Cooking with olive oil

Olive oil is also identified by its grade. And in general, better grades do equate with fresher, tastier oil that confers greater health benefits than the lesser grades.

The best grade is ‘extra-virgin’ which refers to the initial unrefined oil garnered from the first crushing of the olive. It has a high content of unsaponifiable matter rich in tocopherols and phenolic derivatives, i.e tirosol and hydroxytyrosol, which exhibit antioxidant properties.

Virgin oil is the product obtained from ripened olives exclusively by physical procedures including cleaning of fruits with water, milling, cold pressing and centrifugation.

Olive oil is chiefly used in salads, and should always be consumed together with a large portion of bread or with the addition of sugar on account of its richness, as otherwise it requires a powerful and active bile to assimilate it to alimentary matter.

Olive oil is an excellent marinade foundation; can try with beef, chicken, fish, and soy products such as tofu and tempeh.
Cooking with olive oil