost everything said on this page with, er, a grain of salt.

I think the olive oil spiel is a load of ****.

Just develop a palate and follow it.

 

[Rambo]

I like the Whole Foods 365 organic EVOO. Comes in a tinted glass and only runs about $6 for a bottle.

 

[ama]

This thread turned awesome.

 

[HORNS]

I thought this was interesting:

4. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Costco's Kirkland Signature Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil may be the best-kept secret in the store. At $9.99 for 1.5 liters, it is roughly half the cost of the well-known Bertolli brand, and yet, according to at least one independent study, it's much better. In a recent comparison of 19 olive oils on the market, The Olive Center, a research group at the University of California-Davis, found that Kirkland Organic was one of only five in the study not mixed with cheaper refined olive oil that can spoil the taste. The other four at the top of the list were all high-end brands that cost as much as five times Costco's. Make sure you buy the Costco version that's labeled organic, though, as opposed to the one that's simply called "extra virgin olive oil." It'll cost a little bit more, but it's worth it.

This was on a Yahoo link that was discussing the "top four" items you should buy at Costco. I wish they would have given the link to the UC Davis study.

 

[holymadness]

We enjoy Spanish piqual.

 

[Christofuh]

Originally Posted by mm84321

I would recommend trying to source reliable brands that practice organic farming, free of GM and hormone usage. Or making your own is pretty easy if you cook a lot of meat on a regular basis. Dartagnan.com sells a wide array of humanely raised, organic meat. I just made a batch of duck fat from one of their Moulard duck breasts. It made the best fried potatoes you'll ever have.

They sell some as well: http://www.dartagnan.com/58614/56578.../Duck-Fat.html

As far as shunning Coconut Oil for its saturated fat content, you have to understand that saturated fat is really not "bad" for you, like most nutritionists will claim (I can go into detail if you want) Coconut oil has a whole host of health benefits and tastes great with frying fish and in stir frys. Definitely opt for organic and unrefined versions.


I grew up eating stuff fried with clarified butter. So for you to be closing me on animal fats is sorta redundant. What many people leave out is the fact that ze French are on record as being consumers of obscene amounts of wine. Therefore in the end it balances things out.
BTW, the actual break-down in terms of the type of fats contained makes conventional butter and its clarified cousin virtually indistinguishable.

 

[Leonardo Da Vinci]

here in italy we know well what i m talking about, but i know that abroad is very easy to be fooled cause of many " smart businessmen".
everybody know the excellene of italian products in different fields; extra virgin olive oil is one of them.
i m laughing reading a comment from a spanish gentleman saying here in italy we have black olives to make olive oil

here....in our regions we always warn tourists saying that what they buy in their countries with italian names, is not italian extra virgin olive oil produced in italy,but just bottled in italy, and this make the produtct not so good as an italian one...and u know why? cause is mixed with spanish, greek, turk oil: just the name is italian,
so as you see, some businessmen take spanish and greek oil that is cheaper for quality process and taste and sell it abroad.
sure spanish oil in the last 6 years is much spreaded in countries as uk, but just cause the quality is still good and the price is very convenient:
you should try to come to extra virgin oil boutiques in italy...to taste what i mean: such oil, produced completely in our region factories can cost even 45 euros per litre.
of course we have even more convenient ones: just don t forget that if you re talking of quality, never say spain instead of italy:
have u ever ate a pizza in spain? what a shame, happy ignorance.
every country has its own best, even spain and greece, but not for olive oil, wine and so on

 

[alliswell]

I'll say this - the Greek domestic olive oil imported by Greek grocery stores in the US is better than the Italian olive oil bottled for export to the US. Italy may have the best olive oil in the world - I'll say may - but they do not export it.

 

[Sonny58]

.

 

[coldarchon]

I buy mine at http://www.lavialla.it
The design is very nice and friendly, they show you exactly how everything is done including receipe, and it increases the taste of everything I buy there.

 

[b1os]

They're pretty weird. I've never ordered from them so far, just signed up for their "newsletter". Now I receive a big-ass catalogue, printed on above average paper every couple of months. Everything in it was handwritten, many pictures, some extras like small cards with poems on it etc. And the products aren't even expensive... Last christmas I got some olive oil samples accompanied with the catalogues.

 

[Cordwinder]

reviving thread $15,000 for a bottle of olive oil.