I could not get enough of the fantastic olive oil in Santorini. (And the feta, and the local white wine, but those are other stories.) We ate it with absolutely everything – bread, seafood, meatballs, salads, you name it. I don’t think I saw a single pat of butter in our ten days on the island. No wonder the Mediterranean diet is so heralded.
According to this article I just saw on The Food Channel, a group of young, Spanish chefs are equally as taken with the oil, enough to create inventive cuisine like olive oil sorbet, ‘semolina,’ olive oil butter and even an olive oil ‘gumdrop’ for dessert. Will 2010 be the year of Olive Oil?
Beyond olive oil’s trumpeted health benefits - yay monounsaturated fats - I just adore it. I collect it – I stock up on bottles with pretty labels when I visit Trader Joe’s, but those are reserved for dipping and drizzling. I recently found Filippio Berio on sale at Price Chopper for $3.99 – when it’s normally closer to $8/bottle. That’s my ‘everyday’ cooking oil. I’m sad to report that I only brought home one small bottle of Greek olive oil from Santorini, which I’ll be conserving as long as possible. I would have shipped home several more had I thought ahead…
Who out there loves olive oil as much as me? Do you wish restaurants would do away with pre-wrapped butter pats forever?
Leeanne Griffin is a freelance writer and food enthusiast.
I noticed a real drop in olive oil prices recently too, even at Big Y.
Table & Vine has a great new oil out…IL Grezzo..$11.99 for a liter. and its YUM!
Raw foodies like cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil, too (in moderation, of course)
We had the same experience on a family trip to Spain — olive oil everywhere, and it was terrific. After we returned, my mother was trying to find a glass cruet with a teapot spout like the ones we saw all over Spain. I finally found one for her at latienda.com. Now it’s always on the table with any kind of bread. Mmmm.