My memories this week go back to the very early days of my work with olives and olive oil not very long after I had retrained to switch from wine writing to olive oil in the early 1990s. I had written a paper for the then European Union on assessing and describing extra virgin olive…
Greece
Off the Shelf: March
Here is another post in my series looking at extra virgin olive oils taken at random from the marketplace. I am very lucky to have samples of evoo sent to me from time to time direct from the producers and of course these oils are likely to be the very best they produce. So I…
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…
Off the Shelf: June
After a short gap I am continuing my new series of posts looking at a range of extra virgin olive oils taken at random from the market. I am very lucky to have samples of evoo sent to me from time to time direct from the producers and of course these oils are likely to…
Olive Oil for Christmas
Olive oil for Christmas has two meanings – in the food and among the presents. Of course olive oil will be in full use in my kitchen this Christmas, but here I want to talk about extra virgin olive oil as a Christmas present. Lots of my friends and family enjoy first class olive oil…
Off the Shelf: January
This is the second in my new series of posts looking at evoo that is on the shelves at the moment. I am very lucky to have samples of extra virgin olive oil sent to me from time to time direct from the producers and of course this oil is likely to be the very…
December Website of the Month
This is the second in my new series about websites selling extra virgin olive oils which are well worth seeking out. My researches this month turned up Oil & More which is the place to go if you are looking for a classic oil with a great reputation. Tracey Hughes runs both the Oil &…
Great Greek Cooking
People tend to think of Greek food as all hummus, kebabs and moussaka but this is just not the case. I have been talking to three Greek olive oil growers and producers about how they use their oils and have chosen three recipes to show a different and more adventurous side to Greek cooking. Stuffed…
Looking for top class oils? Find a good website
If you do not live in a major city or near to one of the few grocers who pride themselves on their collection of olive oils it is becoming very difficult to source first class extra virgin olive oil. The answer could be a producer’s website but it can be time-consuming looking for those with…
Greek Casseroles
Starting a new recipe collection: Not everyone realizes quite how versatile extra virgin olive oil can be in the kitchen but the growers certainly do. Some time ago I put together a collection of recipes from olive oil producers around the world and published it as my e-book Remarkable Recipes. Great olive oil recipes for…