I had been complaining to the world in general about how I was so tired of "bitter" olive oil. It might have gone on, rather unconsciously, for several months. And then one day I decided to do something about it. Stop whining, and figure out a solution. I grabbed several bottles at the grocery store, planning a taste test. Ryan said it might have been better if we had done it anonymously, because he believed the "sexy bottles" might have swayed the votes.
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And if you were wondering, this took best in show, although Publix brand came in as the best buy. While we were at it, we tasted vinegar and liked Costco the best.
Great post about being positive-it's so easy to be the opposite sometimes-i'd like to try to work on this too!
ReplyDeletebtw-how do you tell your olive oil is sour? oh boy, i was just going to type in i so wish i was a better cook but i'm going to rephrase that to i'm going to work on some new recipes and see what else i can learn about cooking starting with olive oil :)
Dawn-it wasn't that my olive oil had gone bad or rancid, but some olive oils have a sweeter taste than others. Just taste it plain and you can tell :)
ReplyDeleteI just started reading your blog not that long ago. I love this idea of doing an olive oil "taste test" :) We use it a lot, I don't know why I never thought to do this. Great post on being positive! Thanks
ReplyDelete~Christie
Olive Oil is my love...thanks for sharing your favorite!! I love going to Macaroni Grill when the give you a plate of bread and EVOO to dip it into.
ReplyDeleteYummy.
Have you tried grape seed oil. Very similar. Also healthy. Wild Tree has wonderful variations including butter flavored for popcorn. I use a bunch of garlic grapeseed oil.
ReplyDeleteRyan is right about covering the bottles. I was just thinking the other day how in college I listened to instrumentals of songs all the time because I thought that that is what intellectuals were supposed to do although I really don't like instrumentals.
ReplyDeletewell good to know.....thanks for spending the $$ so your readers could learn from you!! now do you use this just for dipping or for cooking too?
ReplyDeleteJayna Rae-I'll have to try that out next! Thanks!
ReplyDeletekera-You can't tell so much in cooking with other flavors in the mix, but for plain dipping, I think it's worth it to get something that tastes superior.
We are total olive oil snobs! Our regular daily "stock" is the extra virgin olive oil from Costco. It's pretty good. BUT, we hoard the good stuff for fresh veggies & salads...no cooking. We order olive oil by the case from StoneHouse...http://stonehouseoliveoil.com/
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived in San Francisco, we'd buy it at the Ferry Building. Since we moved in Colorado, we couldn't find anything as tasty. It's yummy!
Katy,
ReplyDeleteHave you tried the Kirkland Signature olive oil? I'm not talking about the stuff in the 64 oz plastic bottle. This comes in a 1 qt glass bottle, a lot like the KS balsamic vinegar. It's a special variety, cold pressed and the most recent harvest (says which one on the bottle). It's typically available starting in the springtime from the prior fall/winter harvest. That stuff is amazing. Nice fruity notes, very clean flavor.
I learned something new about olive oil recently. Use extra-virgin for your dressings, but for cooking, just regular olive oil. Extra-virgin gets bitter when cooked. I tried it, and it's really true!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me to be positive. I am always asking my daughter to stop whining, but I know I whine sometimes and it even bothers me to hear myself...
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the olive oil and cookies in the same photo I thought we were soul mates - I bake with olive oil and my chocolate chip cookies taste great with olive oil instead of butter/margarine/oil/shortening. Have a good weekend!
Sometimes I try not to whine for just a day and find it's almost impossible. Can't imagine how you manage with 5 kids!
ReplyDeleteGreat choice on the olive oil, I'm spanish and that's the one I use.
Sorro-we haven't tried the smaller KS olive oil, and it was actually their 64 oz jug that I complained about. We'll have to add that to our taste test!
ReplyDeleteRachelle-I haven't heard this! Another test to try!
Laura-Ryan likes to bake cookies with olive oil, but I must confess I have a deep love for butter.
pp-so glad we're on the same page!
I find your post fabulous! This is what I do for a living (more or less)...I have a BS and MS in Food Science and professionally judge food using organoleptic testing.
ReplyDeleteSerenia Stegner
Oh, by the way...as soon as you open the olive oil bottle the oxygen starts to oxidize the oil, causing off flavors...also the oil become rancid once it starts breaking down. Rancidity is easily detected by a bitter taste.
ReplyDeleteIt is best to store olive oil in dark, cool places...ie a cupboard far from the oven/stove...
Hope this helps a bit!
Love olive oil and have found the Tuscan Herb one here to be worth the $$$
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fustinis.com/default.asp
Their balsamic vinegar is so good that my kids will eat cooked collards for breakfast as long as there is a little splash of both oil and vinegar on top - I've even seen my kids lick their plates with this stuff
but I'm picky and sometimes whine myself - still working on the whining and plate licking here
either way that looks like a really fun experiment and fun blog to follow here!