Olive oil

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  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
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    The problem, I think, is that US consumers are only exposed to the very cheapest olive oil products. Berio, Pompeiian, Kirkland, Bertolli, etc. Rare to find a person who owns a $35 liter of EVOO. Before someone flames me, I only buy Berio at about $7 a quart for my own use. But, my sister was a connoisseur and I get that the $35 version is not at all the same product.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    edited April 2019
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    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    The problem, I think, is that US consumers are only exposed to the very cheapest olive oil products. Berio, Pompeiian, Kirkland, Bertolli, etc. Rare to find a person who owns a $35 liter of EVOO. Before someone flames me, I only buy Berio at about $7 a quart for my own use. But, my sister was a connoisseur and I get that the $35 version is not at all the same product.

    This is true, in a way. When I moved to Italy 33 yrs ago, I had to bring oil home with me to Minnesota because it was impossible to find in our area. This was before flying became stressful with the problem of carrying liquids--all I had to worry about then was breakage--ha! Now I can find a decent EVOO in most of the big supermarkets in Minnesota. In Italy I buy first, cold press olive oil and usually directly from the grower. It costs around $8-10 a liter.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited April 2019
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    I love olive oil. It was one of the largest contributors to my extra calories before I decided to lose weight. You're fine, I hate steak and I hate bacon, so there is "weird" for you.

    ETA: you may hate it even more if you get it the way we do. We get it straight from the press. Newly pressed olive oil has a very distinct flavor and even a little bit of spicy bitterness and "rawness" to it.
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,298 Member
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    I can't take olive oil, never could.

    I had to ask for a fresh unadulterated salad about 50 years ago because it was doused in olive oil. I was in a top London restaurant! Fortunately the waiter realised my objection to it was way more than simple dislike, and said so. Many years later I discovered Olive Oil is very high in salicylate, supposed to be brilliant for good health, omega 3's and all that but I react to it, my system is incapable of breaking too much of the stuff down. There are so many plants which use salicylate as a method of protecting themselves from moulds and mildews so these are a problem too. Pain relief also an issue, salicylate is related to aspirin the common pain relief. Since I stopped consuming foods high in salicylate my pain levels have reduced to the extent I never take pain relief though when I had an arthritic flare up the doctor recommended some gel. I did tell him I react to salicylate. He was adamant I would be fine. One smear and I was bed bound with pain.

    Its good we are all different.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    edited April 2019
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    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    I love olive oil. It was one of the largest contributors to my extra calories before I decided to lose weight. You're fine, I hate steak and I hate bacon, so there is "weird" for you.

    ETA: you may hate it even more if you get it the way we do. We get it straight from the press. Newly pressed olive oil has a very distinct flavor and even a little bit of spicy bitterness and "rawness" to it.

    Yesssss!^^^^^^ . Can I ask how much you pay a liter?
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
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    All of the oils have about the same calorie count. But, I do find that amber sesame oil has more flavor imparted to the Asian dishes I make. I can eat olive oil on bread or drizzled on vegetables before roasting or on salads. And, when I do this, I weigh the bottle first and then after drizzling.

    BTW a bottle with a bar liquor pouring spout is a handy device for olive oil.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited April 2019
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    snowflake954 wrote: »
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    I love olive oil. It was one of the largest contributors to my extra calories before I decided to lose weight. You're fine, I hate steak and I hate bacon, so there is "weird" for you.

    ETA: you may hate it even more if you get it the way we do. We get it straight from the press. Newly pressed olive oil has a very distinct flavor and even a little bit of spicy bitterness and "rawness" to it.

    Yesssss!^^^^^^ . Can I ask how much you pay a liter?

    They're sold in 16 liter containers, not single liters. If I calculate the price per liter it's about 7-9 dollars. We get to meet the grower, inspect the olives, sample the oil, then decide if we want it or not. If not, we move to the next pressing machine where a different grower is pressing their olives. If we don't like any there we go to another. There are several olive presses all close to each other so we get to be as picky as we wish with our oil.

    ETA: each grower charges what they think their oil is worth, but that's how much we usually spend. Different olive trees produce different quality oil, and the average price varies year to year depending on how good of a year it was for olive trees.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
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    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    I love olive oil. It was one of the largest contributors to my extra calories before I decided to lose weight. You're fine, I hate steak and I hate bacon, so there is "weird" for you.

    ETA: you may hate it even more if you get it the way we do. We get it straight from the press. Newly pressed olive oil has a very distinct flavor and even a little bit of spicy bitterness and "rawness" to it.

    Yesssss!^^^^^^ . Can I ask how much you pay a liter?

    They're sold in 16 liter containers, not single liters. If I calculate the price per liter it's about 7-9 dollars. We get to meet the grower, inspect the olives, sample the oil, then decide if we want it or not. If not, we move to the next pressing machine where a different grower is pressing their olives. If we don't like any there we go to another. There are several olive presses all close to each other so we get to be as picky as we wish with our oil.

    ETA: each grower charges what they think their oil is worth, but that's how much we usually spend. Different olive trees produce different quality oil, and the average price varies year to year depending on how good of a year it was for olive trees.

    Yes. It's like that here, but different terrain gives the oil a different flavor. Southern oils are thicker and pungent, northern oils are delicate and thinner, middle oils are a mixture. Certain areas are famous for their oils. At Christmas people give a 5 or 10 liter container as a gift.

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