Cooks Illustrated also reviewed boutique and supermarket olive oils (actually, they've done it a few times). Boutique oils are below. Apparently they like Raineri, too. n.b. the da vinci is their favorite supermarket brand, thrown in to see how it compared.

I've removed the text describing the flavor, etc. I believe they're ranked from best to worst within each category. Sign up for cooks illustrated online if you want the full text.

RECOMMENDED

Antica Azienda Raineri Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
$31.99 for 1 liter

Columela-Hojiblanca Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
$13.49 for 500 ml ($26.98 per liter)

Olio Verde Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
$21.99 for 500 ml ($43.98 per liter)

Da Vinci Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
$8.49 for 1 liter

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Frantoio Galantino Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
$40.00 for 500 ml ($80.00 per liter)

Piccolo Molino-Dolce Verde Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
$24.99 for 500 ml ($49.98 per liter)

Exentia Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
$32.99 for 500 ml ($65.98 per liter)

Salvatore Mirisola Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
$40.00 for 500 ml ($80.00 per liter)

Rendola Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
$34.99 for 750 ml ($46.55 per liter)

These results mirror the those of another ATK/CI tasting in 2003, discussed in this CBS News/The Early Show article.

-ed

I use DaVinci EV for all my everyday needs. We did a blind tasting of it against *all* the usual supermarket suspects. It blew them out of the water. Tnx for the tip about the Costco glass bottled oil--that's the one simply marked Italian?

Geo

I believe Costco sells several kinds of EV olive oils. They have an estate grown, an organic and a more "regular" EVOO. Plus they sell VOO.

Whatever olive oil you choose, get it soon because prices are going to be going way up

MADRID (Reuters) - A scorching drought in Spain has sent olive oil prices climbing as farmers in the world's top producer estimate this year's harvest could fall almost 30 percent.

Extra virgin olive oil is being quoted at 3,000 ($3,643) a ton, some 20 percent above prices of a year ago, as the combined effects of frost and now drought ravage the crop.

HollyB wrote:You won't belive this until you try it. Costco sells estate grown olive oil and it is the best I have had. Incredible. Their are no cheicals used to process it and the taste shows.

You have to look for the one that comes in the glass bottle, they also sell the large platic jugs of ordinary olive oil, but the glass bottle estate one is the one to get.

Okay, I saw two olive oils at Costco today. One was a big plastic jug. We can dismiss that as "ordinary olive oil." Then there was one in... smaller plastic jugs, not glass bottles, two to a pack, about $18/pair. Extra virgin olive oil, "first pressing," "from Italian-grown olives." Is that the one? It does seem quite good for the price, about the same color and weight as Whole Foods' 365 but with more olive flavor, definitely.

And while we're at it, how about...

Balsamic Vinegar

I have two at the moment. I keep Whole Foods' 365 on hand for basic use, it's easy for me to get and won Cooks' Illustrated tasteoff. I'm not going to claim it's stunning, but it's a good basic one, I think.

For an artisanal one, I've bought various ones over the years without spending too much, and they were okay but the difference between those and something like the Whole Foods one reduced a bit were not all that significant. When I was at Katzinger's in Columbus OH last year I bought on their recommendation (as being an especially good value) this Villa Manodori-- cost me a bit more than $34.50, however-- and it's really nice, thicker and more profound, just drizzled some on Lynne Rosetto Kasper's Chicken Balsamico and it was swell.

I have some really great balsamic from some guy in Wisconsin. One of my mom's coworker's brought me back a bottle. It's truly wonderful for the price. It's not tradizionale, but it's better than anything I've found in any grocery store.

Edit to clarify: Yes, it was made in wisconsin.

I concur with Lucini. Outstanding everyday oil not only for cooking, but for drizzling on salads etc. Dominics carries it in the west loop for about 12 bucks for a decent sized bottle.

I know this might be a little steep, but for something special and peppery and out front, I love Tenuta de Valgiano. Try zingermans.com for a wide look at a whole bunch of oils.

Finally, for a nice fruity spanish olive oil that is really an awesome value (around 15 bucks)

Unio Siurana Extra Virgin Olive Oil

These days I'm using Francesco de Padova in the 5 liter tin ($57), especially for drizzling on bread, pizza, pasta, greens, etc.

Bill/SFNM

Mike G wrote:And while we're at it, how about...

Balsamic Vinegar

I've been privileged to taste some truly fine Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia, the kind that runs in the $200/bottle range.

I can't afford to buy that, so what I use is Cavalli Balsamic Seasoning. Cavalli is a traditional producer, but they also make this intensely flavored product, that runs about $30 a bottle.

I'm coming to this discussion a little late but, though much good information has already been given, I think there are some things still worth saying here, especially with regard to the main thrust of sms92's central question in the o.p.

Given the context (bad cholesterol; need to change diet) of the question, it seems to me what sms92 is after are basic oils for day-in day-out use. I recently posted comments in another thread that are relevant here and will therefore try to focus on a few other points in this post. The other post can be found here:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=34579#34579

First off, I suggest you try a fair number of different kinds of oils and, in doing so, buy small bottles. In one sense at least, the best oils are the ones you like most, so try a couple of Greek oils, Spanish, Italian, North African or Middle Eastern.

Assuming economy is a factor, some of the oils mentioned above - however, delicious they may be - simply make no sense for basic purposes for someone like me who uses olive oil in almost all my cooking. I constantly look for good bargains, that is, good balances between demands of cost and flavour. In this regard, I suggest the following two guidelines:
1) don't buy olive oil in basic grocery chains unless the oil is on sale at a genuinely good price. But even then, try to ascertain whether the sale is an effort to move merchanise that has been sitting on the shelf for a long time. Buying olive oil on sale brings with it a certain risk for this reason. If you know the store well, maybe that isn't an issue but when I was younger and less wary, I was hoodwinked a couple of times, including once at a store that I did know well -- they were moving old (bad) stock.
2) Unless you decide you really like the way they taste, avoid the big Tuscan producers --Berio, Bertolli, Carapelli. These are not by any means bad oils, but they are mixtures of oils from various places and therefore are somewhat characterless products. They are also relatively expensive. Oils sold by import companies are generally of the same ilk (e.g. Racconto).

In my opinion, the best way to buy oil is to shop around ethnic groceries. The differences in prices from store to store can sometimes be quite astonishing. In general, I have on hand about four or five bottles of oil (and consequently, I never or only very rarely buy a given one in a quantity greater than one liter - that's the usual size I buy). For me, that includes a Central/Southern Italian oil, for the reason that the basis of my cooking is from Central/Southern Italy: Montova (Provincia di Frosinone, Southern Lazio) has several products, all good (their basic EV oil, Antica Abbazia, and in the early winter their Novello), and Monini (Umbria) too; both are made from local olives only, I believe. There are several excellent oils from Western Sicily available at very good prices; oils from Crete and more generally from Greece can be had at good prices, though it seems the Greek prices have been creeping up over the years at a faster rate than the Southern Italian oils. My super-bargain oils include an Andalucian oil, La Pedriza, which until recently I was getting at the price of $4.55 a liter (the price has recently gone up a dollar) and Zeina (Lebanese) or Sultan (Turkish). These latter two can be bought for, as the Dutch and Germans say, an apple and an egg up on Kedzie by Lawrence. The Lebanese oils are notoriously inconsistent in quality but - lucky for me - a 1.5 liter bottle I bought recently at Al Khyam is fine (I wanted this for Arab stewed-in-oil dishes with the bounteous crops of vegetables from our garden). Andy's, across the street from Al Khyam, used to have especially good deals on some Greek oils and it would be worth checking out what they have.

In a perfect world (the one where I win Power-Ball for $200 million), perhaps I would always buy expensive oils but, given the volume of oil I go through, and my background, I just can't see spending a lot on oil that I'll use to fry zucchini, for example. But that's not to say I like crappy oil. Especially exquisite and expensive oils, in small quantities, for 'finishing' or 'dressing' purposes are a necessity, but for dealing with high cholesterol, it seems you need basic oils to cook with. For those, hit the ethnic shops outside the centre of the city and avoid the big chains (generally - but note that Treasure Island is sort of an exception). To me, it's always a fun and challenging task to hunt down oils that are both good and reasonably priced.

Antonius

LAZ wrote:My favorite specialty oil is Monti Erei, a flavored oil from Sicily. The arugula-infused oil is incredible. (Disclaimer: I found out about it because my husband does computer work for the importer. I'm not sure where you buy it, though I know some local gourmet stores carry it. You can contact the importer through the Web site I linked to.)

Spotted it today at Sam's.

These are wonderful suggestions. I thank you - - and my LDL thanks you!

We fell in love with McEvoy olive oil while in San Francisco. It's the kind that you want to use raw to finish pasta, or salads, or just eat with some crusty bread and sea salt.

Be sure to give McEvoy a try. Comparable to a Tuscan-estate-bottled product and worth every penny of the premium price.

By the way, you can still find large canisters of Italian extra virgin for about $20 (Celio, Centro) at Caputo's on Harlem Avenue.

First: where should you go when you have a free afternoon near the Mag Mile? You should go...



...to the Dan Flavin exhibit at the MCA, big rooms with colored fluorescent lights in them that are quite mesmerizing, almost spiritual, in a neon motel sign kind of way.

Then, like us, you can mosey down Boul Mich (as we used to call it in the 20s) and make your way to Ta-Ze, the likewise art gallery-like Turkish olive oil store, and do an olive oil tasting, or simply admire the reverence with which the sacred oil is presented:





Hmm, suddenly I'm getting a flash from one of the Alien movies.

I tasted about five of their lighter olive oils, all described as being appropriate for drizzling on salads, etc. And... I have to admit that basically I couldn't tell them apart. The lady said "This one has floral notes" and I tried and tried, but I couldn't spot anything other than, hey, evoo. Finally there was one she said had grassy notes and I tried and you know, it had grassy notes. So I bought it. I'm not sure grassy is a good idea, but it was something I could tell apart from the others, so I went with it.

I also tried a few olives and olive spreads:



And I have to tell you, you want a jar of those Taris black olives and you want it now. Best olives I've tasted in a long time, cured gently so they're not oversalty, hints of various herbs and floral and grassy notes, these are some outstanding olives. Get down there and get you some.

I picked up both of those and a jar of olive spread, plus a bottle of a fig vinegar. She tried to sell me on a B.R. Cohn balsamic they had but it was harsh and vinegary next to my beloved Villa Manodori. Then she had me taste a raspberry vinegar, which was pretty good, but then she said nobody wanted the fig, people don't like figs, do you like figs? I said, I like figs just fine, tasted it, and bought that too.

Then I stopped before I spent all my kids' Lego store money.

Museum of Contemporary Art
220 East Chicago Avenue
312.280.2660
Dan Flavin retrospective through October 30

Ta-Ze Olives & Olive Oil
520 N. Michigan Ave.
312-527-2576

I've not been overly wowed by Ta-Ze's oils, after a handful of visits/tastings and a gifted bottle. Fine, I guess, but nothing to justify their hoity-toity location. I suppose I'll have to try their olives.

I cannot imagine that, even with the occasional sucker like me (but how long will it take me to use up today's haul?), they're doing enough business there to justify it purely on olive oil sales. It seems to me that it has to be more of a PR thing, a place to coordinate efforts to get Turkish olive oil tasted by chefs and into restaurants.

I don't know about Ta-Ze, but Andersson's Chocolates / Patisserie next door does a booming business in breakfast, lunch, tea, dessert and carryout. They are pricey, too, but offering very high quality stuff in an area that doesn't otherwise offer much in the way of baked goods. (By the way, the owner said they offered black-and-white cookies when they opened and couldn't sell them.)

They aren't doing their own baking, but bringing it in from suppliers all over town. Also, popcorn from Gary Poppins in Evanston, toffee from Sweet Margy's and lots more. The truffles and filled chocolates are Neuhaus.

TONS of chocolate in the building with Andersson's, Ethel's and Vosges.

Andersson's Chocolates/ Patisserie
312/371-3633
Westfield North Bridge
520 N. Michigan Ave., third floor

Ethel's Chocolate Lounge
312/464-9330
Westfield North Bridge,
520 N. Michigan Ave., first floor

Vosges Haut Chocolat
312/644-9450
Westfield North Bridge
520 N. Michigan Ave., second floor

I would divide olive oils into two categories, the distinctively flavorful oils and the everyday oils. The distinctively flavorful oils are the expensive, first cold pressing ones, generally but not exclusively from Italy. You want to use these as a dip for bread, for dressing salads, and for other dishes where the taste of the olive oil is the star.

For most other applications, I prefer a milder oil that doesn't compete with the other flavors of the dish. Happily, these tend to be the cheap, generic olive oils. When I can find them, I favor simple Spanish or Greek olive oils because they also tend to have a mild flavor.

Always insisting on "extra virgin" is also an unnecessary reflex. Regular "virgin" tends to be that mild, generic oil that I prefer for most cooking applications.

I know some will regard this advice as blasphemous, but I have reached these conclusions after much experimentation.

My favorite, relatively readily available olive oil is Frantoia. Fruity, light, a touch peppery. After sampling all the olive oils at my local Pete's Market, I settled on this as my favorite. I was quite happy when I saw one of the Iron Chefs using it, confirming my good taste.

As for cheap olive oils, Goya actually is quite decent. I haven't heard about that Consumer's Report, but I can understand it being highly rated. It's the only olive oil in that price range that I find can be enjoyed on its own. Granted, it's a bit bland, but it's not bitter and just godawful like some other oils that cheap. I've tossed nrealy full bottles of olive oil in the garbage they were so bad.

My kitchen always has Frantoia and Goya on hand.

Thanks to LikestoEatout for telling me about this place:

The Olive Mill "An Olive Oil Tasting Bar" in Geneva.

On James Street just west of Third Street. 630-262-0210

I haven't been very happy with my attempts to buy a nice, not for frying but when you really taste it olive oil at some local stores (notably Sam's Wines and Spirits - maybe I just try the wrong ones).

I was quite happy I could go to someplace dedicated to olive oil tasting. You wouldn't think they'd have lousy stuff. They certainly don't.

They have California, Greek, Spanish, Organic, Garlic, Porcini, Blood Orange and Lemon olives oils.

They also have an assortment of balsamic and raspberry vinegars. Not as wide a selection in vinegar as in olive oil, but nice stuff.

I really only intended to come home with one bottle of olive oil. What I came home with was:

Spanish Castile Olive Oil
Arbequina Hand Made Olive Oil
Classic Greek Olive Oil
12 Year White Balsamic Vinegar
18 Year Traditional Balsamic Vinegar.

I tried hard to pick one of those oils. I just couldn't. Those three all have different flavors and I liked each a whole lot.

The 18 yr Balsamic was a "super nice" balsamic, never tasted better. The kind you drizzle on things more than a salad dressing vinegar.

The 12 yr White Balsamic was the nicest "white wine" vinegar I have ever tasted.

Staff was friendly, they didn't mind me resampling those three oils when I was hoping to pare down to one. I would've come home with the Porcini oil but Porcini's irritate me if I eat them too often, and if I had that oil it would be a big risk.

Fantastic store if you're an olive oil aficianado!! Worth the trip.

Nancy

I have been using various olive oils for a long time but maybe not using the right kind for the food. I generally buy an all purpose one like Colavita. However I was wondering if I should have different types for different kinds of food. Olive oil generally comes from Spain, Greece or Italy, maybe also the U.S. Or maybe it all boils down to personal taste. What olive oil do you use? Do you have several different kinds for different foods such as greek style chicken, or italian pasta recipes? What about salad? Of course any kind can be used but what are your favorites?

Personally, I don't find the flavor of most olive oils are discernible once cooked, unless they're off--so I buy a decent quality bulk olive oil--heritage not really important--for cooking. For finishing dishes and dressings, I usually buy whatever J.P. Graziano has in stock in the $20-30 range. The key for those is to use them up before the flavors fade or you end up with some very expensive cooking oil...

boudreaulicious wrote:Personally, I don't find the flavor of most olive oils are discernible once cooked, unless they're off--so I buy a decent quality bulk olive oil--heritage not really important--for cooking. For finishing dishes and dressings, I usually buy whatever J.P. Graziano has in stock in the $20-30 range. The key for those is to use them up before the flavors fade or you end up with some very expensive cooking oil...

this.....

cept I use the Costco vintage Italian mostly

mhill95149 wrote:

boudreaulicious wrote:Personally, I don't find the flavor of most olive oils are discernible once cooked, unless they're off--so I buy a decent quality bulk olive oil--heritage not really important--for cooking. For finishing dishes and dressings, I usually buy whatever J.P. Graziano has in stock in the $20-30 range. The key for those is to use them up before the flavors fade or you end up with some very expensive cooking oil...

this.....

cept I use the Costco vintage Italian mostly

Ditto (assuming you mean the Costco Italian for cooking--not sure if it's vintage or not--never looked!)

I use "olive oil" from Costco for cooking and Coscto EVOO vintage dated Italian for any cold uses.
hope that clears that up....

toria wrote:I have been using various olive oils for a long time but maybe not using the right kind for the food. I generally buy an all purpose one like Colavita. However I was wondering if I should have different types for different kinds of food. Olive oil generally comes from Spain, Greece or Italy, maybe also the U.S. Or maybe it all boils down to personal taste. What olive oil do you use? Do you have several different kinds for different foods such as greek style chicken, or italian pasta recipes? What about salad? Of course any kind can be used but what are your favorites?

Check out City Olive sometime. They have a large selection of really good olive oils and vinegars and you can taste all of them. These are high quality oils meant to be used as a finishing sauce or dressing, not for cooking. (Other stores are set up for tasting also, but I really like City Olive.)

I use mainly use Costco vintage oil (both the Tuscan and the Californian) for cooking and for a lot of finishing applications. I also like some of the middle eastern brands, such as Sultan. I have a nice bottle of Italian oil from City Olive that I also use for finishing.

Good ideas all.

City olive is wonderful place. I am on my second bottle of olive oil from Captain Porkys and feel that the product compares well price and flavor wise with any of the bottled oils. Dino will give you the run down but on where the olives are from and what restaurants are using the product but this is currently our oil for dipping and drizzling while the Costco evoo is for cooking and salad dressing.

A few years ago, I ran into Christ Kamberos, owner of Treasure Island, at his Wilmette store.
Asked for his favorite Olive Oil. He led me by the hand to the aisle and pointed out TITAN from Greece. We have been using ever since. Have tried others, here and there, but nothing "tops" Titan.
Not at all impressed with Costco's oil.
Was buying at TI for $ 38.00 per can and $ 14.00 per bottle. their "in stock" has been so-so.
Now getting at a Greek grocery store, 309 S. Halsted, last week, for $ 26.00 per can.
Give it a try.

Wally Wade

Olive oil prices are surging in Europe — Will your next bottle come from California?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-yo ... 2017-02-15