Speaking About Virgins
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Helen
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On the salad dressing front I think that's why I was so keen to discover the 'secret' of why that Amelie lettuce was just so tasty.
I doubt olive oil was used at all - but whatever it was, it just coated the leaf and no more and was really tasty!
The dressing was applied just before serving and we were urged to eat up before either the lettuce got too warm and/or absorbed the dressing. Of course, the lettuce itself was really fresh and crisp which really helped. All a far cry from my usual Sainsbury's romaine or cos.
I doubt olive oil was used at all - but whatever it was, it just coated the leaf and no more and was really tasty!
The dressing was applied just before serving and we were urged to eat up before either the lettuce got too warm and/or absorbed the dressing. Of course, the lettuce itself was really fresh and crisp which really helped. All a far cry from my usual Sainsbury's romaine or cos.
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john
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Such a waste of gastronomic talent....all for want of a little application,Colin. To paraphrase a school report. "could do better". Tragic......Colin L wrote:I confess to buying and sloshing in ordinary oil as a matter of laziness: there is no saying what heights of culinary excellence I would scale if I bought really good olive oil and paid attention to the matter.
I don't think there's any mustard in the mayonnaise we get from Leader Price,by the way.
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blackduff
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I think that John and Colin are talking mostly about vinaigrettes and not extra virgin Olive oil. This is a big difference.
When you taste a nice bit of toasted bread dipped into the X-Virgin Olive Oil, you will understand that this is different than vinaigrettes. Helen noted a couple of places with the X-Virgins but Santiago gave a few others too. I have tried some at Santiago's winery and they are quite nice.
But the X-Virgin Olive Oil is a mixture itself (green, black, and red olives in various percentages) and this is what I'm searching.
The type of vinegar is varied too. Check with this web site.
http://www.levinaigre.com/
I've tasted some of their vinegars with the salads and they're quite nice. The La Table de Cuisine restaurant serves the perles of vinegar from the La Guinelle.
You don't have to be a "foodie" trying to get the best taste from a meal. I think that younger French women are losing this knowledge - they're willing to buy a bottle of vinaigrette.
At the market in Argeles today, there was three stands selling X-Virgin Olive Oil. I did taste on of them but they didn't seem great. I guess this is a good way to find better oils.
Blackduff
When you taste a nice bit of toasted bread dipped into the X-Virgin Olive Oil, you will understand that this is different than vinaigrettes. Helen noted a couple of places with the X-Virgins but Santiago gave a few others too. I have tried some at Santiago's winery and they are quite nice.
But the X-Virgin Olive Oil is a mixture itself (green, black, and red olives in various percentages) and this is what I'm searching.
The type of vinegar is varied too. Check with this web site.
http://www.levinaigre.com/
I've tasted some of their vinegars with the salads and they're quite nice. The La Table de Cuisine restaurant serves the perles of vinegar from the La Guinelle.
You don't have to be a "foodie" trying to get the best taste from a meal. I think that younger French women are losing this knowledge - they're willing to buy a bottle of vinaigrette.
At the market in Argeles today, there was three stands selling X-Virgin Olive Oil. I did taste on of them but they didn't seem great. I guess this is a good way to find better oils.
Blackduff
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Santiago
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Colin is right, you won't get a good vinaigrette if you don't get the proportions right. Once you've mastered that you can experiment with different vinegars and oils to see how they work out.
One thing I would say is that good vinaigrette should not be used to give some flavour to a bland bit of salad. The key to a good salad is good ingredients and then it need not be that complicated. I'm a big fan of a mixed leaf salad and a light vinaigrette - added individually to each plate, and NOT mixed into the salad bowl.
If you work it out, good, estate-produced oils don't cost much per meal. A "fancy" bottle of local olive oil costs 12€ but it will make about 40 salads so that's 30c per salad instead of 10c using a cheap one.
Same goes for vinegars too. That stuff in the big plastic bottles is for cleaning, not consuming
One thing I would say is that good vinaigrette should not be used to give some flavour to a bland bit of salad. The key to a good salad is good ingredients and then it need not be that complicated. I'm a big fan of a mixed leaf salad and a light vinaigrette - added individually to each plate, and NOT mixed into the salad bowl.
If you work it out, good, estate-produced oils don't cost much per meal. A "fancy" bottle of local olive oil costs 12€ but it will make about 40 salads so that's 30c per salad instead of 10c using a cheap one.
Same goes for vinegars too. That stuff in the big plastic bottles is for cleaning, not consuming
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john
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The problem is Jon,that you can use that argument for pretty much everything!Santiago wrote:If you work it out, good, estate-produced oils don't cost much per meal. A "fancy" bottle of local olive oil costs 12€ but it will make about 40 salads so that's 30c per salad instead of 10c using a cheap one.
Fillet steak only costs 3€ more per portion than rump. Chablis only costs 3€ a glass more than BiB . Turbot only costs 2€ a slice more than cod. A BMW only costs 3c a km more to run than a Golf. It only costs 1€ a hour more to stay in a" boutique" or 5* hotel than a 3* one. And so on.
But many of us are on a fixed income/budget,and have to cut our cloth accordingly. You can make an excellent salad/dressing with lettuce from the garden and tasty oils from the supermarket/Co-op at a quarter of the price of your fancy oil.
Finally,as you well know ,there are plenty of excellent vinegars pitched between costly Balsamics and the "plastic bottle" stuff. I'd certainly agree with you that is only good for cleaning !