Is extra-virgen olive oil too expensive to use all the time?

[Ben]

After listening to the first cuisine from Spain podcast (http://www.cuisinefromspain.com/2006/03/19/cuisine-from-spain-podcast-no-1-pantumaca-and-olive-oil/) again, I was wondering whether extra-virgin olive oil really is too expensive to use all the time for cooking if you live outside Spain. Here in our local Madrid supermarkets it costs around 4.50 Euros (3 UK pounds or $5.50 US) for a litre of decent extra virgin olive oil, so we can afford to use it for all our cooking needs.

Is it prohibitively expensive elsewhere? Do you use it every day at home? Do the supposed health benefits outway all other concerns?

[appleblossombeck]

Here in West Virginia, USA, you can find a surprising variety of extra-virgin olive oils. Lately the local supermarkets have even started carrying hazelnut (filbert) and walnut oils. I use extra-virgin for any cooking that needs oil, but I don't need it everyday. The health benefits are definitely something that help me decide in favor of it. Plus, it tastes good, doesn't it? Once I finish getting moved to a new apartment, I'm going to make tortilla de patata--wish me luck, it'll be my first tortilla!

Rebecca

[richardksa]

Appleblossombeck,

As a novice male cook I followed Marina's recipe and my first effort tasted good but looked nothing like the photo on the podcast. More like a squashed cowpat! :-[

However, by the third attempt, in which I cooked the thing real slow, I had a major success! Well, for me anyway. Que tengas suerte.

[Marina]

Good luck with the tortilla Rebecca, as Richard said it takes a few times to get it just right but it is so delicious that is absolutely worth the practise.

I have to say that it is dificult to find walnut or hazelnut oils in Spain. I've tried walnut in England and it is very nice, what you would find in a common Spanish supermarket is Olive and Sunflower oil. Only in health food shops (herbolarios) you can find a wider range like soya and oil from grape pipes.

[Greg]

Hola Marina y Ben,

At least in Barcelona, the gourmet section of El Corte Inglés does have walnut oil...I only know because I went there just last night in search of peanut oil.

On a related note, does anyone know a good place to find peanut oil, preferably in Barcelona? :) My next stop will probably be some of the asian markets...

[Marina]

I would definitely try the Asian shops. If you don't find it there other possibility is in the "Herbolarios" (Herbalist's or health food shop)

[Richardw]

In answer to Ben's original query - in the UK I would say that good extra virgin olive oil is too expensive to use all the time.

A reasonable bottle in the supermarket is anything from £8.00 to £20.00. At this price it's OK to use occasionally, but not for everyday cooking.:(

Richard

[Marina]

A listener asked me recently in an e-mail that he found funny cooking with extra virgin olive oil, as his Spanish grandmother always used to tell him that extra virgin olive oil was NOT for cooking.

Here is my answer, it might add some information:


"Traditionally I don't think that Extra Virgin was used for cooking. At least that is what I've seen in my parents house and other peoples houses when I was young. But I think the reason for that is mainly an economical one, as extra virgin is always more expensive than other olive oils that are used for cooking. And if you think about it in olive growing areas everybody uses extra virgin for all their cooking.

On the other hand some people use non-extra virgin olive oils for cooking because their taste is softer, and if for example you fry an egg in extra virgin olive oil the egg has an olive oil taste, which for me is nice, but some people might not like the taste of the olive oil to interfere so much with the egg. Other great example is when using olive oil for cakes, if it's too strong the taste interferes with the sweet cake taste.

As these days we have more information we know that other olive oils used for cooking are a mixture of virgins and refined oils, and the refined process involves chemicals, so if I'm trying to avoid chemicals by buying organic food why not trying to avoid them in the oil I consume as well?"

[Ben]

A reasonable bottle in the supermarket is anything from £8.00 to £20.00. At this price it's OK to use occasionally, but not for everyday cooking.:(

£8.00 to £20.00 !!!! Wow, that's even more expensive than I thought!!!

[Richardw]

You've been away for sooooo long!

Richard

[catavino]

Olive oil has a low smoke point, extra virgin olive oil has high flavor but due to this low smoke point most of the flavor is lost with minimal heating. Good high quality olive oil should never be use in a saute or fry situation because of this. When I watch the cooking shows here I'm cofused why they use it in everything no matter how hot it gets.

For frying/suateing/and other hot applications, peanut oil and sunflower oil are much nicer. Heat up a little olive oil till it starts to glisten, then cool it down and taste it next to the same oil that has never been heated and notice the difference.

The problem we had in the states is that the olive oil that made it too us was never fresh enough to have the great aromas and flavors of the stuff I try here. I know this is changing, but for a long time I wondered how people could sip it! Then I tasted some fresh pressed stuff and I wanted a glass full.

In the end the good stuff at times is worth any price.

[Ben]

Olive oil has a low smoke point, extra virgin olive oil has high flavor but due to this low smoke point most of the flavor is lost with minimal heating.

A scientific explanation at last, thank you!

[Marina]

Hola Catavino!

It is true that you shouldn't use the most expensive and tastier olive oil for cooking, as lots of the taste disappears with the heat. However I would still use a common brand of extra virgin olive oil or virgin olive oil for cooking as it's the vegetable oil that degrades least at high temperatures and therefore produces less toxic reactions. Still, olive oil does smoke. I've read recently that soya oil is the vegetable oil that has the highest smoking point.

At home I always have two different brands. The cheapest extra virgin olive oil that I can find in the supermarket is used for cooking (About 4.5 Euros 1litre). And then I buy something tastier to have on its own, with salads etc. Like "Hojiblanca" or "Arbequino" types (from 6 Euros a litre)

[richardksa]

Just to bring this thread up to date. Read this:

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=106&story_id=29985

[Polly]

Ah... Olive Oil Economics! I tend to use Extra Virgin Olive Oil every day -- I use the cheap stuff (around 28 cents per ounce or .21 Eu - for not quite 2 metric tablespoons) for adding to whatever I'm cooking- say if it's just frying up some eggs, or adding fat to soup, and I use the better quality oil (Around 44 cents or .34 EU per ounce) for drizziling and dipping.

Definately worth the extra expense for the added flavor and health benefits.

Flavored olive oils, grapeseed oil and flax seed oil are far too delicate for anything but drizziling and dipping (especially flax oil should never be heated) but the sturdier (and cheaper) Canola, Sunflower or Peanut oil are what I generally use for cooking and baking --

Walnut oil tends to be reserved as a finishing oil, oil for salad dressing or for some kinds of low temperature baking, as heat destroys the delicate flavor.

Here's a link to cooking oil smoke points - though I'm afraid if you want the celsius conversions you'll have to find a conversion table, as everything here is listed in fahrenheit:

http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/CollectedInfo/OilSmokePoints.htm

[Marina]

Interesting information Polly and richardksa.
For a Farenheit -> Celsius converter click here (http://www.karlosnet.com/General/receta.php?c=242)

[richardksa]

News from OOPEC (that's the Olive Oil Producing and Exporting Countries):

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=106&story_id=30204

[Brian]

News from OOPEC (that's the Olive Oil Producing and Exporting Countries):

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=106&story_id=30204

Good read.

Again, like the petrol that we put in our cars, it's all about supply and demand. If the supply is smaller due to the drought, it's reasonable that prices will go up.

[Leah]

Here in Italy, the prices are about the same as in Spain, although the Italian olive oil industry is taking a beating from the large spanish olive plantations that have caused prices to drop for imported oil (which tends to be lower quality, which is not to say that spanish oil is of lower quality but that the exported oil tends to be of lesser quality). in italy it is difficult to have such a large production of oil like in spain because of the lack of large flatter areas like in andalucia. despite this, oil still tends to be well priced, especially if you buy it in bulk from the farmer like many people do. We spent very little for an extremely high quality oil in this way.

[Marina]

Hi Leah and welcome to the forums. It's interesting to know what's going on in Italy with olive oil. Here in Spain prices are going mad, a bottle of 1litre of virgin olive oil is about 5 Euros for the cheapest bottle in the supermarket.

[Thaleia]

Hi Folks, love your podcast and I’m particularly impressed by the sound quality.

Here in Australia, I can get a litre bottle of supermarket brand extra virgin for about $5.50 AUD (about 3.30 in Euros). This seems cheap to me. It’s less than the price of 2 cups of coffee at the local café. There are more expensive boutique and organic brands available, and I tend to cook with the cheap stuff, which is imported from Spain, and save the expensive stuff for salads. You can also buy 10 litre tins of it at the supermarket here and I imagine if you were using huge amounts of it, that would be an even cheaper way to buy it.

The scuttlebutt I’ve heard about cooking with extra virgin is that cooking it at high temperatures for any length of time turns the healthy fats to unhealthy trans fats. Once it’s smoking, it’s starting to turn. For this reason, if I’m frying something that really needs a hot oil, I’ll use grapeseed, canola, or macadamia nut oil. These have healthy monounsaturated fats that stay stable at higher temperatures.

Cheers

[greytop]

Just for comparison I bought a 2 litre flask in a bodega last week (in Spain). It cost 9.1€. Another one had them for 10€. There are cheaper versions in the supermarkets but I like the locally produced ones.
I also use vegetable oils for deep frying etc.

[JuliaBalbilla]

I use a bog standard Spanish EV olive oil for everyday use, but unlike Marina, I find it too strong for frying eggs :). For making dressings or pouring over food I usually use a more expensive EV olive oil.

For deep fat frying, I use an EV rapeseed oil which is produced here in the Cotswolds and also add a little of it to olive oil when making home-made mayonnaise.

EV olive oil prices can vary tremendously in the UK, depending on quality and where you buy it. For day-to-day use, I get mine from Lidl's or Iceland at about £2.70 for 750 ml. My favourite oil is Sierra de Cazorla which can be bought at food festivals, but otherwise is almost impossible to obtain here.:'(

[Uriel]

I personally don't see the difference between extra virgin, barely virgin, or even slightly used olive oil, and as long as it heats up and cooks my food, I'm good with it. And honestly, the less flavor, the better, since I don't like olives; I only use it because it's supposed to be good for you It isn't terribly expensive in my experience, but then food prices tend to be a lot lower here than in Europe, and I don't use it much anyway.