The Olive » The Oils http://cibaria-intl.com/blog Enlightenment on Gourmet Cooking, Olive Oils, Specialty Oils, and More! Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:49:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 The Secret to Buying Wonderful Olive Oil http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/2009/12/the-secret-to-buying-wonderful-olive-oil/ http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/2009/12/the-secret-to-buying-wonderful-olive-oil/#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:04:07 +0000 Cibaria Olive Oils http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/?p=70 Deciphering what olive oil to select can often be as tough as choosing wine. Just as wine, tastes also vary quite a bit. Your friends may like a more peppery olive oil, while you may like something fruitier, or perhaps one with more buttery tones. The art of choosing the perfect olive oil really is a very personalized one.  When standing at your local grocery store or while browsing a fine foods website, you’re faced with an immense amount of different options. Various regional varietals are available, different styles, and of course different brands. How do you know what quality olive oil really is?  Today, we’re going to find out!

Since olive oil is used for so many different purposes, choosing an olive oil for an individual dish may not be a sound idea, unless you’re a five-star chef with a hefty budget in hand. In most cases, you’ll want to get the best use out of a finer olive oil, so you must be sure you are 100% happy with it, and that it’s versatile in your cooking style.

Regional Olive Oils, and What You Should Know

Greek Olive Oil: Greece is one of the top three olive oil producing countries, and Greek olive oil is the finest in the world. Greece devotes 60% of its cultivated land to olive growing. Before buying you should consider that green olive oil is most likely a product of green olives, harvested before ripening, and is highly prized by many. Golden-yellow olive oil is generally the product of olives that have been allowed to ripen longer. Both green and golden-yellow oils can be extra virgin oils.A bitter or sharp taste usually indicates that the olives were not ripe when picked. Oil made from ripe olives has a mild, fruity taste. Taste is entirely a matter of preference, and oils made from both unripened and ripened olives have wide appeal.

Italian Olive Oil: The Italians take great pride in their superb olive oil production and bottling. Some of the finest olive oils in the world are also produced in Italy. In fact, many of the world’s top olive oil awards and honors come straight out of Italy, and many of the winning olive oils are produced right in Italy. Since many regions of Italy produce olive oil, the tastes can vary greatly from region to region, and from crop to crop. Since the variety is so large, it is best to try your hand at many different regions, and take notes on which flavors you liked and disliked from specific regions, while narrowing down your top choices.

Spanish Olive Oil: Of the European production, 93% comes from Spain, Italy and Greece. Smooth, Vibrant, Bold. Just like a fine wine, the varietal, climate and region determine an olive oil’s taste. From the southern olive groves of Andalucía to the northern region of Catalonia, Spain, the number one producer of olive oil, offers the largest variety of unique oils that are as distinctive and diverse as nature itself. They will heighten the flavor of your meals and really do well in most dishes.

Turkish Olive Oil: For years Turkey has been the 3rd largest producers of olive oil, right after Italy and Spain. The olive oils of some small producers are treated like fine vintage wines, and are often grown by wine producers. Some of these oils are priced like fine wines as well. The great varieties of subtle flavors and textures from different regions, producers & vintages make them well worth trying. Used sparingly in salads and dips, a bottle should last weeks or months.

California Olive Oil: California is a newcomer to the game of olive oil processing, and their quality is consistently getting better and better. There are now over 200 producers of world-class olive oil in California. Since California olive oils are generally a bit more “peppery” and have a bit more of a bite than most of their European counterparts, your preference generally lies in the fruitiness, but especially the amount of “peppery” bite at the back of your tongue after tasting the oil. Some oils elicit a cough or two..or more. Thus, gaining labels such as “one cough oils” or “two cough oils” and so on.

There are many other regions of olive oil, each producing it’s own unique flavors. A good idea for someone looking to learn what best suits their tastes is simple good note taking. If you’ve got an iPhone, the Evernote app is great for things like this. Otherwise, a simple notebook will do the trick. Log the brand, region, and tastes. You can get really into it and download and fill out Olive Oil Tasting sheets from the internet.

Other Tips to Remember when Purchasing Olive Oil

  • Although rarely found on store shelves today, oils that have been bottled in reactive metal containers such as copper, should not be purchased.
  • The quality and flavor will differ greatly between different brands of olive oil. Some shops specializing in olive oil may offer samples to help you decide on a specific selection. Prices for a half liter of high quality extra virgin olive oil may range from $7 to $32, which is comparable to a bottle of wine. In order to be a bit more affordable, expensive olive oils can be purchased in smaller sizes and then used occasionally for salads or as a condiment.
  • When purchasing an expensive, single estate olive oil, the age of the oil is important. Look for the harvest date on the label and ask questions before buying. Olive oil does not improve with age, so any oil that is older than 1½ years should not be purchased. Olive oil is always of the best quality in the year it is produced, unlike wine, which may require several years to reach its peak.
  • Other popular sources for purchasing high quality edible oils are mail order catalogs and the Internet. Many individual edible oil producers issue catalogs and/or have Web sites that allow consumers worldwide to purchase various products.

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]]> http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/2009/12/the-secret-to-buying-wonderful-olive-oil/feed/ 0 A Wonderful Tool That Every Cook, Chef, and Foodie Should be Using http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/2009/11/a-wonderful-tool-that-every-cook-chef-and-foodie-should-be-using/ http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/2009/11/a-wonderful-tool-that-every-cook-chef-and-foodie-should-be-using/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:16:00 +0000 Cibaria Olive Oils http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/?p=45 Every trade has it’s tools, and even the easiest of tasks generally require something additional to complete. Construction workers have their hammers, web designers have their computers, artists have their paint brushes, and of course cooks and chefs have their utensils, pots, pans and ingredients. If you haven’t noticed by now, cooks have one of the most tool-intensive tasks out there. Not only are there pots for this and spoons for that, there are also a plethora of other things to keep track of.

Just a few things chefs, foodies, and everyday cooks fret over:

  • Ingredients
  • Recipes
  • Recipe tweaking and outcome
  • Specialty ingredients
  • Preferred Brands of products used
  • Pots
  • Pans
  • Measuring cups
  • Mixers
  • Special techniques that help along the way

Imagine after years of trying recipes, that you have to remember most of these elements the old fashioned way? Pen and paper were likely your grandmother’s way of keeping track of her prized recipes. Papers get lost, tossed in boxes, and forgotten about in the attic. That prized recipe that you wish you had the time to make again is now a buried memory in the back of your mind, amidst the new recipes and new ingredients you’re toying with.

Now onto the fun part! With the internet at our disposal, recipe books are no longer the primary way to obtain and organize recipes. They can’t help us remember much when it comes to notes, or what we’d do differently the next time we got around to making that culinary masterpiece.

What can a person do?

EvernoteEvernote! What is evernote? It’s an online organizing resource that literally lets you place your world into clips, files, photos, notes, and whatever you need to organize the best way for YOU.

Evernote is especially useful for foodies and cooks because of it’s clipping and instant photo intake properties. Want to snap a shot of that recipe you just made to add to your own recipe book? Discover a new find that you HAVE to save!? Declutter your browser bookmarks, and use evernote. We use it for all kinds of things, and can’t sing it’s praises enough.

Here’s some useful ideas to help you get Organized:

- 10 ways to run a restaurant with Evernote: http://s.evernote.com/foodrestaurant
- Cooking a meal with Top Chef contestant Laurine Wickett (video): http://s.evernote.com/foodtopchef
- Using Evernote to digitize a prized family recipe book: http://s.evernote.com/foodcookbook
- Evernote’s CEO’s catalog of everything he ate while visiting Japan: http://s.evernote.com/foodjapan
- Evernote as a food blogger’s tool: http://s.evernote.com/foodblog
For more information on Evernote, go to www.Evernote.com

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]]> http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/2009/11/a-wonderful-tool-that-every-cook-chef-and-foodie-should-be-using/feed/ 0 Researchers Looking to Extra Virgin Olive Oil For a Possible Cure in Alzheimer’s Disease http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/2009/10/researchers-looking-to-extra-virgin-olive-oil-for-a-possible-cure-in-alzheimers-disease/ http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/2009/10/researchers-looking-to-extra-virgin-olive-oil-for-a-possible-cure-in-alzheimers-disease/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:19:54 +0000 Cibaria Olive Oils http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/?p=39 iStock_000006568961XSmallExtra-virgin olive oil (or E.V.O.O. to fans of cooking show host Rachael Ray) is heart-healthy cooking oil that goes great with Mediterranean food. Now, researchers say it might also help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Specifically, the compound oleocanthal in extra-virgin olive oil has been found to alter the structure of certain toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer’s. Researchers say the discovery could lead to successful immunotherapy treatments against the disease.

Beta-amyloid oligomers, or ADDLs, bind themselves to the neural synapses of the brain and disrupt nerve cell function, which is one of the first processes associated with Alzheimer’s, according to researchers at Monell Chemical Senses Center. By exposing ADDLs to oleocanthal, researchers were able to increase the size of the ADDLs, stopping them from binding to the synapses of the hippocampus, the memory-control center of the brain that is often first affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers also discovered that, once the ADDLs had been enlarged by the oleocanthal, they became a better target for antibodies, the immune system’s natural defense mechanism. Clinical trials must support the laboratory results for progress toward potential treatments to occur, experts cautioned. The results of the study will appear in the Oct. 15 edition of the journal Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology.

(from Mcknights.com)

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]]> http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/2009/10/researchers-looking-to-extra-virgin-olive-oil-for-a-possible-cure-in-alzheimers-disease/feed/ 0 Exploring The Wide World of Healthy Cooking Oils http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/2009/09/exploring-the-wide-world-of-healthy-cooking-oils/ http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/2009/09/exploring-the-wide-world-of-healthy-cooking-oils/#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:21:42 +0000 Cibaria Olive Oils http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/?p=28 99711 Any seasoned chef will tell you that having the freshest, most quality ingredients is one of the biggest components to fine cuisine and gourmet food. As a chef, or wanna-be chef, you are pretty much required to know a lot about a lot. Herbs, spices, vegetable types, sugar types, flour types, seafood types, meat choices, fruit choices, and the list goes on of things you’ve got to know a lot about as a chef or gourmet foodie.  With all of the options and knowledge available to us today, it really takes someone with patience, and best of all, experience to know what goes well with what. What other cooks may love in certain dishes, you may loathe.

It’s all about experience when it comes to cooking oils.

When approaching cooking with your oils, you need to go back to the basics, and remember why you are using an oil in your food, and what exactly it’s for. Oils bring a variety of factors to your dish including healthy benefits.  Many oils contain “good fats” which are those you want to cook with. If you are cooking mainly for health, then these are the oils you want to cook with:

A few oils that you’d likely want to avoid when cooking primarily for health would be Palm Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, and Coconut Oil. These oils contain a large amount of trans fat, or saturated fats. Coconut oil actually contains more fat than some animal products.

Olive Oil - Fine Gourmet Quality

The Bad Fats
Saturated Fats Saturated fats raise total blood cholesterol as well as LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol).
Trans Fats Trans fats raise LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and lower HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).
The Good Fats
Monounsaturated Fats Monounsaturated fats lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and increase the HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).
Polyunsaturated Fats Polyunsaturated fats also lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. Omega 3 fatty acids belong to this group.

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]]> http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/2009/09/exploring-the-wide-world-of-healthy-cooking-oils/feed/ 0 Getting Creative With Cooking Oils http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/2009/09/getting-creative-with-cooking-oils/ http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/2009/09/getting-creative-with-cooking-oils/#comments Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:20:00 +0000 Cibaria Olive Oils http://cibaria-intl.com/blog/?p=6 If you’ve cooked for any extended period of time, then you know that cooking the same dishes (no matter how good they may be), can get quite boring and repetitive. The wonderful part about cooking is that you are able to base an entire meal around one simple ingredient. If you’ve got a certain herb that you’d like to use in your dish, you can easily prepare your  meal around this herb.

The same holds true with cooking oils and specialty cooking oils. Expanding your horizons when it comes to cooking oil is a great way to maintain health. The health benefits of many oils are great. Many already know that Olive Oil is a wonderful ingredient to cook with. However, did you know that Almond Oil can reduce bad cholesterol and lower your risk of heart disease?  In addition to healthy fats and vitamin E, a quarter-cup of almonds contains almost 99 mg of magnesium (that’s 24.7% of the daily value for this important mineral), plus 257 mg of potassium.

So how do you determine which oils are suited to your cooking style? First, you’ll need to become familiar with each oil and it’s primary tastes and functions.

Refined Cooking Oils


Name

Description/Uses for Refined Oils

Type of Fat 2

Smoke
Point 1

Almond

Nut oils are best used in cold dishes; heat destroys their delicate flavor.

495°F

Avocado

This rather unusual light, slightly nutty tasting oil is considered primarily to be a novelty. To add a different twist to salad dressings, try using avocado oil in place of the oil you would normally use. This oil is often made from damaged and cosmetically inferior avocados. It is low in saturated fatty acids and high in polyunsaturates.

520°F
Butter, whole or clarified This the preferred fat for baking as it adds the most flavour. It’s not idea for frying since it will burn at a lower temperature than most oils, but can be used for sauteing. Try adding butter to oil for the flavor benefit of butter and the higher temperature range of oil.

350°F

Canola (A US marketing name for rapeseed oil)

A light, golden-colored oil, similar to safflower oil. Low in saturated fat. Extracted from the seeds of a plant in the turnip family (the same plant as the vegetable broccoli rabe). Used in salads and cooking, mostly in the Mediterranean region and India; also used in margarine and blended vegetable oils. It has a mild flavor and aroma. It is most commonly available in a refined form. Its mild flavor and relatively high smoke point make refined canola oil a good all-purpose oil. Of all the oils, it has the least amount of saturated fat and is one of the least expensive.
mono

400°F

Corn oil

Made from the germ of the corn kernel. Corn oil is almost tasteless and is excellent for cooking because it can withstand high temperatures without smoking. It is high in polyunsaturated fat and is used to make margarine, salad dressings and mayonnaise.
poly

450° F

Grape Seed

This light, medium-yellow, aromatic oil is a by-product of wine making. It is used in salads and some cooking and in the manufacture of margarine.

400°F
Lard

Baking,

361-401°F

Olive

A monosaturated oil extracted from tree-ripened olives. Olive oils range from light amber to green in color and bland to extremely strong in flavor. Olive oil is graded according to its degree of acidity and the process used to extract the oil.
mono

Unrefined 320°F;
Extra Virgin 406°F; Virgin** 420°F;  Extra Light* 468°F

Peanut

Made from pressed, steam-cooked peanuts. Peanut oil has a bland flavor and is good for cooking because it doesn’t absorb or transfer flavors.. Its smoking point is slightly lower than corn or safflower oil
mono

450°F

Safflower, High Oleic

A clear, almost flavorless oil made from the seeds of safflowers. Safflower oil is a favorite for salads because it doesn’t solidify when chilled. Sunflower oil is pale yellow and has a bland flavor. It is a good all-purpose oil low in saturated fat and high in polyunsaturated fat.
mono

450°F

Safflower, Regular

A clear, almost flavorless oil made from the seeds of safflowers. Safflower oil is a favorite for salads because it doesn’t solidify when chilled. Sunflower oil is pale yellow and has a bland flavor. It is a good all-purpose oil.
poly

450°F

Sesame

Made from pressed sesame seeds. Sesame oil comes in two varieties: light (made with untoasted sesames) and dark (made with toasted sesames). Light sesame oil has a nutty flavor and is especially good for frying. Dark sesame oil (Asian) has a stronger flavor and should only be used in small quantities for flavoring foods — not cooking. Both varieties are high in polyunsaturated fat.
poly

410°F
Shortening, vegetable

Baking, frying,

356-370°F

Soybean

Highly refined soy oil is reasonably priced, very mild and versatile, accounting for over 80% of all oil used in commercial food production in the U.S. Almost any product that lists vegetable oil as an ingredient probably contains refined soy oil. This is a good all-purpose oil that is also used in cakes and pastries

450°F

Sunflower, High Oleic

Made from sunflower seeds. Sunflower oil is pale yellow and has a bland flavor. It is a good all-purpose oil
mono

450°F

Sunflower, Regular

A light, odorless and nearly flavorless oil pressed from sunflower seeds. Pale yellow and versatile.
poly

450°F

Vegetable Oil

Made by blending several different refined oils. Designed to have a mild flavor and a high smoke point.

Unrefined Cooking Oils


Name

Description/Uses Unrefined Oils
Type of Fat

Smoke Point 3
Corn
poly

320°F or less
for all
Coconut Oil A heavy, nearly colorless oil extracted from fresh coconuts. Used primarily in blended oils and shortenings. Used primarily in prepared, processed, packaged foods.
Grape Seed This light, medium-yellow, aromatic oil is a by-product of wine making. It is used in salads and some cooking and in the manufacture of margarine.
Nut (walnut, hazelnut) This fragrant full-flavored oil is pressed from hazelnuts and takes on the flavor of roasted nuts. The nuts are often toasted for a browner color and better flavor. The nuts are never blanched. Used in salad dressings, sauces, baked goods, and for sautéing.
poly
Olive 4 sauteing, stir-frying. A monosaturated oil extracted from tree-ripened olives. Olive oils range from light amber to green in color and bland to extremely strong in flavor. Olive oil is graded according to its degree of acidity and the process used to extract the oil. Oil labeled “virgin” is cold pressed, a process using no heat or chemicals and contains low levels of acidity. Oil labeled “pure” uses heat and chemicals to process olive residue from subsequent pressings. Oil varies in weight and may be pale-yellow to deep-green depending on fruit used and processing. Cold-pressed olive oil, is superior in flavor to refined. Oil from the first pressing, called “virgin” olive oil is the most flavorful. Also classified according to acidity: extra virgin, superfine, fine, virgin, and pure, in ascending degree of acidity. “Pure” olive oil, and that labeled just “olive oil” may be a combination of cold-pressed and refined oil; suitable for cooking.
mon
Peanut Made from pressed, steam-cooked peanuts. Peanut oil has a bland flavor and is good for cooking because it doesn’t absorb or transfer flavors.. Its smoking point is slightly lower than corn or safflower oil.
mono
Pumpkin Seed

Safflower, High Oleic Sunflower oil is an excellent all-purpose oil; however, some people find its flavor too strong for baked goods and salads. It stores well and may be used instead of sesame or corn oil. This oil has a high resistance to rancidity.
mono
Safflower, Regular
poly
Sesame There are two types of sesame oil. The oil that is made from roasted sesame seeds has a strong, distinctive flavor. It is called dark sesame or toasted sesame oil and has a intensely rich, smoky, sesame aroma; nutty taste; dark, brown color; thick consistency; and cloudy appearance. It is used a great deal in Chinese and Indian cooking. Just a few drops of this oil can add an outrageously delicious flavor that enhances many foods. Dark sesame oil is ideal for stir-fries, baking, sauces, and spreads.
poly
Soybean Soybeans contain oil that is inefficient to extract in a natural manner; therefore, unrefined expeller-pressed soy oil is rather expensive. Unrefined soy oil has a strong, distinctive flavor and aroma — some like it, some don’t. It has a dark yellow color with a faint green tint. Unrefined soy oil is more susceptible to oxidation and rancidity than sesame, olive, or corn oil.
poly
Sunflower, High Oleic Made from sunflower seeds. Sunflower oil is pale yellow and has a bland flavor. It is a good all-purpose oil
poly
Sunflower, Regular
Vegetable (soybean) An inexpensive and all-purpose blend of oils made from plant sources such as vegetables, nuts and seeds. Most vegetable oils are made from soybeans.
pol

(chart cited from MissVicki.com)

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