298293 Sun Aug 29 20:16:41 -0700 2004 12 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1649036 What do I need to know when I am looking to purchase olive oil? I was in Zabar's and Fairway over the weekend feeling overwhelmed by the selections and ended up not getting anything. I usually buy whatever is on sale in the grocery store. So,if I want to expand my horizons and try new oilve oils how do I go about it? Are there differences in olive oils you cook with and olive oils for dipping bread in? Thanks for the advice,Richie Sun Aug 29 20:16:41 -0700 2004 0 Richie 1 1649039 There is a recent cons. reports article (Sep. 2004). If you trust them: Best used for drizzling: 1 McEvoy Ranch $1.54 per oz. 2 B.R. Cohn $1.21 per oz. Best all-purpose choices: 3 Goya 24 cents per oz., CR Best Buy 4 Lucini 71 cents per oz. 5 California Olive Ranch 76 cents per oz. Best used for cooking: 3 Goya 24 cents per oz., CR Best Buy 6 Tassos 44 cents per oz. 7 Filippo Berio 26 cents per oz. 8 Bertolli 29 cents per oz. 9 Kirkland (Costco), 12 cents per oz. 10 Monini Originale 43 cents per oz. Link: http://www.consumerreports.org/main/content/display_report.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=464731&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=333139&bmUID=1093827305909 Sun Aug 29 20:57:55 -0700 2004 1649036 0 food 1 1649042 Make sure that the oil is either cold-pressed or expeller-pressed. Other methods destroy the positive nutritional traits of olive oil. Sun Aug 29 21:26:28 -0700 2004 1649036 0 David in Olympia 1 1649049 I know EVEYONE will disagree with this but McEvoy Ranch is horrible, bitter stuff, IMHO. I appreciate the whole story of the place, but ... overrated, overpriced, bitter. How do you use olive oil and how often? Yes, you use different oils for different purposes. You would even use different oils for different foods. The oil you would use in a chicken dish might not be the best for a beef dish. The best thing to do is to look for olive oil tastings. Sometimes this will happen in upscale groceries. Don't know about your area, but in the SF Bay area, there is a lot of tasting at farmers markets. The link below has a chart on what oils to use for what purpose. It is from my favorite olive oil vendor , Sciabica's. Th3 oils range in color from pale yellow to green. I wait for the first press cloudy unfiltered oils each fall. Some have a peppery bite. I love this oil with gypsy peppers and sausage. They sell these 1 ounce sampler packs, that do not seem to be available on line, but you might ask. One pack is a sample of their regular line. They recently came out with a sampler pack of thier flavored oils. I have never been a fan of flavored oils until now. All are natural flavors using real fruits, herbs and veggies. I used the orange olive oil for dipping with a sweet raisin walnut bread .. fantastic. The garlic adds a new dimension to salad dressings and garlic bread. Intense basil goodness using the basil oil with summer tomatoes, basil and mozarrella. I'm still contemplating the jalepeno. Maybe using a jalepeno and cheese bread to make a different type of 'garlic, so t speak' bread. Or maybe as a dipping oil for that bread. Here's the link Link: http://www.sciabica.com/character.html Image: http://sciabica3.automated-shops.com/store/SevFall.jpg Sun Aug 29 22:00:48 -0700 2004 1649036 0 krys stanley 2 1649103 I don't know about everybody disagreeing, but I do. My wife and I recently visited Mendocino (a favorite place) and had dinner at MacCallum House. For one appetizer, we shared a tasting of three California olive oils - and were only told that one was from Petaluma, one from Healdsburg, and the third from another northern California location I don't recall. All three were good, but one was outstanding - complex and not over-fruity with a slight pepperiness - and we purchased a bottle on the spot without knowing the brand or the back-story. It was McEvoy. Dinner was excellent, BTW. Mon Aug 30 12:26:47 -0700 2004 1649049 0 Striver 1 1649057 Like wine, just shop around. Some gourmet shops will give you a taste. If you can find Stutz, buy it! Sun Aug 29 23:18:47 -0700 2004 1649036 0 Jim H. 1 1649059 Any decent shop worth it's salt should let you sample a taste before you buy . Personally , I like cooking with a good greek or lebanese oil , italian oil for most everything else , and extra virgin cold pressed spanish for drizzling on stuff . Your taste may vary , go try some . Some are fruity , some are buttery and rich , and some retain their olivy essence . Most good stores usually do tastings on weekends when they are most busy . When I ran a store ,I would open a bottle for someone if they were serious about finding something they really liked . Of course , the store is now closed , so there you go . Sun Aug 29 23:45:56 -0700 2004 1649036 0 GoalieJeff 1 1649095 One of the things to look for is the vintage or harvest date. Well stored, olive oil will keep for a year or so, but there's still nothing like the fruitiness of the recent harvest. Some brands actually print a harvest date on the label. Many don't. A s with wine, you want to get a feel for how it's been stored and for how long. If the rack with all the beautiful oil bottles is right in the front window with sun streaming over it, don't buy. If you have any reason to think that the stock room with cases of inventory is next to the furnace room and 100 degrees. Buy elsewhere. Other than that. Some great oils are coming out of California. Greece produces nicely priced and mid-level flavorful ones (IMHO). Also the Middle East. (Lebanon, Turkey) French and Spanish oils tend to be a bit lighter and more delicate than Italian ones. Though there is a huge range in the Italians. If the oil is unfiltered, you do not want to cook with it. And if you're cooking high-heat, don't use extra-virgin at all. Just pure. Tuscan oils - good ones - tend toward a bit of edge/spice/pepperiness. Umbrian oils are heavier and more unctuous. Ligurian oils can be beautifully perfumed and rich. Southern oils (Sicily, Calabria, etc.) also can be very fruity. These are, obviously, gross generalizations. Smell and taste and see what you like. Mon Aug 30 12:00:08 -0700 2004 1649036 0 MrBarolo 1 1649145 Price can be a good indicator of quality in that it is rare to find a fine oil that is inexpensive. Bargain oil could be last year's crop, but isn't necessarily bad oil or rancid if it has been stored appropriately. Then again, you don't want to waste money on a rip-off that is simply overpriced. Look for the words Estate Bottled or something similar, and for the year. If those are there, it will probably be spendy. Buy from a store with a good turnover, and ask for a taste. Interestingly, it is difficult to actually know where the bulk of our oil comes from due to labelling laws. A fancy can stating product of Italy can actually contain oil imported from Tunisia or Spain, where the bulk of olive oil is produced. The Italians keep the good stuff at home or charge a pretty penny. But there is nothing wrong with Spanish or Tunisian oil; it is an industrial product, not artisanal. I recently noticed some Newman's Own evoo clearly labelled Tunisian but I haven't tried it since I'm well stocked at the moment. The labelling laws are supposed to be changing soon so it will hopefully become easier to make choices. Mon Aug 30 17:46:25 -0700 2004 1649036 0 suzannapilaf 2 1649165 "But there is nothing wrong with Spanish or Tunisian oil; it is an industrial product, not artisanal." Is that meant to apply to all Spanish/Tunisian oil or to Spanish/Tunisian oil processed in Italy? Mon Aug 30 21:37:40 -0700 2004 1649145 0 Mar a 3 1649211 No, I didn't mean that. There are certainly people making artisanal oil in the traditional way in Tunisia and Spain as well, and I think even the more industrial oil can be quite good. I merely meant that there are vast areas of those countries planted to olives and the oil they make is exported to other countries such as Italy and then bottled or canned and labelled "product of Italy" which is now entirely legal even though the actual oil is from Spain, or Tunisia. Olive oil is so identified with Italian cuisine, and Italian cuisine so popular in this country, that it is a selling point to imply that it is Italian. I'm not sure what all the technicalities of the new law are but I bet we start seeing more nicely packaged oil proudly proclaiming itself as Spanish or Tunisian or Lebanese, etc. Tue Aug 31 12:33:53 -0700 2004 1649165 0 suzannapilaf 1 1649181 I've had some really good olive oil from Spain, but don't know the names. I like a fruity olive oil for dipping and drizzling over foods. Any recommendations? Tue Aug 31 08:06:33 -0700 2004 1649036 0 Ray 1 1649198 You've gotten a lot of good advice, but I think the first step is moving away from supermarket oils toward "extra virgin" oils. The good entry way to buy these is in liter/or quart bottles, in the under $10 range. That ought to get you a tasty oil (though not an "estate" product. At a place like Zabars, their house brand oils might be a good place to start. You could then explore different kinds of oil (Greek Kalamata, lebanese, tuscan/umbrian,ligurian, which is a lighter italian style (Olivieri is one brand) sicilian, spanish (Lerida is a good area. I think), portuguese, etc. to see what style you like. I usually look for greener oils, but some of the spanish french and ligurian oils are more yellow in color. Buy your oil in a place that has good turnover of product! A big display of lots of different oils can be intimidating, but many of them especially the pricy EVOO "estate" bottlings may have sat there on the shelf for years, so dont waste your money! Look for production or use by dates (not decipherable on every bottle). Since the 2004 harvest and pressing is only starting around now continuing through the end of the year, you will probably not see 2004 dates for quite a while. If you just see a "use by" date, I believe this is usually set 2 years after the harvest. I wouldnt buy anything now with a production date before 2003, because you just dont know how it was stored. I like the olive-y taste of the unfiltered "olio nuovo" or new oil, but its not going to actually be new oil if you buy it now - look out for oil with a 2004 harvest date, if you want to enjoy this. Feel free to use your oil in cooking as well as uncooked. It may not be the highest and best use of EVOOs but they work very well. Olive oil doesnt keep its fresh flavor forever, so you want to get through your bottles relatively fast once opened, and keep them in a cool place. Tue Aug 31 10:11:49 -0700 2004 1649036 0 jen kalb