Odd assortment of articles on olive oil in today's press. Very long article on Californian olive oil production in the wonderfully named Sacromento Bee. It has the following quote from a new oil producer: "When I tasted that first olive oil, I just couldn't believe the difference between what you get in a grocery store and what I'd made". Amen to that! This is a widespread reaction to fresh olive oil rather than the globalised mass produced gunk masquerading on many super market shelves. It is what people just don't get when they believe the time of the olive tree has passed in favour of the lexus.
International trade, in my book, is a good thing but the taste of fresh locally produced oil is far superior to gunk you suspect has been lying in some EU vat, before being syphoned into some other EU country and on to market in another. Meanwhile this bloke reckons too much olive oil is used in cooking. In the UK, Simon Hopkinson's recipes have been voted the best ever and are apparently outselling Harry Potter. According to Hopkinson, "Flame lobsters with Pernod and cognac, flavour with cayenne pepper, shallot, garlic and parsley. Use butter. Do not be afraid of butter. "There's just too much olive oil around now," he complains." In other words pass the cognac and the cholesterol!
Anyone who thinks these need anything but cooking in seawater obviously can't get them locally.
At least Tara Reid, after a visit to Greece, is a new found convert to olive oil. Globalisation is good after all.
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