Details of the winners of the 2021 olive oil awards are beginning to trickle in and so I will be reporting on them as they arrive and pairing them with recipes recommended by their producers. The first of these uses one of the two oils from La Cultivada which have won top awards at the…
Recipes
Olive Oil and The English Vegetable Year: Spring
Spring is a great time of the year for vegetables; the restricted range of winter vegetables opens up and suddenly a whole host of new vegetables decorate the green grocer’s shelves. I have chosen two of my favourite vegetables on which to concentrate this month. They are the quintessentially English watercress and asparagus. Watercress Watercress…
Olive Oil and The English Vegetable Year: Autumn
This is a new series for my blog, marrying up two of my favourite foods: Vegetables and Olive Oil. The tendency is to think of dishes based on Mediterranean vegetables when cooking with olive oil but in fact this lovely flavoursome ingredient can enhance traditional English vegetables equally well. Autumn sees the beginning of the…
Cooking with Andalucian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Following my virtual tasting of Andalucian oils last week I immediately started to look for some really authentic recipes from the region to try out. Here are the results: Pipirrana My first recipe comes from Elena Garcia at Spanish Gastro Larder and features their Finca Alamillos del Prior extra virgin olive oil from Jaen. It is…
A Taste of Northern Provence
The best places to try the authentically rustic food of the region are at the Fermes Auberges or farm inns like the Auberge du St Julien at Buis Les Baronnies, the Auberge du Domaine Guilon at Chamaret with its own winery and Moulin de Chateau near Villeperdrix with its 12th century buildings and 16th century…
A Taste of Catalonia
Writing my post on the Vea estates in Catalonia last week brought back memories of some of great dishes the I have enjoyed when visiting that area. Here are just a few of them. Escalavida …and beyond …
A Taste of Sicily
The food in Sicily is rich and varied and I have collected a good many recipes on my travels there. Here is a selection of them. Caprese and Salami kebabs These lovely little hors d’oeuvres come from a selection of recipes on the new website of The Gift of Oil which I reviewed in my…
Simple Summer Food from Jaen
Talking about my visit to Jaen in my recent “Memories” post reminded me of another visit to that part of the olive oil world a year later. One of the producers I visited then was Melgarejo who own a very modern mill near Jaen itself. Here the fifth generation of the family showed off the…
Extra virgin olive oil enhances game recipes
This month I have been experimenting with cooking various kind of game with extra virgin olive oil and I have been very pleased with the results. The olive oil helps to lubricate what can often be quite dry meat and gives an excellent flavour to the dish. Using olive oil in this way also contributes …
SALAD DAYS
I am always looking for new ideas for interesting salads, particularly at this time of the year. Here are five delicious recipes from the internet sites of three of my favourite olive oil producers and two from the American vegetarian blogger Dina Honke and her great blog oliveoilandlemons. All the oils mentioned are available from…