Cooking and Cuisine with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
The culture of extra virgin olive oil is closer to winemaking culture than one might think: a new oleo-gastronomic culture is evolving, aiming to pair extra virgin olive oil with specific dishes. There is indeed a national organization of olive oil tasters (ONAOO), and numerous courses for olive oil tasters are being held throughout Italy.
With the introduction of the Panel Test, it has become essential to appreciate an oil in its “entirety,” highlighting the organoleptic components that, in terms of balance and homogeneity, allow the flavors of various ingredients in which the oil is used to blend harmoniously. While wine accompanies dishes without overshadowing their taste, olive oil can be said to bind and enhance flavors.
The olive oil harvest and the bottling or packaging date are important because a young oil is increasingly aromatic and expresses its typicality and flavor at its best.
Olive oil or seed oil? Always prefer olive oil over seed oil for a few simple reasons:
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- Olive oil is the only product extracted by simply pressing and crushing the fruit, without additional chemical-physical manipulations;
- Seed oil is produced using special equipment (traumatically) and chemical substances such as butane, propane, and hexane.
Precautions in the Kitchen with Olive Oil
We recommend using extra virgin or virgin olive oils for raw consumption, preferring typical oils with guaranteed origin.
For good frying, excluding the first only for economic reasons, we should always prefer olive oil to seed oil.
To judge whether an oil is more or less suitable for frying, one must consider the chemical and physical alterations during the heating process. Laboratory tests have shown that under the same heating conditions, oils containing a higher amount of unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids are more prone to alteration than olive oil, where these are lower compared to other oils like soybean or sunflower oil. The feeling of greater lightness of fried foods in seed oil is therefore only apparent, due to the greater fluidity and blandness of the seed oil, while olive oil can undoubtedly be considered the most suitable for frying.
Good frying is a delight and is certainly the result of true artistry. Foods should be golden and crispy, but not soaked with cooking fat.
How many times to use the oil? Only with olive oil can you perform two or three frying sessions in a pan and even up to 15 in an electric fryer with a thermostat that maintains a constant temperature.
What is the ideal temperature? It depends: moderate (130-145°C) for vegetables and other larger pieces, high (160-170°C) for small cut foods that are battered and breaded, very high (over 170°C) for very small foods.
If you don’t have a fryer? Ideally, use traditional black frying pans, which should never be washed after use but just dried with absorbent paper, and use a gas stove rather than an electric plate, as it transmits temperature variations more directly.
Any additional advice? Never use frying oil for too long, cook foods at room temperature, not cold, immersing them in already hot oil, use containers proportionate to the size of the foods being fried, never let the flame overflow from the sides, and dry well the fried foods, even with absorbent paper.
Here are some tips on why to consume extra virgin olive oil and why to buy oil directly from the mill!
Why you should buy the olive oil from an oil mill?
Discover our tips on why you should use only extra virgin olive oil and buy the oil directly from the mill!