Advice

Cooking with olive oil

There are plenty of reasons to recommend the use of extra virgin olive oil for cooking, where it proves to be extremely versatile. In the sphere of gastronomy, there is also a parallelism between oil and wine; gourmets maintain that there is an appropriate oil for each kind of food. The oil must be chosen carefully because, regardless of whether it is used as seasoning or for frying, it is of decisive influence in the flavour of the dish.

• The choice of one oil type or another depends on each individual’s taste, but even so an unwritten rule insists on the fact that smoother virgin olive oils are ideal for the salads and vegetables, while more strongly flavoured oils are more suitable for frying, grills and roasts.
  
• One thing that is generally accepted as true is that virgin olive oil is perfect for frying because it is not damaged at high temperatures, it does not lose its qualities and it can be reused, unlike what occurs with other vegetable oils. It also goes further on the frying pan: it increases visibly through the effect of heat. When fried, virgin olive oil does not penetrate into the food, but lends it the perfect touch so as not to distort the food’s own flavour.
  
• Higher quality oil is best appreciated taken raw, when it allows one to savour all the nuances that make up its flavour. In this respect it is clearly differentiated from insipid oils made from seeds whose taste is neutral and standardised.
  
• It should not be forgotten that more intensely flavoured oil runs the risk of drowning the flavour of the food or that lighter texture oil is hardly noticed if it accompanies strongly-flavoured dishes.
  
• Unlike good wines, oil does not mature or improve with the passage of time. An open bottle should be used up fairly quickly because the content only maintains its qualities for about one year and from then on begins to deteriorate and become rancid. For this reason, it is very important when buying a bottle of extra virgin olive oil that you check the packaging date.
  
• Bottles or cans of virgin olive oil should be stored in a cool dry place away from light and heat.