Kitchen Lessons · Pantry Basics
Choosing Olive Oil
The short answer
Buy extra-virgin, in a dark bottle, with a harvest date on it, and use it within a few months of opening. Good olive oil should taste peppery and alive, not flat.
Look for these four things
Extra-virgin — the first cold press, with the most flavor and benefit. Dark glass or tin — light is olive oil's enemy. A harvest date, not just a ‘best by’ — olive oil doesn't age well, so fresher is better. And ideally a single origin.
Trust your mouth
Really good extra-virgin is grassy and peppery, sometimes with a little tickle at the back of the throat. That tickle is the antioxidants — it's a good sign, not a flaw.
Gina's tip
Keep two bottles: an everyday one for cooking, and a nicer one you only ever use raw, for finishing. See olive oil & heat.