Good Olive Oil

I have 2 bottles of really excellent (IMO) olive oil that I brought back from Spain. I am afraid to open them because I heard good olive oil turns rancid fast. Is that true?

Does anyone have any ideas of what I should use the oil for? Cooking seems like a waste of such good stuff! And how long do they last once opened? Thanks!

I don't think it turns rancid that fast. It just loses its flavor and aromas once opened. But think you have a few months before you'd really notice anything.

A good use for good olive oil is as a finishing sauce - i.e. on meat, vegetables, salads, etc. Depending on whether your oil is more robust, subtle, minerally, bitter, etc., you'd want to match it with different types of foods. But it is best not to overthink it. I'd also recommend smelling and tasting it directly off a spoon, rather than paired with something.

Don't use these for cooking (i.e. heating up).

Thanks for the info Darren72! I am expecting a shipment of lobsters today and was toying with the idea of dipping them in the olive oil instead of butter (mainly because I am out of butter!) I guess I will be cracking a bottle open tonight!

CrazyC wrote:Thanks for the info Darren72! I am expecting a shipment of lobsters today and was toying with the idea of dipping them in the olive oil instead of butter (mainly because I am out of butter!) I guess I will be cracking a bottle open tonight!

Much as I love olive oil, go buy butter. Something I thought of, but have not had a chance to try yet, when you clarify the butter, I always clarify butter for lobster dipping, add lobster friendly flavor, I'd start with rosemary or vanilla.

In a Martha Stewart moment I have brushed grilling lobster with rosemary tied to skewers and dipped in butter, and have had vanilla accented sauces with lobster in restaurants, so I don't think either will flop, but make two batches of clarified butter, one plain, just in case.

Also, olive oil flavor ranges from nutshell bitter to fruity sweet, lobster compatibility depends much on where in the spectrum yours falls.

G Wiv wrote:vanilla accented sauces with lobster in restaurants

IIRC, Charlie Trotter popularized that combo. Each to his own, but it's not a combination I enjoy. Rosemary sounds good. Tarragon is good with lobster, too.

CrazyC wrote:Thanks for the info Darren72! I am expecting a shipment of lobsters today and was toying with the idea of dipping them in the olive oil instead of butter (mainly because I am out of butter!) I guess I will be cracking a bottle open tonight!

I agree with Gary that olive oil doesn't sound like a great lobster dip, but you could make a lobster salad and use your oil in a nice vinaigrette or lemon dressing.

LAZ wrote:IIRC, Charlie Trotter popularized that combo. Each to his own, but it's not a combination I enjoy. Rosemary sounds good. Tarragon is good with lobster, too.

LAZ, not exactly. Banchet was spreading the gospel on lobster and vanilla more than twenty five years ago and I was in the choir. The combination began in France, not on Armitage Ave.

Evil

Evil Ronnie wrote:Banchet was spreading the gospel on lobster and vanilla more than twenty five years ago and I was in the choir. The combination began in France, not on Armitage Ave.

I never thought it started with Trotter. But it was one of his signatures for a while, and he got a fair amount of press about it.

Banchet's heyday is a little before my time.

No one has posted the most obvious? Slice up a loaf of bread, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with some salt.

Crazy C.

2 essential things you should do with your 2 bottles of Spanish olive oil:

1. Check at the bottom of the label or it could be engraved into the neck of the bottle itself to find out if you have a bottling date
(indicating the freshness of the oil and the probable date of harvesting and pressing) or a "best before" date.
Most good and authentic extra virgin olive oil producers (not distributors) from countries members of the EU ( European Union) nowadays mention one or two of these dates. The reason is that a good quality olive oil start to progressively loose its distinctive "terroir" qualities, reflected in both aroma and flavor 10 months after its bottling. It remains fine though for about up to 2 years after harvesting time.And many people do not perceive the difference.
2. Make sure your bottles, once opened remain stored in a dark, dry, and completely enclosed place that is not too hot. Cold weather has lesser adverse effects on a good quality olive oil than light and warm temperatures.
Never keep your opened bottle in the kitchen near the cooking stove.
Also never refrigerate an opened bottle.

As far as using the oil is concerned: The best way is to use it non-heated on pasta, salads, as a dressing mixed with Dijon mustard and lemon juice, or to marinate chicken or lamb chops.
Personally I sauté and brown all my meats in olive oil. And I use it to bake chicken, to coat salmon along with lemon juice before broiling it, or even to fry eggs. Needless to say all my stews have a generous olive oil content, and of course I use lots of it when I do a ratatouille during the summer.
Also I always start my day with one spoonful of olive oil. It helps regulating transit in you digestive track.
I use one liter of EV olive oil every two weeks.

Also never refrigerate an opened bottle.

Why not?

LAZ wrote:
Banchet's heyday is a little before my time.

That's a pity. It was incredible -- a different era, definitely, but stunning in its beauty, opulence, and deliciousness. I can still almost conjure the fragrance of the salmon with lobster mousse and truffles baked en croute with three sauces, and see in my mind's eye the stuffed snow goose that used to adorn the cart on which foie gras was presented, and remember the enthusiasm of the staff for the glories of dining -- they were always nicer to people who liked food than to those who were there to be seen.


But back to olive oil -- One more thought is use it for dipping bread. You don't need to add anything, except maybe a grind of black pepper. It's a real joy.

Oh -- and regarding rancidity -- one of the top reasons olive oil is your best choice for health is precisely because it goes rancid so much more slowly than other oils. It stays un-rancid for ages -- like 2 to 3 years for the good ones -- even if just sitting in a stone jar in a house with no A/C.

CrazyC wrote:I have 2 bottles of really excellent (IMO) olive oil that I brought back from Spain. I am afraid to open them because I heard good olive oil turns rancid fast. Is that true?

Does anyone have any ideas of what I should use the oil for? Cooking seems like a waste of such good stuff! And how long do they last once opened? Thanks!

How fast do you go through olive oil?

If you are really worried about it, open only one bottle at a time. If you go through a decent amount of olive oil open them both and compare the colors, texture, flavors. I would really just open it, and use it for every finishing scenario you can think of! Do not try to save items like this and keep them around longer. Use it, use it, use it!

What kind of olive oil is it? There may be some truth to going rancid if it is olio nuovo, or fresh harvested olive oil. When these fresh harvested olive oils are bottled the olive sediment hasn't had time to settle completely. So you end up with more sediment in the oil itself, which lends to some of the great flavors. Some say that it is this sediment that leads fresh harvested olive oils to go rancid quicker than regular evoo.

Each year I buy several fresh harvested olive oils, they are sooooo goood! I usually get several from Spain among other places in Europe, Middle East, and the U.S. Pay attention not only to the Country, region, date of harvest...but also the type of olive used.


Enjoy,
Dan

Sundevilpeg:

If you refrigerate olive oil it will become very cloudy and thicken. In many instances you will observe lots of white fluffy particles in suspension in the bottle and possibly some darker residues at the bottom. You will have to bring it back to normal ambient temperature for it to recover its limpidity.
Good EVOO, especially those pressed from the most recent harvest, are often very minimally filtered and most of the time there are sediments at the bottom of the bottle. They become even more apparent and darker if you refrigerate the oil.
Normally you want to refrigerate oils that can oxydize easily and get rancid rapidly if you do not use them often and that have a higher level of omegas 6 and 3.
Exemple: Walnut or hazelnut oils, colza or wheat sprout.
Olive oil which is high in monounsaturated fats does not oxydize easily.
In any case refrigerating your olive oil will in no way affect its aroma and taste.
But I still think that it is much better to keep the oil in a tightly capped bottle, preferably made of darker glass, or even better in a metal container, in a cool, dark, enclosed closet or pantry.
And even better, if you do not as I do use a lot of it, buy your olive oil only in half-liter bottles.