Every time I see a recipe for vinaigrette that says "good quality olive oil" it makes me laugh. Do we ever see use good quality flour or good quality baking powder?

It just seems to be a thing.

I don't think it's a silly instruction at all. Olive oils range from cheap, nasty and fake to super-expensive and heavenly. If I am giving a recipe in which olive oil is an important part (e.g. vinaigrette or mayonnaise) I don't want someone to make it with horrible rancid oil and hate it.

If baking powder and flour varied in quality I dare say baking recipes would suggest the quality level required.

Oooh sorry!

Bye again

Actually some recipes do specify what kind of flour to use, '00" "Doppio Zero" for pasta/pizza, that is a quality thing to my mind.

Have to admit to buying a supermarket brand of olive oil that I find has an acceptable taste most of the time, because I simply can't justify buying a "good quality" one at upwards of $30/litre. During fair season I sometimes pick up something truly special and then use it for salads (and use it all up in a week drizzling it on all I can think of), but mostly if you come to mine you get basic old supermarket stuff.

Right there with you Griz. My budget cannot extend to boutique oils, so the $12/L stuff is what I get. I did receive a bottle of Village Press for a Christmas gift and I've enjoyed using that in dressings - there most definitely is a beautiful difference in taste, but not one I can regularly afford at this time.

To me, the flour thing is more scientific than just taste/quality. Different flours have different features - protein level, fineness of grind, ratio of hard/soft wheat, and in some recipes that can make a marked difference to the texture of the final product. More often than not you can sub whatever you have and the end result will be good enough, just not spot on how it was intended.

Ditto for the supermarket olive oil. For a few months I revelled in the small can of Italian evoo I bought during my tour of Tuscany. Not only was the oil delicious, but I loved the opening: a little pop-up flexible pouring tube didn't allow the oil to dribble down the side of the container, but every drop went into whatever food it was intended for.

It was a fair comment Ali W made and has certainly opened up some interesting responses.

I also have various oils ranging from expensive (some have been gifts) to the "everyday" type. It depends on the dish or how I'd serve it. I certainly don't use the very expensive oil in most of my dishes. I have also looked at the "good quality oil" sometimes stated and smiled but then I tell myself that not everyone who prepares food has the same understanding of oils, as with a lot of other ingredients. I've never had any complaints.

Griz Wrote:
-... I simply can't justify buying
> a "good quality" one at upwards of $30/litre.

Griz, I keep two grades of olive oil on hand: Pam's Extra Virgin for frying, and Village Press for use as a condiment and in sauces and other contexts where the flavour is important. Village Press is regularly on discount at $9.99 for 500 ml at New World, which is pretty reasonable for a top quality, fresh and unadulterated oil. A while ago Consumer published some test results which rated Pam's extra virgin as genuine olive oil and not rancid, while most of the other bulk olive oils were either or both.

I, too buy Village Press. My local New World has it on special quite frequently. I bought some Terra Sancta Olive Oil on special from a Deli and I've been using that drizzled over food. Village Press has in my opinion just as nice a flavour though. However, I don't think I have ever tasted some super expensive olive oil. For high frying I use coconut oil. Might give Pam's a try. Thanks for the heads-up on that TPANDAV. I do get Consumer but I just can't recall reading that article.

You can definately taste the difference between an average olive oil you might use to drizzle on roast vegetables and one that you would dip bread in, and serve on a cheese/ entree board.

Don't leave Ali W.....I actually find it funny when you see Extra Light Olive oil - what on earth does that mean...its OIL...what do they remove for it to be extra light?

Google says re Extra Light Olive Oil - the "Light" refers to the flavour only, so this oil has a very light flavour, which has been achieved by refining the oil. I guess it would be good in something like mayonnaise, where you don't want much of an olive oil flavour,

I laugh that people buy the light because they think its lighter in calories and better for you - marketing is a minefield.

I recently googled "Ready Salted" and discovered back in the day chips came with packets of salt separate to the chips.

I don't know about NZ, but back in the 1950/60s UK our chips (crisps in English, to distinguish them from chips as in fish & chips) came with salt in a little blue twist of greaseproof-type paper. And in the fish & chip shops, salt and vinegar was put on the counter for people to help themselves. I cannot abide the NZ way of F&C shops salting my food for me and always request 'no salt, please' with my order. It's even stranger that some cafes/restaurants even salt the chips when serving them on a plate with other food.

So did you open your packet of hot chips, salt them and rewrap them?

I cant imaging not getting salted chips or crisps, I will often put more salt on.

Vanessa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2017 02:58AM by Vanessa45.

No, Vanessa, I don't like salt on my chips and very little salt on anything else except salted caramel ice cream. I always add a bit more salt to that! We all have our little quirks.

Someone told me not long ago that F&C shops in Oz are not allowed to salt their food. They must leave it for the customer to do themselves.

In the UK it was easily solved by serving the food in open-top greaseproof bags which are then put into a sheet of folded-up newspaper to make it easy to hold whilst still able to get at the whatever is in the bag. The salt and vinegar is on the counter for the customer to help themselves so everyone gets exactly what they want. If you were taking the purchase home, you asked for it to be wrapped up, as is done here, but it was still salted etc by the customer when they got home. I'm not sure if that's the way it's still done. I've been in NZ for 50 years so have lost touch.

I too often find that chips are over-salted for my taste. I've done the "no salt, please" thing, but found that when I've got home and then salted, the chips have dried out and the salt I add no longer sticks to them.. which is I find more aggravating that too much salt. My solution for the mean time is to tap each chip on my plate a couple of times and at least some of the excess salt falls off. Even when I ask for "only a little bit of salt", there is still often too much. I think the shaker things just heave it out!

Speaking of salt, they're starting a U-turn on that now too...........[www.medicalnewstoday.com]

Going back to this thread about mediocre olive oils.

Over the last couple of months I've been paying attention to NZ olive oils and their price, and I still can't quite justify $20/L on sale. However, I thought I'd try a middle ground - Australian olive oil. After a bit of research, I've tried Cobram Estate "Robust" EVOO and have found it to be very nice - it tastes and smells like olives, which is a good start. A distinct step up from the standard supermarket brands, and at a price half way between them and NZ oils. I've bought it on sale from Countdown (haven't seen AU oils at New World) for $10.50/750ml, reg price is $12.00. Sale price makes it $14/L which is close enough to the $12 or so I was usually paying for other brands.

[www.countdown.co.nz]