Olive oil is a fruit juice – pick an olive, crush it and the juice inside is what becomes olive oil. The fresher the fruit, the better the oils. Olive oil is milled directly from newly picked fresh fruit; nearly all other culinary oils are extracted from dried seeds, harvested after the parent plant has died. Sometimes even with chemical solvents to remove the oil from the husks.

Olive oils has a long documented history of being a healthy food. More recently, accredited medical research is finding and investigating all kinds of beneficial links from olive oil – for the skin, blood, bones, brain, and various disorders exacerbated by the excesses of modern living. The Olive Oil Times regularly publishes articles on the most recent discoveries.

Absolutely: fried eggs, sauteed potatoes are great fried in a good olive oil. But always taste the oil first – you don’t want to go ahead with something too harsh or bitter.

There is no absolute given temperature: you use your judgement and remove the oil from the heat before it goes too far. It is always advisable to throw away smoking oil because there can be molecular changes when heated too high. But on the other hand, an oil just trembling on the heat makes a marvellous dressing for steamed dishes – veg, chicken, fish.

Arrange everything on the serving dish, spread with a dressing of finely chopped spring onions, garlic and ginger; heat a tablespoonful of EVOO to bubbling point and pour the hot oil over the dressing so it ‘sizzles’.

Oil emerges from the milling process cloudy with a fine particulate of olive material from the skins and pips. There is an argument about the benefit of leaving this in the oil versus pushing the oil through
filters to clean it up.

The pro-filter people will say it helps prolong the shelf life of the oil as the particulate will encourage deterioration and rancidity.

Anti-filters argue that every interference with the oil changes the taste and the nutritional benefits and prefer to allow the particulate to sink naturally to the bottom of the tank before racking off the bottles.

AVLAKI oils are not filtered and are bottled as soon as poissble after milling to try to capture that intense taste and aroman of freshly milled oils.

Yes. There are conversion charts on the internet which will give you the precise equivalent. But always taste the oil you intend to use first – some butter-rich dishes will not do well if you substitute with a
strong, overpowering green oil.