By: Thomas Affatato
Certified Olive Oil Consultant, Italian Culinary Institute, New York, N.Y.
Cooking with Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil in The Kitchen
It’s hard to imagine life around the Mediterranean, and especially Italy, without olive oil. From savory bruschetta and antipasti to delectable grilled fish, succulent seafood, pastas, risottos, platters of perfectly cooked or raw vegetables, even desserts-almost every dish in Italy fells the invigoring touch of extra-virgin olive oil.
While it is true that the Southern Italians use olive oil above all other fats both for cooking and for drizzling raw onto finished dishes (after all, Southern Italy is practically covered in olive groves, and produces the bulk of Italy’s olive oil), Northern Italians too are enamored with olive oil. In recent years, as health concerns reshaped the way Italians cooked and ate, butter has been replaced by olive oil on Northern kitchens; the result is a healthier, fresher-tasting Mediterranean cuisine all over the Italian peninsula.
Using Olive Oil Raw
The best way to truly savor olive oil is raw. In its raw state, olive oil’s distinct organoleptic characteristics are heightened. Unaltered by the application of heat, raw olive oil retains its particular fragrance, its aroma, and its bouquet. As a result, it is especially important the olive oil meant to be used raw (perhaps drizzled on a platter of thickly sliced summer-ripe tomatoes, or used in the dressing for beef carpaccio) be of the very best quality possible. Any flaw present in the olive oil will become very obvious tasting: if the oil lacks body, or tastes flat, or-even worse-is rancid there will be no masking its shortcomings.
Olive oil can be used raw to bring to the forefront certain characteristics of a dish. While most people think of drizzling olive oil salads or toasted bread, there are far more possibilities in which raw olive oil plays a central role in the final flavor of a dish. There is the final drizzle of olive oil over pasta that has already been sauced; over creamy or chunky soups that are waiting in a bowl; over a steak, hot off the grill rare inside; over baked focaccia, warm and aromatic, to which a generous brushing of olive oil gives a pretty shine as well as added flavor. Think of raw olive oil as you would salt: taste the dish, ascertain whether it would benefit from an additional drizzle of olive oil (just as you might check for whether it needs a touch more of salt), and adjust as your palate dictates.
Raw olive oil adds body and depth to food, and often can serve to balance too much acidity (from wine, lemon juice, vinegar, even tomatoes or other astringent foods) in a given dish. It can also be instrumental in equilibrating the spice level of food: add a little raw olive oil to a dish that’s too spicy, and you’ll notice a marked improvement (another trick is to add a dairy product like yogurt or sour cream).
Of course, another reason for using olive oil raw is the mouth feel it offers: fat makes any dish taste more luscious (up to a point). It provides lubrication in the mouth, helps to carry the flavors in the dish, and creates a rich, viscous texture.
When tossing salad greens, vegetables, seafood, or meat with olive oil and an acid ingredient (lemon juice, vinegar, verjuice, and so on), drizzle the acid ingredient on the food first, toss well, and then pour on the olive oil. If you add the olive oil first, the fat will coat the food and not allow the acid to penetrate.
Cooking with Olive Oil
Most of you have used extra-virgin olive oil to sauté before, and some of you might even have started braises and stews in it. But there is a general reluctance to use extra-virgin olive for cooking. The assumption is that because extra-virgin olive oil has a lower smoke point than other fats (it smokes at 250 F, as compared with 410 F for both olive oil and peanut oil), it isn’t appropriate for cooking.
Extra-virgin olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat, and has been shown to be among the healthiest fats we can consume. Why use saturated fats like butter, which we know clog our arteries, or chemically extracted fats like corn oil, when extra-virgin olive oil is so good for us? Most recipes don’t call for taking olive oil above its smoke point anyway, so there are few dangers of burning it as long as you keep a watchful eye on the pan.
Italian cooks use extra-virgin olive oil to sauté foods, to sear meat before braising it, to brush on roasts before placing them in the oven or seafood before placing it on the grill, to sweat vegetables or aromatics for sauces-in short, to do everything you might wish to do in the kitchen.
Sautéing, Searing, and Sweating in Olive Oil
“Place a skillet over medium-high heat and add ¼ cup of extra-virgin olive oil.” A good number of Italian recipes start this way. But just what happens when olive oil is heated and sautéed, seared, or sweated in it?
First of all, the food is imbued with the lovely aroma and flavor of the olive oil. Sugars in the food caramelize, moisture id drawn out, and the texture of the food changes drastically, depending on how high the heat the heat is and long it is applied. Searing is achieved by cooking the food at very high heat for a brief time to caramelize and visibly brown the outside; sautéing, on the other hand, is usually a lengthier process and involves a greater quantity of olive oil and more vigorous wrist action; and sweating requires patience, time, and gentle heat.
Cooks should be aware that many Italian recipes call for starting the olive oil cold in the pan; that is, the olive oil is added to a cold pan with an aromatic ingredient (usually, but not always, garlic), then the two are brought to temperature together. This is a gentler method of coaxing flavor from an aromatic ingredient.
Another important use of olive oil is in soffritto (from the verb “soffriggere,” meaning to cook at a temperature just below frying; “friggere” means to fry). The soffritto-akin to sweating, since it draws out moisture and cooks ingredients slowly to gently release their flavors into the cooking fat-is the starting point and the first step in building layers of flavor in most Italian dishes. It calls for a combination of vegetables that are cut more or less finely and cooked slowly-usually in olive oil, but sometimes in butter, lard, or less commonly, the fat from pancetta or Prosciutto-until they wilt and become aromatic. After the soffritto is cooked, more ingredients are added, and they pick up the flavor of the soffritto as they release their own.
Deep-Frying in Olive Oil
Scientific opinion varies greatly as to whether foods should be deep-fried in extra-virgin olive oil. Some studies have concluded that extra-virgin olive oil is the healthiest choice not only for eating raw and cooking, but also for deep-frying. Other studies point to extra-virgin olive oil’s lower smoke point as a potential danger, advocating the use of olive oil, canola oil, or other vegetable oils for frying.
The debate remains academic, however, because the prohibitively high cost of extra-virgin olive oil makes it an undesirable choice for deep-frying. To properly deep-fry food, you need at least 2 to 3 cups of fat in which morsels can float about and acquire a lovely, golden color and delectably crisp texture. Such a quantity of extra-virgin olive oil (the good kind, estate-bottled and worth buying!) would cost too much for the average person. So we advocate using olive oil or canola oil to deep-fry food, and reserve our estate-bottled extra-virgin olive oil for uses which allow its true flavor to shine through.
Baking with Olive Oil
The idea of baking with olive oil may sound odd to many cooks, at least when baking doesn’t refer to savory flatbreads, focaccias, and yeasted doughs. Some cooks might think that extra-virgin olive oil has too specific a flavor, and that this flavor will interfere with other flavors present in the dessert. It’s true that extra-virgin olive oil has far more marked taste than unsalted butter. But that flavor varies greatly depending on which olive oil you choose. And sometimes, that flavor actually adds a desirable dimension to desserts.
Italians have long been using olive oil in their desserts. Classic regional examples are Florence’s Schiacciata con L’Uva, a delicious yeasted sweet dough layered with grapes, olive oil, and sugar; Schiacciata alla Fiorentina, also from Florence, an orange-scented cake for Lent; Castagnaccio, a baked chestnut-flour pancake baked in the oven and variously flavored (in Liguria it is sprinkled with raisins, rosemary, and fennel seeds); Biscotti di Vino from Southern Italy, spiked with sweet red wine and coated with sesame seeds; and various nut – and dried fruit-filled pastries from Marches, Abruzzo, and Apulia. This, of course, doesn’t even begin to touch upon the numerous sweet fritters fried in extra-virgin olive oil for Carnival, patron saints’ feast days, and so on.
At the Italian Olive Oil Center, we’ve experimented with using extra-virgin olive oil in a number of traditional and not-so-traditional desserts. We were initially spurred on by the need to create healthy, light desserts for a series of cooking classes. Eventually, we found we liked the flavor and texture contributed by extra-virgin olive oil so much that we started using it in quite a few of our desserts, irrespective of whether we needed to cook “healthy” or not. Our two favorite olive oil-based desserts so far are decadent Chocolate-Pear-Espresso Focaccia and a pillowy Blueberry Explosion Cake scented with vanilla and orange zest. (Certified Olive Oil Consultants are welcome to a copy of these recipes; just drop us a note and we will oblige.)
When olive oil is used in cake batters, it yields a moist crumb, small air pockets, and a slightly drier texture than when baking with butter. In sweet-yeasted doughs, it gives the dough a lovely golden hue; if it is used in large amounts (as much as ½ cup per pound of flour), it results in a crispier crust and a soft interior. In cookies and biscotti, it produces a rather compact texture.
The Role of Olive Oil in Yeasted Dough
Olive oil plays a number of roles in yeasted doughs. First and foremost, it adds flavor. If it is added directly to the flour before any other liquid is worked in, it coats the gluten by reducing the amount of gluten formed. If a small amount of olive oil-up to 3% of the weight of the flour in the recipe-is added after the dough is mixed and just before it is kneaded, it increases the ability of the dough to trap gas, therefore helping the dough to rise and increasing bread volume. A large amount of olive oil, or any other fat for that matter-as much as 25% of the weight of the flour-makes the dough heavier and crisp around the edges. When added in small amounts, olive oil also produces a moister crumb and slows down the deterioration of the dough. Of course, it imbues the dough with a pretty golden color.
Making Savory Sauces with Olive Oil
Unlike many other cuisines, Italian cuisine emphasizes simplicity and excellence of ingredients above all. When sauces are made to accompany a given food, the goal is to heighten or complement the flavor of the food in question, not to mask it or change its very nature. As a result, Italian sauces tend to be straightforward affairs where a limited number of ingredients of impeccable quality join to create a harmonious whole.
The gamut of savory Italian sauces runs from the cold emulsions like Basil Pesto (most famous from Genoa) and Mayonnaise, cold unemulsifited sauces like Salsa Cruda (a chopped tomato sauce), hot sauces like tomato-or meat-based toppings for pasta, pan sauces made from roasting juices of meat or poultry, egg-based sauces like Hollandaise (admittedly a French influence), and butter-and-flour bound sauces like Besciamella. Except for the last two, all these categories of sauces are typically made with olive oil.
It is important to underline that when making sauces that have a distinctly regional flavor, like the above-mentioned basil pesto from Genoa, it is best to use olive oils from the same region as the recipe it self: the total flavor experience will be much closer to what it would be on native soil. After all, certain flavor combinations are born because of distinct indigenous flavors: the basil from Genoa is renowned for its delicate perfume and tiny leaves, and Ligurian olive oil (the region of which Genoa is the capital) has a more delicate aroma and bouquet than others, owing to the late harvest of the olives. The two-gentle herb and gentle olive oil-meld together to form one of Italy’s greatest culinary contributions.
Creating Successful Emulsions with Olive Oil
Key to creating a stable emulsion-the ability of water and fat, two ingredients that don’t bind naturally, to combine without separating-is the gradual addition of the fat to the base. In salad dressings, this is accomplished by the gradual whisking in of the olive oil to the acid base, and can be done by dribbling in the olive oil through the feed tube of the blender or food processor. The same applies to mayonnaise (which in Italy is often made with extra-virgin olive oil rather than vegetable oil; the color of the mayonnaise is a touch greener and its flavor is much more intense and somewhat less eggy) and pesto. Always add the olive oil gradually, and remember that there is a maximum amount that any emulsified sauce will hold: if you add too much, the sauce will eventually break.
Preserving Food in Olive Oil
For millennia, and especially before the advent of refrigeration, people have used olive oil to preserve all manner of food: meat, fish, vegetable, fruit and even cheese. Olive oil provides a seal, protecting the food from oxidation (to a certain extent), deterioration, and molding. After canning jars or bottles are sterilized, the ingredient to be preserved is placed in the container, and then olive oil is poured in to cover. It is imperative that there be no air bubbles trapped in the container, and that the olive oil cover the food completely; any exposed food will go bad and jeopardize the entire container of food. Whenever some of the food is consumed, the level of the olive oil should be topped up. Properly maintained, food preserved in olive oil can safely keep for months, even years, in a cool, dark spot.
Marinating in Olive Oil
Marinades can be acid-based (wine, lemon juice, and so on; these can be cooked or uncooked, and usually apply to meat and fish), herb-and-spice based (mainly dry rubs used on meats and fish before grilling or roasting), or fat-based (usually olive oil in the Italian kitchen). Marinating food imparts flavor as the aromatic ingredients penetrate the walls of the food; this penetration is made easier by the use of olive oil, since that fat lubricates the food and carries the flavors of the marinade within its membranes.
Food can be marinated before being cooked and then served raw (a case in point is raw fish that is marinated in olive oil and lemon juice or vinegar: the acids firm up the fish and “cook” it without the application of heat). Food can also be marinated after it is cooked, to impart additional flavor (think of fried eggplants marinated in olive oil, vinegar herbs, and garlic, a preparation called scapece). Marinating also tenderizes food and helps to preserve it for a few days longer than would otherwise be possible.
Pairing Olive Oil with Food
Like all products of nature, extra-virgin olive oil is marvelously varied and shows distinct organoleptic characteristics in different regions. The climate, type of olives used, harvesting methods, and production process are key to its particular qualities.
In general, olive oil from Liguria and the Lake Garda region is light, the lightest of all Italian olive oils; olive oil from Tuscany and Umbria is fruitier, more robust; and olive oil from Sicily, Sardinia, and Calabria is milder and more full-bodied. These are the big guidelines. Clearly, different producers from the same region offer widely different olive oils: factors such as when the olives are picked, how they are picked, and how they are processed into oil play a very significant role in what the final product tastes like.
Part of the pleasure of olive oil is in tasting the many olive oils on the market, determining which you prefer and how you like best to se them in your own kitchen. But there are general criteria that you can follow in your kitchen to ensure that cooking or dressing your food with olive oil yields consistently good results.
Think of olive oil as you would wine: if you use a poor-quality olive oil, it will give the dish an off-taste, just like a wine not fitting for drinking would harm the flavor of a dish when cooking with it. Another parallel with wine is that olive oil should be paired with food: consider its particular flavor and aroma characteristics, making sure that these complement rather than overwhelm the food. Remember that olive oil falls into three broad flavor categories: mild, fruity, and fruity-spicy, each suited to different preparations. When dressing delicate poached fish or making sauces without garlic, for instance, choose a mild olive oil; mild olive oil is also ideal for baking sweets (whether cookies, fruit focaccias, or cakes). When cooking pasta sauces with onions, herbs, and garlic, select a fruity olive oil. For grilled meats and roasts, aged cheeses, or dishes with generous amounts of garlic or spices, a fruity-spicy olive oil works best.
Taste the olive oil before cooking with it, and decide what dish it will enhance most. Remember that when olive oil is used raw, its flavor is even more pronounced; so a fruity-spicy olive oil drizzled raw on a steamed potato might be delicious-but you might also find it overpowering. Taste, adjust, and enjoy-and above all, trust your palate.
A Word About Preserving Freshness
Olive oil is best when it is just pressed; that is when its organoleptic characteristics are most marked, and when its flavor is its most intense. Olive oil declines as it oxidizes, and should be consumed as quickly as possible; the oxidation curve is sharper for mild olive oil, meaning that it conserves for less time once bottled. While all olive oil will inevitably become rancid over time, the process is a long one, and can take as long as three years in some cases (especially with fruity-spicy olive oil that is conserved under the best possible conditions).
To make sure you preserve the freshness of your olive oil for as long as possible, store it in a dark, cool spot. A cupboard far from the stove is ideal. You can store your olive oil in the refrigerator if you don’t use it often enough to drain a bottle in two or three months, but return it to room temperature before using it or it will be unpleasantly cloudy and solid from the cold; also, as with all cold foods, it will have far less flavor than when it is at room temperature.   Infinite Health Resources does not at any point, for any circumstances suggest that you do not follow or stop medical advice of your physician. We do not advocate any drugs that has not been prescribed by your physician, nor suggest that we are medical doctors nor are we giving medical advice. Infinite Health Resources is here purely as a resource. |
