Hi!
Today I am going to be writing about the use of olive oil and olives in the kitchen.
Olive Oil in the Kitchen
Olive oil is a kitchen staple. One of the most important things to have on hand when working in a kitchen is oil, specifically having extra virgin olive oil. Olive oil has numerous health benefits making it much more ideal to reach for, along with having a distinct taste and smell which can highly benefit dishes. It is important to only buy extra virgin olive oil as it is known to not contain any extras and has not been refined. Here are some tips on buying a good oil and properly storing it.
The four enemies of olive oil are: light, temperature, harvest date, and oxygen.
Look for the oil to have been made cold pressed. This means that the olives were harvested and then pressed in a cold environment ensuring that flavors are not lost, and the olive broken down due to any heat being involved.
Look at the use by and the harvest day listed on the bottle. This will ensure that you are using oil within the proper timeframe and you are able to see when the oil was created, as oil unlike wine does not get better the longer you have it. In fact, it is advised to use oil within a year of purchasing. Having a fresh oil will allow you to get the best flavor that comes from the olive.
You want to ensure that you are keeping your oil in a cool, dry, and dark location. Oxygen can affect how the oil is setting and make it turn. To avoid this, it is important to have a bottle that is properly sealed, and one that either is a darker bottle color or kept in a darker space.
One of the reasons olive oil is so essential in every kitchen is due to how versatile it is, as it can be used from appetizers to desserts and almost everything in between. Olive oil can be used in cooking and as a condiment/dressing. When cooking with olive oil it is better to add later in the cooking process as it will allow the flavor to be richer.
When it comes to using olive oil as a dressing/condiment it is advised to get a higher quality oil when you are consuming it just as is. This is to make sure that you are having something that allows you to actually taste the flavor and have some quality behind it. Some popular recipes that involve olive oil as a foundation to the flavor are focaccia, and spaghetti aglio e olio (spaghetti with garlic and olive oil) among many others. Olive oil is the starting point of almost all recipes.
Olives in the Kitchen
Whole olives are a staple in almost all Italian kitchens. It is said that Italians are able to use olives to their full potential unlike Americans who mostly use olives as a topper on dishes like nachos and pizza. Olives are very versatile and are able to be used in every style of food as they can offer a nice complement/enhancer to different flavors.
Olives are one of the only foods you do not find fresh in the store. To make olives edible you have to remove oleuropein which is the part of the olive that makes it have a disgusting and very bitter taste. In order to get olives to the point that they are actually digestible they have to be soaked in water or fermented in a salty brine. These two processes usually take many weeks, so they have made a chemical process using sodium hydroxide that speeds up the time, so it only takes a week.
When looking for olives in the supermarket there are a couple locations they can be found. The first is usually by the deli section where they will have olives that are marinated, the second is canned olives which may be by the condiments or by canned vegetables. They can also sometimes be found in the international food area. Eating olives has numerous health benefits including lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, along with being rich with different vitamins and minerals such as vitamin E, iron, copper, and more.
There are many different recipes that involve olives a popular dish is called Pasta Puttanesea, it contains olive oil, garlic, anchovies, diced tomatoes, kalamarta olives, capers, and red pepper flakes. The dish is very rich and hearty while containing very simple ingredients. A popular dish specific to the region I had been staying in Italy is Olive Ascolane which are fried green olives stuffed with minced meats and spices. They make a vegetarian version and I enjoyed it when we were in Italy. You can find many different recipes involving olives from breads to desserts.
Here is a link to an article that lists the nutrition facts and benefits from consuming olives which can be helpful to know! Here is a link to a site that details the manufacturing and processing of olives from the tree to what something edible. Hopefully you were able to learn a little about olives and olive oil
Ciao!
Cooking Court 