Too much olive oil used in UK cooking nowadays?

[zakelwe]

Thanks to Jamie et al ??

I get the feeling other fats and oils are being put on the back burner, pardon the pun. For instance, if you give me a few pork sausages then I think they should be cooked in lard, because it will make them taste more porky. Even mince for a spag bol using beef dripping will give it more beefy taste. Have you guys, who are really clued up compared to the vast majority, even considered it? Probably not, me neither and that is very sad indeed. It's Italian so it must be olive oil .. no I bet beef dripping makes the fried mince taste even better

I know lard, dripping and butter are unhealthy but it's a sad day when olive oil and tasteless veg oils are being used for everything.

Bit of a rant I'm afraid, hopefully you will know where I am coming from. Just like sauces that bring out the flavour we need to expand the fats to do same, like we use duck, goose etc for roast spuds.

Maybe I should quote Churchill here?

Regards

Andy

Edited by zakelwe on Tuesday 12th May 20:53

[Henry Hawthorne]

Dunno. You're probably right, but unfortunately I'm a bit of a health freak so I always cook everything in olive oil if I fry it (which is rare).

I don't think it's really a "bad" thing, because perhaps some people prefer the taste of olive oil, and looking at some people's eating habits in the "weird habits" thread, I think maybe a little bit more healthy oil might be of benefit.

[Zen.]

I use Goose fat for roasting and sealing meats.

[Mobile Chicane]

Olive oil I have no issue with - it suits some dishes and not others.

Mostly I use very small amounts of butter or goose fat in cooking, my argument being that these are natural products and therefore less harmful than the ghastly manufactured slime that masquerades as a 'healthy' substitute for butter.

[drivin_me_nuts]

To me OLive oil tastes nicer than saturated fats. Lard - never used it in my own cooking and I do find meals cooked with it overbearing and too heavy. I am used to a more refined Med and Middle Eastern style of cooking. But to each their own.

[kryten]

Its not so good with spiced dishes (eg curries) as you can't really get the whole spices to infuse the oil properly at the start (dunno why, it just doesn't work). Don't even use Ghee any more - good quality veg oil seems to work best.

Can't remember who, but heard a great quote a while back: 'Olive oil is for salads'

[Bullett]

Depends if you want the olive oil taste or not.

I use it for things italian/med but if the oil is basically just to lubricate then veg oil or groundnut oil. Oil is an ingerdient if you want nutty butter flavour use that, OO use that etc.

It's probably used too much by Joe Public because 'it's healthy init' and people don't think about the flavour or choice of oils - it's the default no thought choice basically.

OO is definately not used in Chinese stirfry type dishes.

[Colonial]

There is nothing worse than a nice thai stir fry being cooked in olive oil.

It's just wrong.

[anonymous-user]

I use quite a lot of olive oil but tend to try and match the oils to what I am cooking! I have 4 olive oils, grapeseed oil, groundnut oil, hazelnut oil, walnut oil, and seseme oil. In the fridge I have lard, beef dripping, goose and duck fat.

[HereBeMonsters]

A mate of mine is very health-conscious (to a worrying degree actually, but that's another story) and therefore only has olive oil at his house.
Stayed over there last week after a particularly heavy poker session, so in the morning I went out and bought a packet of bacon and a loaf of bread from his corner shop.
Came back to discover I had to cook the bacon in olive oil, and there was no butter or even marge to make the butties! He didn't have any ketchup either. The sandwiches were just wrong, somehow.

[dtmpower]

I thought frying in Olive Oil was a no-no as it breaks down at quite low temperatures...

[5MUG]

www.thechapelpress.co.uk Mmmmmm lovely and very healthy, better than Olive Oil!

[swansea v6]

Can't remember the exact details from uni, as I spent most of my time there drunk....but olive oil "loses" its health properties when heated up in most cooking processes. Plus standard "Value" rapeseed oil actually has the same health benefits as olive oil but is not marketed as such due to mark up on healthy olive oil.....interesting??

I will try to dig out my nutrition papers to double check it.....

[Cotty]

Bullett said:

It's probably used too much by Joe Public because 'it's healthy init' and people don't think about the flavour or choice of oils - it's the default no thought choice basically.

Is that a bad thing?

[elster]

Cotty said:

Bullett said:

It's probably used too much by Joe Public because 'it's healthy init' and people don't think about the flavour or choice of oils - it's the default no thought choice basically.

Is that a bad thing?

What that people wrongly believe Olive Oil is the oil to use as it is supposedly healthy. Lots of other healthy things to use.

Surely education would be better than turning the nation into poor educated cooks.

I only really use olive oils for dressing.

Edited by elster on Wednesday 13th May 23:45

[Colonial]

Cotty said:

Bullett said:

It's probably used too much by Joe Public because 'it's healthy init' and people don't think about the flavour or choice of oils - it's the default no thought choice basically.

Is that a bad thing?

It depends on if you put any value on good tasting, quality food or not.

[smack]

Colonial said:

There is nothing worse than a nice thai stir fry being cooked in olive oil.

It's just wrong.

Yes. For SE Asian cooking you use Penut/Ground Nut oil, which has a nutty flavour (funny that). It also has a higher smoke point, compared to other oils, another reason it is used when cooking in hot woks.

[mechsympathy]

Mobile Chicane said:

Olive oil I have no issue with - it suits some dishes and not others.

Mostly I use very small amounts of butter or goose fat in cooking, my argument being that these are natural products and therefore less harmful than the ghastly manufactured slime that masquerades as a 'healthy' substitute for butter.

Extra virgin olive oil for salads and some veg, normal olive oil for frying onions etc for stews and pasta dishes. Goose fat for roasties and browning meat and butter for mash, veg and bread.

IMO.

[grumbledoak]

mechsympathy said:

normal olive oil for frying onions etc for stews and pasta dishes.

Vegetable (i.e. Rape seed) and nut oils take the heat better than olive oil, and there are some concerns that smoking oil creates carcinogens. And, anyway, they are normally cheaper.

Otherwise, well said.

[mechsympathy]

I meant sweating rather than frying. If the oil's going to get hot enough to smoke they'll burn PDQ. I'm with you on the frying front (just not on clarity)