The Secrets of Olive Oil

 

A Mediterranean style of eating, one based on fruits and veggies, fish, beans, nuts, whole grains, healthy fats and let's not forget the wine, has been well regarded to promote health.  People consuming a Mediterranean style diet often have lower rates of heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, obesity, and even Alzheimer's disease. This style of eating isn't actually a true secret. It has been around for centuries, and more recently been made popular by many celebrities like Rachel Ray, Brooke Burke, and Penelope Cruz. It's that well known it even has its own month to celebrate it. Yup you guessed it, May. Mediterranean does sounds exotic, but there are many foods in this style of eating that are available close to home. I'm even willing to bet that one of the healthy hallmarks of a Mediterranean diet can be found in just about anyone's pantry. No it's not fish or wine. I'm referring to olive oil. Adding vibrant flavors and textures to foods, olive oil is high in those healthy monounsaturated fats and antioxidants. A lot of us are buying and using olive oils, but, do we really know what to look for and when to use it? 

So a crash course in olive oil 101. When it comes to buying and storing this oil there are a couple of things to keep in mind. The four foes of olive oil are age, heat, air, and light. When you buy it it's important to make sure it's no more than 18 months old. So source a bottling date on the label. At home you'll want to store this (and other oils really) in a cool, dark place. This means on top of the stove is not ideal, as it will be exposed to both heat and light. Which brings us well into the next point. The word light is also one to remember. It's only allowed on food labels that are reduced in fat or calories. However, it can also refer to the sensory characteristics of the food such as 'light in colour', which is sometimes the case for olive and other oils. 

Not all olive are the same either. The best quality olive oils are obtained from the first pressing of the olives and are 'cold pressed'. You've likely seen that on a label before and wondered what it meant. It basically means they’re not heated during the pressing process. Heating produces larger amounts of oil, but decreases important flavor and healthy compounds. Two constituents rich in extra-virgin olive oil. Extra-virgin olive oil is likely the least refined olive oil we can buy on store shelves. Quality grades which are lower (more refined) would include virgin, olive, pomace, and in that order. Depending on the quality of oil you might be best for your health and dollar, to use different kinds for different types of food preparation.

Smoke point is the temperature at which an oil begins to smoke, or produces fumes and free radicals (the stuff that we know can contribute to chronic disease). An easy way to know which oil to use for high heat would be to refer to its smoke point. So a good rule of thumb: the more refined the oil, the higher its smoke point. The higher the smoke point the safer it is for higher heat cooking. (Not that deep frying is recommended, but higher heat cooking essentially refers to this, as well as searing and browning). A lot of people tend to use extra-virgin olive oil as an all-purpose oil. Because it is expensive and has a slightly lower smoke point, you might be best to keep the extra-virgin olive oil to use as a drizzle for veggies, or as a homemade dressing for salads, and sparingly in baking and oven cooking. Keep more refined and higher smoke points oils (i.e. the other olive oils, or something like sunflower, or canola oil) for higher heats on the stove or in oven.

As seen in The Telegram May 28, 2012