Culinary Bytes… The popularity of
kitchen gadgetry has reached an all time high with the blossoming of designer
name kitchen accessories and housewares.
But for me, a lover of all things olive oil, I don’t need a designer or
Hollywood starlet to tell me what tools I must have to make the most of my extra virgin olive oil.
When I first set up house many years ago, after being nudged from the nest, kicking and
screaming, the only use I had for olive oil was as salad dressing, drizzled on
pasta under a layer of salted finely grated bottled cheese or as a hot oil
treatment for my frizzy dark curls. It wasn’t until I graduated from culinary
school and began experimenting with all
food, that I started my love affair with all things EVOO. And, I suppose it has something to do with
the age of my palate as well. After all,
taste buds and olfactory nerve cells are replaced on a regular basis, and with
age, comes maturity.
There once was a time when I could fit my olive oil stock which consisted of one bottle of
whatever was on sale that month, into a tiny corner of my spice cabinet. Now, my stock of olive oil fills an entire
shelf of a walk in pantry, and soon will find its way to an under counter
cooler right next to the wine, in a place well deserved.
Just as there are certain accessories that a wine aficionado
cannot do without, such as cork screws, decanters and aerators, so too, are
there as many for an olive oil aficionado.
Whether it is brushes, bottles,
spouts or dishes, if you want to make the most of it, there are a few
accessories that you cannot be without.
Must have gadgets for olive oil lovers
Thermometers
for measuring the temperature of the oil you will use for deep
frying at home are a necessity. The
recommended temperature for frying with olive oil is 365 to 370 degrees
Fahrenheit. Any lower and the food will
absorb the oil leaving it soaked and unpleasant. Any higher and you will be approaching the
smoke point.
Glass
bottles with pourers and funnels are a necessity if you buy olive
oil in large containers. Trying to
drizzle olive oil onto a plate from a gallon can has less of a chance of
success than that of a lottery win. Plastic
bottles will not do for this purpose.
Left at room temperature, olive oil stored in a plastic container such
as a squeeze bottle can absorb harmful chemicals. Recycled wine bottles are perfect for storage
of olive oil. Not only are they glass, but
they are dark green or brown and block out harmful light, thereby extending the
shelf life of the oil.
Plastic
squeeze bottles however, do have a place in the olive oil
kitchen. Since oil can be spreadable
when refrigerated, the wide mouth of the squeeze bottle or a large opening in
the tip is perfect for squeezing the spread onto toast or under the skin of a
turkey ready for the oven. Keep it
refrigerated to maintain the semi-solid, spreadable texture.
Basting
brushes are not just for butter.
When using olive oil in place of butter to baste poultry or give a shiny
coat to baked goods, only a basting brush will do. Not only will olive oil perform the same as butter, but you can
easily include spices and add both in one sweep of a brush.
Sprayers
for extra virgin olive oil, are the newest addition to the most
popular online stores for kitchen gadgets.
For those times when you just want a spritz
of olive oil and a drizzle is too much, spray it on.
My last and perhaps the most extravagant of accessories is a
piece of equipment, much more than a gadget.
For those of you who believe as I do that extra virgin olive oil is as
essential to food as wine is to drink, a wine cooler is for the olive oil devotee
who knows the only way to make sure that the ultra expensive, uber delicious extra virgin olive oil of
your choice retains its incredible flavor, is to store it carefully in a cooler
at 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
Reprinted from Olive Oil Times, contributed by Chef Angela B
Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef
Angela B.
