Olive Oil lies

boing
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About food? Boy, does he ever!

:wink:

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Avocado oil.

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A lot of people remember that NYT infographic about adulterated olive oil, but not nearly so many ever saw the correction. In short, it’s not that it doesn’t happen, but the original grossly overstated things. 69% wasn’t proven to be “doctored,” it was deemed not to taste like Extra Virgin, which is obviously far more subjective:

nyt99.gif650×1042 59.5 KB

I wouldn’t be too quick to take the author’s advice on using high heat, though. Not for breaking-​down-​into-​transfat reasons, but because you don’t want to fill your kitchen with smoke:

Olive Oil: Unrefined       320 F
           (Good Eats)     375 F
           Extra Virgin*   406 F
           Virgin**        420 F
           Olive Oil*      438 F
           Pomace Oil**    460 F
           Extra Light*    468 F

source

(Pomace oil is good for softening calloused feet, I hear.)

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Yes, let’s trust a source that still thinks consuming antioxidants is in any way healthier. That was proven to be marketing BS years ago. Here’s a thought: use the plant- or animal-based fat that does the job you need, or that you like the taste of, and don’t feel bad for not paying out the nose for precious, tinned, artisanal, overpriced olive squeezings. After all, someone’s got to patronize Whole Foods, and it ain’t gonna be me.

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I grew up on a small olive farm (going back for picking next week). As with anything else, things get really detailed once you hit enthusiast-grade appreciation but a lot of it is comes down to a few things:

  • ‘Extra Virgin’ is a good thing, but it’s not a guarantee. Olive oils don’t have to go past an elite panel who evaluate the claims on the label before they hit the market.
  • ‘Early pick’ or ‘early harvest’ oil is sharper in flavour, ‘late harvest’ tends to be more mild. The earlier you pick, the higher the ratio of green to black olives. Most oils on the market aim for an even balance of green to black.
  • Most importantly, the strength of flavour deteriorates over time. A fancy oil you’ve had in the cupboard for a year may taste less nice than a cheap oil that’s recently harvested. If you want flavour, try to buy something from the current year (I’m still using leftovers from two years ago for cooking, I just wouldn’t put it on a salad)
  • Quick test: Smell or taste the oil. The stronger it smells of freshly-cut grass, the closer it is to the ‘early harvest/recent crop’ end of the flavour spectrum.
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This site has some good information about olive oil:

http://truthinoliveoil.com/

I got interested in how oil is processed and it’s actually disturbing that rancid oil is deodorized and sold, quite commonly. I’m very picky about the oils I purchase. No canola; I purchase my olive oil from a specialty store; only non-deodorized coconut oil.

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It’s deodorized. Most oils sold in the grocery store are. I grew up with this olive oil that had no taste, and then one day I discovered real olive oil and fell in love. I purchase at a specialty olive oil store - to give an idea of how different it is, I take my teenage daughter in there and she loves to taste all the different oils. In fact, she gets mad if I go to the store without her.

I’m not sure how I went down this road, but most of the information I got about oils be deodorized came from industry websites that sell the deodorizers and describe the process of superheating the oil to take off the odor.

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Your post reminds me of the reason why French chefs in the Middle Ages got to be known for their sauces: it’s a great way to cover up the taste of rancid meat. (That’s also one reason for all the hot spices in cuisines near the Equator.)

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Personally, I enjoy virgin coconut oil on my toast in the mornings. Lovely stuff.

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I buy McEvoy ranch olive oil for eating but not cooking. It is very expensive, but it is the only olive oil I’ve ever had that I like plain (well with a little salt) on bread, so I buy my little jar and keep it hidden from my roommates.

For cooking? I will rarely use olive oil simply because the smoke point is a little too low.

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the estuary?

http://www.salmonrecovery.gov/Habitat/EstuaryHabitat.aspx

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My dad quite regularly uses this to explain why he doesn’t eat gravy. That it’s purpose was to disguise the taste of rancid/rotten meat.

My theory is, “Yeah, and if it can make even rotten meat taste good, think of what it’ll do for fresh meat!”

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