# Olive oil vs EVOO - Which has more flavor?



## vanwingen (Mar 3, 2006)

I'm making some Focaccia bread this weekend. My delima is which oil to use for dipping???

****olive oil or the virgin olive oil stuff?****

*I want FLAVOR ! Which is best?*

please help !!!

~thanks !!!!


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## GB (Mar 3, 2006)

Extra virgin olive oil is what you want. EVOO is the first cold pressing of the fruit. That will by far be the most/best flavor you will get. Olive oil is the second (I think) pressing which will be a lot less flavorful.


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## Andy M. (Mar 3, 2006)

GB is right.  EVOO will have the best flavor.  Also, diffefent EVOOs will have different flavors.  Some will have a more pronounced flavor than others.


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## jennyema (Mar 3, 2006)

Regular oilive oil doesn't have much taste.  IMO would be like dipping bread in Wesson oil.  May work for Florence Henderson, but your foccacia deserves something tastier.


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## BigDog (Mar 3, 2006)

Dang, I feel like and idiot. It took this topic for me to realize what EVOO meant . . . . . .   

Just gimme my sign now, I deserve it . . . . .


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## pdswife (Mar 3, 2006)

lololo!  Don't worry bigdog!   I was married to a Greek for a number of years before I figured it out.


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## subfuscpersona (Mar 5, 2006)

Unfortunately, it seems to me that most "extra virgin olive oil" commerical products in the USA are pretty flavorless.

If you can't find a truly flavorful olive oil yet live somewhere near a store (deli? deli section of supermarket? health food store? natural foods store?) that sells olives in open buckets (that is, olives in a big container submerged in olive oil) and provides small plastic containers for you to remove the amount you want for purchase then...

Just fill that container mostly with the oil from an olive you like  (you may actually have to throw in a few olives with the oil to get past the checkout counter). This olive oil will have a definitive taste. It is not for cooking but great for dipping.


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## Dina (Mar 5, 2006)

I'd go with EVOO.  It has a lot more flavor and makes everything taste wonderful.


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## advoca (Apr 1, 2006)

I lived in Spain for ten years, and olive oil a very freely available there and there are dozens of different brands on the shelves. All have them have a slightly different flavour. You had to try them out and choose your favourite. 

It was widely held that to say that evoo is better than ordinary olive oil is (IMHO) meaningless. It is like saying use sherry in a recipe. What kind of sherry, dry, amontillado, cream,and so on. And no two types of sherries taste the same, (Tio Pepe is different from La Ina, and different from Domecq's Manzanilla or Bristol Dry) just as no two olive oils taste the same.

In Spain there is not the automatic preference for extra virgen olive oil. Each cook and each restaurant chooses what is believed to be the best flavour.

Just for a moment consider making comparison between Spanish evoo, Italian evoo, Californian evoo and Greek evoo. They will all have different flavours. 

Ya pays ya money and ya makes ya choice.


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## bethzaring (Apr 10, 2006)

BigDog]Dang, I feel like and idiot. It took this topic for me to realize what EVOO meant . . . . . .   

Same here, only I am way past feeling like an idiot. I just figured it was a new fad type oil. I don't get out much.............


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## Robo410 (Apr 10, 2006)

currently, Spanish and Turkish evoo are very fruity.  SOme Italian oils are "grassy" ; all are deep and rich in tones of flavors...yes just like wines! the region, its weather, the blend or purity of crop(s) the handling, etc.  THere are olive oil boutiques where you can taste hundreds of small label brands.  Enjoy your search and discovery.


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## GB (Apr 10, 2006)

Robo410 said:
			
		

> yes just like wines!


And also just like wines, just because you like a brand this year does not mean you will like it next year. The flavors will changes with the harvest of the olives.


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## Jikoni (Apr 10, 2006)

bethzaring said:
			
		

> BigDog]Dang, I feel like and idiot. It took this topic for me to realize what EVOO meant . . . . . .
> 
> Same here, only I am way past feeling like an idiot. I just figured it was a new fad type oil. I don't get out much.............



I too had no idea what EVOO meant, none I know here calls it that, so I searched it and voila!I suggest EVOO if you want something with real taste.


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## Ripliancum (Apr 24, 2006)

EVOO? Have you been watching 30 minuit meals with Rachael Ray on the TV food network?


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## GB (Apr 24, 2006)

Ripliancum said:
			
		

> EVOO? Have you been watching 30 minuit meals with Rachael Ray on the TV food network?


She might have popularized the term, but she did not come up with it.


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## Ardor (May 3, 2006)

If money is no object, extra virgin is better, it smokes more, but all that happens in high heat is that it loses its virginity... from what i can tell.


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## urmaniac13 (May 3, 2006)

Extra virgin means that it comes from the first pressing of the olives, contains no more than 0.8% acidity.  Certainly flavour is more delicate and aromatic than regular Olive Oil.  However if you use a real quality EVOO, I recommend a usage that doesn't include cooking, like drizzling on a salad, bruschetta, already cooked pasta etc.  As Ardor mentioned, it tends to lose its distinct flavour as it gets cooked.  We just use more generic type of EVOO to cook with, and save the special EVOO from Sardinia for this sort of usage.

BTW, the term EVOO is widely used in Italy, too, not an invention of Ms. Ray.


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## Gretchen (May 3, 2006)

But in the US, the EVOOs are the way to go for a dipping oil. And there can be a wide difference in taste. You want to spend a bit of money on it. If you have a Costco membership, their Kirkland brand of Italian/Tuscan oil is VERY good.
Some oil are floral in nature and some can be very spicey and sharp.  There is a store available oil that begins with Cal____ that has a couple of "grades". Get the one for "dipping". 
A very lucious combination for dipping is a good oil, a good balsamic and Parmigianno Reggiano.
Otherwise put the oil in a dish and give it a couple of good grinds of coarse black pepper.


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## Haggis (May 3, 2006)

Extra virgin olive oil on hot cross buns...delicious.


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## BreezyCooking (May 3, 2006)

The only olive oil I use for everything & anything is extra virgin olive oil. 

Cooking, dipping, salads, garnishing.  I don't buy the artisinal types for my all-purpose use.  Buy it by the gallon from CostCo.  Bertolli's.  Has a nice light, but olivey, flavor that works very well as a healthy, all-purpose oil.


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## Ishbel (May 3, 2006)

Haggis said:
			
		

> Extra virgin olive oil on hot cross buns...delicious.


 

Pshawwwwww.....


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## amber (May 3, 2006)

I dont like olive oil, or evoo myself. I prefer canolla.  Olive oil is too pungent for me, depending on the dish of course, but mostly I find that it over-powers my meals.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (May 3, 2006)

Use the EVOO.  But try a couple of brands as they have different flavor characters.  For instace, Carapelli has green, clorophyl aftertones that remind me of leaves, while DaVinci is more fruity.  I personally like the Carapelli, while my eldest daughter adores Coliveti (sp).

And take that focacia bread dough, place it into a good cast iron pan, and fire up the kettle bbq/grill.  Put the pan over the coals and close all vents 3/4 closed.  Bake until done.  The smoke provided by the bbq will raise your focacia to new levels.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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## Ishbel (May 3, 2006)

Whenever I visit olive producing nations, I buy the local EVOO and even buy EEVOO. I was in Portugal in February. I bought some of their EEVO. I liked it, it was a little peppery and although I thought it might be the same as Spanish, it was distinctly different.

I still have some Corfiote and Tuscan and Ligurian and French EEVO from last year.  All are quite distinctive when used as dipping or salad oils.


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## Gretchen (May 4, 2006)

For the person who doesn't like olive oil, try a different brand. They are all very very different. BUT they do have flavor, unlike the very neutral vegetable oils. Don't use oo for frying--sauteeing is OK but not frying that calls for "deep" oil.


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## Haggis (May 4, 2006)

Some authors of cookbooks say 'buy a fairly expensive ev-oo especially for finishing dishes etc etc' I say rubbish to that. I buy a ev-oo from Crete (I think it's called Minos) in a big 4L can that lasts me for about a year (it does not spoil at all).

I love it, deliciously peppery. Absolutely fantastic for drizzling over some lightly grilled pana di casa or ciabbata with a sprinkling of salt, or drizzling over a pasta dish or as a finish to a soup (especially minestrone!).


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## GB (May 4, 2006)

Haggis said:
			
		

> Some authors of cookbooks say 'buy a fairly expensive ev-oo especially for finishing dishes etc etc' I say rubbish to that.


I agree. Good EVOO does not have to be expensive. Yes it can be, but price does not always equal quality. Currently my favorite EVOO is Santini from Trader Joes. A bottle costs 3 bucks and change. I love the stuff and am tempted to just take shots of it sometimes


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## BreezyCooking (May 4, 2006)

That's true.  I think I pay between $7 & $8 for the gallon of Bertolli's extra-virgin oil I get from CostCo.

I also agree that it's neither cost efficient nor a good idea in general to use it for deep frying, as it, like most flavored oils, tends to burn faster than neutral oils.

You can, however, use it for shallow frying quite successfully.  I add it half-&-half with vegetable oil when frying oysters, & a Martha Stewart recipe I use to make homemade shallow-fried potato chips specifies olive oil, & they end up tasting fabulous!!


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## GB (May 4, 2006)

Deep frying with EVOO is fine if you don't mind spending the money. The temp of oil for deep frying is generally around 350-375 which is below the smoke point of EVOO.

Lots of people, including Mario Batalli, use EVOO to deep fry.


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## Haggis (May 4, 2006)

> Deep frying with EVOO is fine if you don't mind spending the money. The temp of oil for deep frying is generally around 350-375 which is below the smoke point of EVOO.
> 
> Lots of people, including Mario Batalli, use EVOO to deep fry.


Although that temperature range may be below the smoke point for ev-oo the actual flavour compounds in ev-oo are quite volatile and I believe (going off the top of my head here) it begins to lose its defining flavour around the quite low temperatures of 50-60'C. Hence the reason it features so prominently in salad dressings and as a finish to a dish.

I may be mistaken though.


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## GB (May 4, 2006)

Yes the flavors do suffer with the heat, but it is still an oil that you can deep fry with. Most people are not looking for flavor out of their deep fry oil anyway.


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## Haggis (May 4, 2006)

That is true.

I would feel that it would be a misuse of ev-oo (putting aside the flavour factor) as there are oils out there that are cheaper, have a higher smoke point, neutral flavour (who wants a faint taste of olive oil when they are deep frying nori-wrapped tempura prawns) and also have a healthy fat (large proportion of mono/poly unsaturated) content.


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## GB (May 4, 2006)

I agree that there are better oils for deep frying than EVOO. I am just taking issue with people who say it is not a good idea or that you should not do it. If I had a ton of EVOO on hand and not a lot of anything else then I would have no problem using it to deep fry. 

Hey if Mario Battali uses it on purpose to deep fry then that is good enough for me.


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## Gretchen (May 4, 2006)

IF the dish will benefit from the flavor of OO in deep frying, that is fine. But for some things it would not be complementary, in my opinion.  In countries where OO is THE common oil, it's used in cakes, etc.
And I do enjoy keeping 3-5 different olive oils for their different flavors and uses. Don't limit yourself.


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