Olive Oil

you are coming late to this discovery ran. i take it that is not short for say “randolfo” :slight_smile::):slight_smile: even better: try some balsamic vinegar.

Olive oil is one of those unhealthy things that westerners do, instead of that nice healthy stuff that chinese people eat.

Be careful, it may taste good but it sure is bad for you. Next time you need to liven up your food, why not add MSG instead? That’s much better from a health perspective.

[quote=“stragbasher”]Olive oil is one of those unhealthy things that westerners do, instead of that nice healthy stuff that Chinese people eat.

Be careful, it may taste good but it sure is bad for you. Next time you need to liven up your food, why not add MSG instead? That’s much better from a health perspective.[/quote]

:smiley:

Not so. The US FDA says:

fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2004/NEW01129.html

And the BBC says:

[quote]“Olive oil and wine - healthy and divine,” says a famous Spanish proverb.

Spaniards are indeed three times less likely than northern Europeans to contract heart disease.

They think it is largely thanks to their olives.

But new studies show that olive oil has an even healthier allure.

It promotes strong bone development, helps to prevent colon and breast cancer, Alzheimer’s and other aging diseases.

More than 300 scientists from the world over are attending the conference in Jaen, the centre of Spain’s oil production, to compare notes, in the hope of persuading their respective governments to invest more money in olive oil medical research. [/quote]
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3946891.stm

mother theresa,
are you as pretty as the girl in the picture? that’s shiao deng right?

I was being facetious. Ran thinks that western civilisation is unhealthy.

[7 bad health habits of western civilization

[quote=“rantheman”]mother theresa,
are you as pretty as the girl in the picture?[/quote]
I am. :blush:

How about you?

Are you Ran the Man or Rant He Man?

No offense meant, just wondering.

[quote=“Mother Theresa”][quote=“rantheman”]mother theresa,
are you as pretty as the girl in the picture?[/quote]
I am. :blush:

How about you?

Are you Ran the Man or Rant He Man?

No offense meant, just wondering.[/quote]

are you free tonight? some girls call me ‘rocco’ :smiley:

dear mother theresa,
i am pretty, but probably not as much as you.

and i am a he man. but i’m also so sweet you’ll never leave.

Be careful when you buy olive oil in the stores here. Some of them are olive oil blended with another cheaper oil. Make sure you get the 100% olive oil ones.

Yeah, if you can get the loan. (ridiculously expensive in Taiwan, imo, epecially the sweet green stuff)

For the salt cod fish (or bacallao), it is easy to find it in Macau (the best place in Macau for the Bacalhau is either the “O Santos” (middle budget portuguese restaurant in the Taipa Island) or the “A Vencedora” (low budget “tasca” nearby the portuguese consulate in Macau island).

As for the Olive oil, try to get mountain one, as it has a lot more flavour and less acidity (although only the portuguese olive oil is obliged by law to show up the acidity level). For spanish one, it is dificult to find a good one here, as most of it comes from the Spanish “Meseta” and is very acid one. And for those who don’t know how to taste olive oil, it is simple. Choose a white bread, take the middle part, dip it in the olive oil and taste it. If the olive oil is really good, you will still be able to feel the bread flavour, not only the texture.

Tainan Cowboy - Mejillones is not fish, but mussles… (although that is a galician dish) :wink:

[quote=“mr_boogie”]Tainan Cowboy - Mejillones is not fish, but mussles… (although that is a galician dish) :wink:[/quote]mr. boogie -
mejillones was the name given to the dried smelt rejuvenated by olive oil and served as tapas in the small Spanish town where I lived for about 1/2 the year for 8 yrs.
The name might designate another sea creature in a different part of Spain - I can fully understand it being a regional appelation - but where I was was, thats what dried smelt, and probably a few other small dried fishes were called. I used to seine/net these little buggers for my landlord who would spend his mornings stringing them up to dry.
Did this name apply to something else somewhere else?..probably. I just know that in the little puebla blanca where I lived, it was used for small dired fish used in tapas…and I liked them a lot with my beer and vino tinto…Cheers!

Tainan, i was just telling you what the mejillones word means- http://www.arecetas.com/mejillones/. If somewhere in Spain they call it another thing then I don’t know.

For the guy who sayd that we should stop with the expensive stuff, actually the olive oil tip is not a question of money, it is a question of know how… Olive Oil from mountain is best to eat raw, olive oil from the planes is best to cook (gives more flavour).

Not only is this good to know, but this strikes me as somewhat profound.

Not only is this good to know, but this strikes me as somewhat profound.[/quote]

Very profound indeed. I would just like to know which model aircraft flown by which airline has such a profound effect on the flavour of olive oil.

BroonAirline

Not only is this good to know, but this strikes me as somewhat profound.[/quote]

Very profound indeed. I would just like to know which model aircraft flown by which airline has such a profound effect on the flavour of olive oil.

BroonAirline[/quote]

let me rephrase it to you - Olive oil from mountain is best to eat raw, olive oil from the plateaus (I should have said plains, it sure went wrong, sorry, it happens) is best to cook. How to know exactly? Well, that is a huge dificulty because only portuguese are obliged to put acidity level on the olive oil, and portuguese olive oil is somewhat impossible to find in Taiwan. But I would put it this way - normally spanish olive oil comes from the meseta, which is a plateau area; as Italy does not have that many plateau areas to make it worse to put olive trees, most of it is from mountain side. Another way to know it is to use bread (absolutelly not a flavoured one). Plunge the bread inside the olive oil and taste it. Normally a strong one will make it impossible to destinguish the flavour of the bread, but a soft one will give you a more subtle flavour. In the end, it all goes with taste, I guess. Because my dad’s family has production (they do 0.3º one, which is considered extreme low acidity) my taste is rather soft. My mom, however, prefers a little bit more acid (from 0.5º to 0.7º, which would include all extra virgin). People with stronger tastes go with 1.0º or 1.5º, which are considered as virgin oils. But these marks only work for Portugal, as we have a standard of definition.

It sounds as if the owners are making a good effort. I’d like to try this place sometime.

Paella is a kind of dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t thing. Every tapas bar and Spanish restaurant (at least outside of Spain) is expected to have it on the menu, but it is hard to make good paella, consistently. I think it requires a lot of experience. And as for a really authentic paella, well, on multiple occasions Spanish friends of mine used the correct ingredients and utensils and made a delicious dish that looked like great paella to me, but somehow they were never satisfied with it.

It might not be required by law, but decent Spanish olive oil also has the acidity marked and I think it’s on the same scale as you describe. I got some brilliant olive oil in Cordoba once; probably too strong for your tastes but great for mine!

I’ve never consciously tasted Portuguese olive oil (only eaten food cooked with it), but would like to try it sometime.

well… got some over here… not the best one, but the best I could get in Macao…

My mom swears by Berio olive oil. It’s pricy though…
Jason’s has 1-liter bottles for $436.