Friday, October 2, 2015

Olive Oil Tasting

Several weeks ago, I was contacted by The Olivique - a Spanish olive oil company - to see if I was interested in trying their oils. Their oils are 100% olive juice and certified non GMO. They sounded great, so how could I say no?

I was excited when I opened the package and found four pretty bottles.

The Olivique Olive Oil
The extra virgin oils all have distinctive flavor profiles, and the The Olivique’s website has suggestions what to pair each oil with.

I decided to try the Picual first. It’s description is as follows: "Rich in oleic acid notes of wood and fresh herbs. Unique & with a strong personality.” The description is accurate. I decided to add a little oil on top of my mushroom, spinach, & egg breakfast, and I loved the flavor the olive oil added to the simple dish.  

Egg Mushromo Spinach Breakfast
Next I used the Cornicabra in a simple vinaigrette. The description of the Cornicabra is as follows: "A fresh flavor with notes of fresh herbs, tomato & even avocado. It enhances flavors in any dish, pairs beautifully with salads, toasts, vegetables and it's stability makes it famous for a mild yet present taste.” The Cornicabra worked beautifully in the salad dressing.
  
One of our favorite things to do on our weekly Farmers’ Market visits is to taste and compare various food products, such as cheeses, sauces, vinegars, and oils. So we decided to have some fun at home and did an “official tasting” of all four oils with some sourdough bread we had picked up at the Farmers’ Market. Andy was excited and said, “That’s all I need. Bread and olive oil. Perfect.”

It was fun tasting all of the oils side by side and comparing them to the descriptions on the website. All the oils taste excellent and matched their descriptions. Andy and the kid preferred the milder oils, but I liked them all and look forward to playing with them some more in different dishes. But there is nothing wrong with simply dipping a little bread in them either...
Olive Oil tasting 2
The Olivique is sold in stores in the United States and available in several stores in California (Jimbo’s Naturally, Vincente Foods, Bay Cities Market, Pacific Ranch Market, Marbella Ranch Market, Major Market, and Seaside Market).

Questions: Do you like olive oil? What’s your favorite way to eat it? 

Be well,
Andrea

[Note: I was provided four bottles of The Olivique olive oil for free. No other compensation was provided. As always, all opinions are my own.]