
The World of Olive Oil Is Murky. Here’s Help for the Home Cook - bookofjoe
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/dining/best-olive-oil.html
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i_am_proteus
> Two, we should be using much more of it, so that it doesn’t languish in our
> cupboards, but is used up and replaced while it is fresh and vibrant.

Or... we should be buying smaller bottles.

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Amorymeltzer
While olive oil is a fascinating subject, there are much better pieces out
there[1]. This one I think I could largely summarize as "people making and
selling olive oil think you should use a lot of olive oil." News at 10.

1: The seminal NYT piece is supposedly at
[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/01/24/opinion/food-...](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/01/24/opinion/food-
chains-extra-virgin-suicide.html) but it won't load for me (on Chrome,
anyway). Regardless, a simple search for "olive oil fraud" will return
sufficient reading on murkiness, in particular a pair from The New Yorker.

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lonelappde
For the average USAn, the answer is to buy Costco Kirkland Signature to get
real olive oil.

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Cyph0n
I’m a Tunisian American, so the use of olive oil is not murky at all to me.

Tunisians use olive oil for everything. It is a breakfast staple (ever tried
dipping baguette in olive oil?). We try to cook and fry with it whenever
possible, based on the cost and our economic situation.

I would argue that our olive oil is at the very least competitive with that of
more “conventional” producers, especially to the average consumer.

If you ever drop by Walmart and want to try some Tunisian extra virgin olive
oil, check out Terra Delyssa. It’s reasonably priced and has an organic
version as well. I’ve been buying it exclusively for the past year or so and
it has been great.

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rootusrootus
The most disappointing thing learned from that article is that California
Olive Ranch is importing oil now.

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oftenwrong
This move may damage their brand significantly if awareness of olive oil fraud
and certification becomes common knowledge among consumers, although for now
it is probably still a smart business move.

I recall that brand growing in popularity due to recommendations from food
writers. The oil was good, and a group of California olive oil producers was
willing to stand behind it, assuring that it was unadulterated, California-
grown, extra virgin olive oil.

Now that they have abandoned the California-only sourcing, expanding to have
an internationally-sourced "Destinations Series" of blended oils, their brand
is less of a standout. Nothing in their information on the Applied Sensory
certification used for the "Destinations Series" reassures me that the bottle
contains 100% olive oil. Yes, they now have a "Reserve Collection" that's
certified by the relatively-new Olive Oil Commission of California, but I have
yet to see it in stores since the introduction of the "Destinations Series".

In any case, their brand went from being a mark of assured quality to mark of
mixed-and-somewhat-questionable quality. Whereas it used to be enough to see
"California Olive Ranch" on the front label, now discerning customers will
have to understand the product line naming (don't count on it), or check the
back label for a certification seal.

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plorkyeran
Yeah, I used to buy exclusively California Olive Ranch specifically because I
could just grab a bottle of the desired size at the supermarket and trust it.
Now I have to read the labels and figure out what exactly I'm getting, just
like the other ten brands on the shelf.

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NikolaeVarius
I don't doubt that there are probably Olive oils that different, possibly
"better", but are there Double Blind tests similar to Wine to see how much
people can even discern taste wise from these different brands?

I did some googling and found nothing.

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bookofjoe
[https://youtu.be/t4QwfPVho3U](https://youtu.be/t4QwfPVho3U)

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efficax
Tfw you recommend people use tons more olive oil and also recommend and olive
oil brand that is $37 for 375ml (or $3 an ounce!)

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Simon_says
Yea, jeez. All I could think was submarine article.

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christkv
is there a non paywall link ?

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bookofjoe
[http://archive.is/cxYxX](http://archive.is/cxYxX)

