Olive Oil Guide

Tips, Rec's and Optimal Uses

Greetings Frens,

A Jungle Animal DM’d me yesterday about this, and given some popular misunderstandings, today we will get you up to speed on a very important pantry staple.

Olive oil is one of the most healthful and delicious fats you can use for nutrition, cooking & flavor However, most olive oils being mass-produced are flavorless and totally unremarkable. Allow me to lead you to “delicious” and skip the crap, so you can enjoy your own “aha” flavor moments!

Health:

So what’s the big deal with olive oils?”

Long story short, olive oils are:

-Anti-inflammatory

-High in Antioxidants

-High in mono-unsaturated fats

TLDR; Ditch seed oils. Use more olive oils

Applications:

Olive Oils have a low smoke point and aren’t ideal for high heat cooking. (Also, at this point, need to tell you that myth about adding olive oil to butter to keep the butter from over-browning is complete crap; butter solids brown at same temp regardless.)

However, for:

-low heat sautéing

-poaching,

-sauces,

-aioli’s (You should be making your own, already: LINK )

Olive oils should be a Go-To in your pantry.

Quality:

Basic and Simple There are grades assigned to olive oils in general. This can vary with geography but for simplicity sake, from lowest to highest grading you have the following grades Olive, Virgin, Extra Virgin.

I use Extra Virgin, cold pressed, exclusively.

Note: Be wary of Supermarket products labelled “Olive Oil”. Many times these are blended products that have a small amount of olive oil and bulked up by, you guessed, seed oils. That’s how they can sell at such a cheap discount.

Geography:

Olives are grown in many areas across the globe, but the main regions to know are:

-Spain

-Italy

-France

-Lebanon

-Greece

Flavor:

When you start consuming great olive oils you discover that the variety of flavors is similar to wine

Flavors like: Almond Lemon Fresh cut grass Mushrooms Truffles Moist Earth Pepper Piquant Spice And many more! The combination of geography & varietal plays a role

The Hack:

Have a great consistent, well made extra virgin olive oil you use for low heat cooking, poaching, aioli’s, dressings, etc.

Essentially your “House” EVOO.

Then have a selection of top tier, indulgent EVOO’s that you use to finish certain dishes you cook.

Autist Note: At this level of quality you will get big differences in flavors and the oils will have their own personality you can use for the right application.

Your House EVOO:

So where do you find and get the best “all purpose” EVOO? Look no further than Lebanon

Yes, I said it.

Ditch Coscto , Whole Foods, and go to your nearest Middle Eastern/Indian grocer and find the Lebanese EVOO’s.

Usually a $12-16 bottle will be ample for months of applications and be highly superior to the mass-market garbagé peddled at the same prices.

*Nablus is one example -100 fl oz. for $14 dollars (insane value for what you get)

High End Storage:

I’m going to highlight some amazing producers that I believe you should try and add to your pantry. Bare in mind that harvests, productions and quality differ from year to year (just like wine), but get these into your rotations and see what you like

But First! Store these in a cool dark place; direct light and UV denatures EVOO. Any premium EVOO you see sold in clear bottles means the producer doesn’t give two-shites about it. But also don’t hold it forever as the oil naturally loses vitality.

Enjoy and have fun with these!

Octopod Picks:

Spain:

Castillo de Canena: Spanish Olive oils that are insanely delicious. Only purveyor I know that has nailed a “smoked” version.

Try: Harissa, Plankton, or Smoked Arbequino And also any reserve offerings

Italy:

Frantoio di S.Agata d’Oneglia -The Gold oil is insane

Franto io Muraglia -Striped bottle; Peppery with licorice and lemon notes. Try all offerings!

Tenute Girolamo -winery that produces a house olive oil worth seeking

Calvi -cold pressed from Taggiasca are ethereal

France:

Jean Reno -a phenomenal line if you can find available. (Autist note: Yes, THAT Jean Reno; IYKYK)

Provence Côte d’Azur -a superior region to try olive oils from in France.

There are many others to choose from but these rec’s will get you into an olive oil Nirvana!

Equal Opportunity, Unequal Results!

Until next time, Frens 🥂