What is the best olive oil to use with bread?!
What is the best olive oil to use with bread?
Answers:
Greek extra virgin. It has a nice peppery taste. Always use the best extra virgin you can afford for salads and bread. Never use extra vigin for cooking though.
extra virgin olive oil has a more discernable flavour, it's nice to add herbs & a bit of seasoning too.
Extra-virgen. You can get it flavoured - rosemary, chilli, bay etc. Good when toasted, fried or barbecued. Also with tomatoes (sun-dried of course) and sardines. Get ciabatte or plain naan for best tastes bases.
Its all down to personal taste and the bread also makes a diffrent . Try a little salt with it
if you mean to just dip or to drizzle like a bruschetta or something then the best quality extra virgin olive oil is what you need, oils from tuscany and puglia are said to be the best in italy.
if your going to do any kind of cooking normal olive oil will do, the heat ruins good quality extra virgin olive oils.
tip: mix a nice extra virgin oil with some balsamic vinegar and give it a little whisk with a fork, great to dip crusty bread!
extra virgin has a better taste
Most people will say use extra virgin, and most of the time they will be right, but if your pallet likes a more robust and less sweet olive you will enjoy a regular olive oil. I would suggest sticking to cold pressed as that is generally the better quality.
Mixing herbs and even spices is fine but then thats using the olive as a carrier more than a condiment in its own right, and aside from the usual tarragons and balsamic vinegars you can try things like anchovy, Tabasco sauce, crushed garlic and bruised rosemary ( bruise tarragon as well to release some of the essential oils)
If your scenting yuour oil very gently heat the oil with the spice for herb for 5-10 minutes firat then let it gently cool back to room temp - this will extract most flavours from the flavour your seeking.
I have a personal like of Sicilian oils for eating they have a rich buttery taste .
Obviously not knowing where you live it maybe hard for you to find a delicatessen or even a specialist olive oil shop but there are plenty around and if your serious about finding out what best go and experiment for free ! and I bet your pallet will lead you to your definition of best rather than ours!
have fun
PS try gently warming chorizo sausage in oil for 30 mins yummy
Extra virgin olive oil is the best and healthiest. As a Greek, this has been the ingredient of every single meal and I would not recommend anything else, but then I might be pre-occupied. Olive oil on toasted bread with oregano is also nice if you want to try it.
You can find olive oil in every single super market, but if you live in London you can go on a small super market on Westbourne Grove, Bayswater to find authentic Greek virgin olive oil.