Does Expensive Olive Oil actually taste better?
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- čas přidán 16. 05. 2024
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⏱ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
3:41 Why do we add fats and oil to food?
5:22 What affects the flavor of olive oil?
8:02 Experiment #1: Leafy Greens Test
11:51 Experiment #2: Pasta Salad
16:50 Experiment #3: Roasted Vegetables
21:47 Experiment #4: Fried Chicken Cutlet
27:48 Conclusion & Takeaways
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You should consider a butter episode.
> Regular American Butter
> European Butter 82% Butterfat
> European Butter 84%+ Butterfat
You could go further with cultured and non cultured butter as well
That would be really really interesting, actually. Could test with just a spread on some nice bread, an omelette , and then something baked like shortbread cookies. I'd be curious to see cultured butter thrown in as well to see the difference that may have.
Is Kerrygold actually better?
a test with butter spreads would be interesting too
Grass Fed is legit as well - you get a far better & healthier Omega Fat ratio than with grain fed.
So we already have far too many variables...
A comparison between cheap and expensive balsamic vinegar would be really cool too.
There's 100% a difference. Thought for years that I just didn't like balsamic vinegar, turns out I just don't like cheap balsamic vinegar lol. Vinegar in general seems to have pretty noticeable taste improvement with price increase
Good balsamic is sweet, it's thick and syrupy, but also very expensive.
I have two, cheapo for all kinds of acidic needs and the expensive as a table condiment (it's Il Borgo del Balsamico's "Etichetta Rossa" a.k.a. red label which is aged in barrels for years, can recommend).
I also buy (Spanish) olive oil directly from the producer, they call it "adopting an olive tree". For about 70€ I get home delivered 4 two litre canisters when they harvest, three different varieties of oil. It's totally worth it, getting the proper fresh stuff in a metal can, so much taste!
You can absolutely tell the difference. It’s not even close. This is like asking to compare a high end steakhouse burger to McDonald’s.
It’s already on the list 🤙 Nice balsamic is one of my favorites, so I’m excited to dive into that one.
I read that extra virgin olive oil was originally called that because Cardinals in Italy who had syphilis used to soak in the barrels of olive oil, which then became extra virgin olive oil.
An Italian friend of mine had his parents visiting us once and they brought olive oil from their farm. It was a bright green color and it was so fragrant and flavorful that I could just have it as a normal drink. Nothing in the supermarket compares to that, not even close. I wish I never tasted it because I can't be happy with the regular stuff anymore.
I make my own. Takes me months, and i get a few ounces from my small tree. give most to my mother, which she said it was really good, finished it off really quickly, and next year she forgot that I ever made any. I on the other hand can't smell, and the best olive oil was the one I tasted in College, before everyone else got into olive oil, and it was spicy. Second was an Italian restaurant, that gave it as a dip for bread, but the spiciness might of come from the crack pepper they added to the dip. But I think there was back bite, which is more of an olive oil thing. This year I will try for the third time to make olive oil. Gave an Egyptian woman my biggest harvest to make olives. She was shocked how much Olive I gave her and kind of cursed that I gave her so much work. I got more than a gallons worth of olive as payment. I gave it to my mother and she refuse to break it out to taste. This year, I got a lot more olives, but they are smaller than last year, so it's better for olive oil . What I need is to find a better way to press the olives. although most of the time spent is waiting for the oil to separate. PS when my coworker first bought three adult olives, She thought I was weird for getting permission to pick olives. Then I discover, that Cal Tech invites people to pick off their campus, and then her neighbor asked as well. I kind of cursed her and her Husband . I told her I went to the farmer's market with my mother and told her not to eat the fresh olives. She bought some, and when I was alone, I heard a scream. While the crowd ran away, I found out it was my mother, and she bit into a fresh olive. She said she didn't think it would taste that bad. Told me coworker, and she didn't listen and ate one. And I told her, I told you not to, and she said she didn't think it's that bad, and it was so beautiful , she wanted to see what it taste. She then told the whole story to her Husband, and he had to put one in his mouth, and said, yep, its the worse thing he ever tasted.
@@slewone4905best BS I read today. Thx for the chuckle!
If you are in the US, you have to either go to a farmers market in a state that grows olives, or order better oil online.
You can buy it everwhere in italy.
@@ralphmacchiato3761 No, the fact that you think that is unrealistic goes to show you don't go outside very much. I've seen people show similar reaction when eating raw olive for the first time.
Italian here: first of all your channel is amazing and your test aren't silly neither offensive, much love. Second, my grandpa used to own a portion od land where he cultivated olive trees, in puglia in the Barletta countryside. He's always claimed that the more the oil would "scratch" the throat, the more good it was. Also another factor that could highlight the quality to a simple and not so scientific extent is the smell it has at first approach. I remember the smell of the barrel of oil he used to keep in the garage, the "younger" oil could be smelled from the entrance door, with the lids closed.
The scratch also means better for your health.
Thats why italian food is garbage and everyone who visit Italy is dissapointed
I think aglio e olio would have been a good dish to make to compare the oils since the olive oil is one of the main flavor contributors to the dish
Sssh don't share our secret recipes
Yeah, I feel like that was an obvious dish to try
👏👏👏🇮🇹
Hard to cook 3 different batches properly
@Kermit Jagger How so? It really wouldn't be any different than when he makes different sauces. He'd just make each "sauce" with set amounts (by weight) of oil, garlic, and red pepper flake. After that make a batch of pasta and reserve some of the water to use to emulsify.
Hi Ethan, can you make these ingredient comparisons into a playlist? Really useful
Good idea! EDIT: Here you go ➡ czcams.com/play/PL-tYKWQOe4YPWi2pSJDvvdvZiHNUBI_uS.html
@@EthanChlebowski getting ready to binge (re)watch it now >:D I love these deep dives
@@EthanChlebowski Thanks for this Ethan!
@@EthanChlebowski subscribed from this -- the fact someone asked for a QOL upgrade and you instantly provide it? I love that. I've watched 3 seconds of this video already know youll be a favourite
Great video as usual. I’m surprised you didn’t do any base tests just by dipping bread into each. I feel like that would’ve given you a better idea of which one was the cooking EVOO & which one was the finishing EVOO.
How useful would that test be? Not really as most people use the oil for more than just as a dip for fresh bread.
The whole point of this channel, not just this video, is to give real world tests so you know which is best to add to your every day cooking.
@@the8tharkI was hoping to see the same test. I couldn't see myself buying expensive olive oil to keep onhand for all my cooking, but I might have a second "reserve" bottle of the pricey stuff for dipping bread - if it proved to be noticeably better. Dipping bread in olive oil is certainly a "real world" test. It is a very popular way to use olive oil.
Agilo e olio and maybe a caprese salad or a simple carpaccio would have been better tests as well in my opinion. I doubt many of us were wondering if we could fry chicken in olive oil.
@@the8thark contrary to your personal beliefs and usage, many of us dip bread in oil on a regular basis.
He achieved his goal, of teaching us the facts and his opinions of the oils in real world tests.
In cooking and on salads which is the best oil, factoring in the oils themselves and the cost of each oil.
If you want to know, opinions on bread dipped in oil, then you will need to watch another video.
Also he answers the questions you did not ask but (after the fact) were very glad were answered. In this case, the chicken in olive oil question.
Of cause using a finishing oil for bread dipping is the obvious choice, for those who can afford it. Most of the people who do this on a regular basis already know this. He did not go out to repeat this fact to those who already know the answer.
The video was fine. Some people just wanted him to give information what was outside the scope of the video.
I've noticed there are huge differences in olive oils, but it's rarely tied to the price as long as you're not buying the absolute cheapest stuff.
No such thing all grade b in the shops you would have to know family farms and Mafia
Just find the type of olive you like the most. i order mine directly from greece since i find koroneiki olives to have the best taste without any of the usual bitterness. Picual would be for the people that like the typical imitated olive oil taste, with the bitterness. In other words, the most olive oil taste, would be something like picual since that is the taste the counterfeits have told us its supposed to taste like. While koroneiki is a more neutral, a little fruity at the start and pepperi at the back of the throat. So for me the neutral clean taste and clean texture of koroneiki oil is just perfect. Also better to use in cooking, since it doesnt make the food taste of bitter olive oil.
Store bought olive oil always smells rancid to me.
Bought some from a farm in California. I was so surprised that it was actually pretty tasty.
Please do this with truffle oil and synthetic truffle oil
You're kidding, right? That's like comparing GMO trash to organic and natural food 🤣
This video already stemmed a couple of follow up experimentation ideas I want to run 🧐
Lookup the word "synthetic"
👍 🙌
@@uziboozy4540 I know what synthetic means! I don’t use words without knowing the meaning! But the fake stuff is quite close whilst still being synthetic which is why I made the suggestion! Next time please don’t assume people don’t know the meaning of words they typed
i'm surprised you didn't start with a base taste test of each olive oil as is with some bread or something vs buried in a vinaigrette and then cooked with. especially considering the expensive one isn't meant to be cooked with and even the graza "everyday cooking" one is sold in a "sizzle and drizzle" bundle with the one you used being sizzle (cook with it) and the other one being drizzle (finishing oil). also was expecting some comparison of the other two expensive regional ones
That was exactly what I said to my husband. The brussels sprouts test seems particularly miscalculated since it's going to be competing with the strong flavor of roasted Brussels sprouts.
Now you have a video you can do. Can't wait.
yes I wondered same why not taste with bread because olive oil not a cooking oil .. every chef knows this its for taste and if you cook olive oil it changes a lot in taste.. i use other oils for cooking and then spice them with olive oli
This . Completely agree. New video needed
Taste olive oil alone. Chew some good simple real bread to clean the mouth and drink some water. Alternatively taste with a little bread. Then taste another olive oil. Good quality has many different flavors, but the difference from low quality is huge. My family produced olive oil for centuries. These days 6 euro per 1000ml buys you good olive oil from a producer and even bottled olive oil at 7 euro per 1000ml is very good in greece. Most extra virgin by greek spec from a respectable producer is OK. I think top quality olive oil in many other countries is about as good as generic extra virgin in greece. I have tasted many brands from other countries that claim to be extra virgin and only the best is actually olive oil. Most of it is unacceptable.
This series is GENIUS Ethan!
Decent comment right here
Like the moaning lisa
It kinda sucks
Personally my take is this: You need 4 oils, 1 high grade olive oil as finishing oil (i never heat this one). 1 regular all purpose olive oil preferably still extra virgin or at least virgin (my most used oil). 1 high temp cooking/frying oil (i prefer sunflower or grape seed personalty, but its your choice). 1 good grade sesame oil as finishing oil or sauce mixer oil for aisan type food.
i like your style mate. I also like to have some coconut oil sparingly thrown in there too.
Okay, I like where this is going.
But why not use sunflower oil as the all purpose oil and then you only need 3 oils?
@@Chronically_ChiII Depends what flavour profile you want in the end product. For a lot of dishes, mainly those cooked low & slow, I prefer OO.
@@Strykz I always FEEL like olive oil is better, but after this video, I think I agree that I have never actually found a taste difference when I substitute a more neutral oil for olive oil.
Sorry, no seed oil, use Avocado instead for frying oil.
I love this series. Not only do you ask interesting questions that aren't easily googled, you also add so much other information that really elevates my knowledge of cooking.
Agreed! Very thoughtful and well put together
thanks to this man i became interested in cooking science :D
i love science by default so this man doing it entertains me a lot and makes me learn so much.
I wasn't a fan tbh. High quality finishing oils aren't used to roast and fry with. Who does that? Everyone I think knows this. It's for finishing, as in drizzling on food, eating with good bread so you can taste the qualities of the oil itself. Then it makes a big difference.
I saw a food documentary recently, and they were saying that quite a lot of olive oil in the US is mixed with cheap vegetable oil but still sold as extra virgin olive oil.
I've heard this too, but I've been to olive oil factories in Argentina and my partner's family owns their own olive grove in Greece and process their own olive oil, and I can't tell the difference between those oils and Colavita or whole food's store brand. Cheap American olive oils still taste very good, I find it hard to believe they're adulterated very much
Tbh the differences are mostly in extra virgin oils, and in those cases yes, you can taste differences. Personally I wouldn’t use extra virgin for cooking. When I could actually afford olive oil I would keep a small container of a good(not top of the line but not the cheapest) extra virgin for dressings, and using neat and one whose flavours I like. And a can of a cheaper olive oil (often Spanish) for general use. Ultra expensive top of the line extra virgin isn’t honestly worth it (unless you REALLY like it’s taste)but you’re paying not only for the oil, but also looks, and story and let’s be honest, flex, whereas the bottom tier of cheap can be over refined and virtually tasteless or worse, taste soapy. There really isn’t that much difference in the middle, other than as you say, taste preference.
The REASON for not using the extra virgin in cooking is simple….it’s expensive. Better to use a milder, less expensive oil in cooking. It still has the taste BUT it’s less “in yer face”
What was the documentary called?
That’s a tradition imported from the Mediterranean
Taste is individual, either you can or cannot tell the difference. The real issue is the potential health problems of the vegetable oils. The same goes for olive oil that is a lower grade than "extra virgin". Heat and solvents are often used to extract the residual oil from the olive. That is where the health risks may come from.
I've noticed something in your taste tests I also noticed during my career in restaurants. For example, when we were evaluating a new wine to be offered by the glass I'd get a sample bottle from each of my vendors vying for the placement, perhaps 5 or 6, announce an afternoon tasting to the staff (who rarely skipped an free glass of wine or two), wrapped the bottles in foil and set them on the bar. I'd pour everyone a measured taste, we'd talk about the flavor and characteristics and such (we were known for our wine list and they were a sharp group) and I'd ask for an opinion from the group about which was best. And then left the bottles for anyone who wanted an extra taste. I'd usually make my decision after everyone was done choosing either the first bottle emptied or the the one that was most empty. We were all great at talking about what made wine good but the tell was what they actually drank.
I notice here you ate all of the chicken fried in the expensive EVOO - which in this case was consistent with your discussion. I'm not sure it tracked that closely in others. Now, my goals were different from yours. I wanted to know what people were going to drink the most of - not which was technically best. The two are not the same as you often comment. Indeed I can talk a lot about the characteristics of some wines I never buy and don't particularly like and even acknowledge one of them as being 'better' than a wine I enjoy completely. I think you said something similar in your episode on Parmigiano.
Having brought this to your attention you may now be more scrupulous in the amounts you taste. That would be fair. I would rather the occasional comment looking at the remains of the test and pointing out when the coefficient of leftovers to rating deviate. You have an excellent palette and that's insight into the real world.
This holds true with beer, too. People won't necessarily drink high quality beer. If they like the cheap stuff, that's what they drink.
@soulGrafitti - Excellent points. Thanks for the post.
I made your pasta salad for my family for dinner tonight, it was a hit, tasted awesome. The biggest surprise for me was how much our 15 month old liked it, she ate until she couldn't possibly fit any more haha.
Thanks Ethan.
Ethan: Your tests _never_ seem silly. I love how you 'break it down' and use evidence rather than just blindly follow cooking myths that have been passed down for generations.
His tests are cool - his delivery is kind of exhausting and drags out though. Everything is like he's trying to sell you something, so first explains and explains things everyone allready knows, in that weatherman style. Why not just get to it? Jusr tell us the points and tell us what you think like you would anyone else in your friends or family?
@@Alexander_Tronstad Longer videos = more $$$. I hate it too, and you can get your answers much quicker by just googling. Real Life Lore does the same fucking thing, as does Johnny Harris. A 30 min plus video to basically answer 1 question the same way.
I also find it silly that he mixes up the items for taste test himself rather than just getting someone else to do it.
A good spin off of this would be about “smoke point” of oils, whether it is relevant, and why it is so commonly referenced. What makes an oil a “high temp” oil and why?
I'd be interested in a video utilizing different types of flours (AP, wheat, cassava, almond, coconut, etc.) for baking/frying. It'd be nice to have different options - especially for people who have allergies or a food intolerance
Just the secret to making breading stick would be cool. There is such a huge variety of breading out there, I wouldn't even know where to begin. Why is KFC and Chic-fil-a so flavorful and Churches & Chicken express so bland/neutral? But all are good.
@@jaeldi eggs and buttermilk... you're welcome
Today, I wanna answer something because I'm Spanish and I use olive oil on a daily basis. The short answer to the question is: yes. The long answer is: yyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssss.
ngl it'd be much more interesting to see you compare certifications than price ranges, someone overpricing their olive oil to appeal to a luxury market doesn't tell anyone much about whether it's worth spending extra money on olive oil, given that you pay the extra for specific parameters
I actually used the Graza cooking olive oil and finishing oils side by side in identical focaccia recipes. The finishing oil that says "Dont cook with" does two things: Causes a ton of smoke in the oven (oh god) and tastes SO MUCH RICHER in the finished product.
I love how actionable these experiment videos are. I can actually go to the store and buy the right product for me and for how I intend to use it based on what you've explained in these videos. And my food is better for it. I would never know all this nuance otherwise. Thanks for doing these!
Just want to say I am super proud of this guy. You can tell he works crazily hard and really cares. I have been following him for a long time and just really happy to see his success. And it's a lesson for any up and coming creator; work really hard, be consistent, and make quality passionate content and eventually good things will happen.
And be original! Ethan is my main guy for everyday cooking science.
This series is awesome. Would be interesting to see a taste test on deep/shallow frying different things in ghee, bacon grease, peanut oil, avocado oil or a mixture of them to see if the smoke point can change.
That information is already out there. Smoke points of individual fats depend on their chemistry. If you blend fats, it depends on the ratio of the blend. So if you want a buttery taste on a steak, use ghee, or a blend of high smoke point oil/fat and butter. This is why chef's will use a high smoke oil or fat to form the crust, but use butter to baste the steak to finish the cooking at below the smoking point of butter. Beef tallow and ghee for steaks.
Best oil I've ever used(and I only buy the cheapest stuff) was the aldi bio one.
Came in tinted glass, was cloudy and tasted awesome.
A good way to find "reasonable" EVO oils in stores is when theres a lot of oil solidifying into waxy solid balls.
True!
I would recommend to eat something with neutral flavour after each tasting in order to "clean" your palate. Also, for olive oil it would be better to try it first with just a little sip. Then maybe with some bread. That way, you can know better what kind of flavour you should be looking for in each dish.
In Spain, we usually use good olive oil with toasts (tomato, ham...) and salad, because the flavour is so strong when it's raw, that it would get too much into the dish you are cooking it with.
You should also note that the strenght of the olive olive depends as well on the olive variety, being "picual" tipically considered the strongest one.
One host of my monthly winetasting club did an olive oil tasting prior to the wine (we would've rioted if it'd REPLACED the wine), blind, and what stuck with me was the huge preference of Spanish oils over Italian, Greek and Californian among club members; the Spanish was fruitier while the others were more bitter/astringent (what you called "bass notes"). The host attributed that to Spain's longer/warmer growing climate, but with global warming that may be all topsy-turvy anymore. My personal belief is, like chile peppers and tomatoes, that year's growing season, and the varietal, make more difference.
It's fun spending my retirement trying to figure this out!
As as Spaniard, I have blind tested different olive oils with my friends and we can even tell the brand apart, it is kind of a big deal culturally.
In the US the odds are very, very high that even with a Spanish label it has been adulterated and may contain no olive oil whatsoever. Welcome to American Capitalism and corruption of the regulatory process
But that is raw, if I am understanding your blind taste test correctly. I agree, when tasted alone someone with a good pallet should be able to taste differences. But when you combine nuance with vinegar, or in the cooking case with 20+ minutes in the oven, all of that goes out the window. It would be super interesting to see someone else run these experiments and see if they feel the same way.
Another Spaniard here. If you haven't, try oil made from lechín or blended with lechín. Early harvest if you can. It's freaking magical. The absolute best I have found for toast, salad, salmorejo, etc. The easiest to find for me is the hojiblanca + lechín blend made by the 1881 brand in Osuna.
@@CortezEspartaco2 please explain for ignorant englishwoman. what is lechin? Is it a variety? what we get here, does not specify olive varieties.
@@helenswan705 Maybe they mean lecithin, though I don't know why anyone would want an emulsifier in oil.
These comparison videos have been so interesting and helpful (thank you for buying and testing the expensive varieties so I don't have to, haha). I'm not 100% percent sure how viable of a topic it is, but I would be interested in a comparison of varieties of rice (maybe limiting the scope to white rice, comparing long grain, etc.). Regardless, thank you so much for what you do, I've learned so much about cooking technique!
They have different uses, dish wise. There are things for which arborist rice is better (i.e. risotto), there are thing for which basmati is better (i.e. biryani).
Rice is one of those things where there is just an obvious difference between varieties - jasmine vs basmati are a bit like waxy vs floury potatoes. Though I'm not sure if more premium versions of those make a massive difference (and I imagine the difference is even less when it's eaten with another dish)
A rice guide would be nice, as a novice I have no idea what to buy to get the flavor I like in restaurants all the way from mexican to sushi. Why is sushi rice soooo good? I also have no idea what I'm doing with onions. Why are there so many different kinds?
Love these videos! Never stop making them, they're so incredibly informative & helpful!
This would be a really cool series, comparing and evaluating different common cooking ingredients
Oils, butters, vinegars, cheeses, meats and so on
Looking forward to seeing more of these!
Thank you for your work Ethan.
Loved this episode! I especially enjoyed the range of tests you chose and your thought process behind each approach. Thank you for making such engaging and well put together content! I'm craving some roasted brussels now.. 😋
please keep making these types of videos, theyre some of my absolute favorite on the whole platform!
Good video. It's great that you did this as a blind taste test so there was no preconceived result. My father, long-time chef, always maintained you could switch ingredients and as long as they didn't see the package, would have no idea. I've just subscribed (obviously) and will work my way through your videos. Thanks for your efforts and willingness to share.
GM
bet ur fathers restuarant was ass
its also possible that every restuarant actually just has shit cooks, but def a correlation with fresh food and good taste in italy.
even same in nyc compared to a farm in bumfuck nowhere. Nyc is great especially for option, but can never be the best imo because its not fresh
I think most people wouldn’t really notice. I know my tastes buds aren’t “looking” For the type of oil that must have been used in a particular dish, or if something was fried in an expensive EVOO or just finished with the expensive EVOO.
I am enjoying this channel though, and looking at these experiments. It is informing me in how I should consider using my oils, and other ingredients. I’m only just getting into cooking, and having a lot of fun with it.
A bit late to the vid but consider this: although the cooking time does play a role in the volatile oils dispersing while roasting the vegetables, you did have them all roasting at the same time in an enclosed space (oven). Could it be that the oils mixed in part, making for a homogeneous taste? Would explain why it was so hard to differentiate between oils in test 3!
Also all were placed on the same pan not actually seperate,where most of the oil ends up, and also used the same spatula to pick up all of them up.
Always have at least two bottles of 🫒 oil ! Medium quality one is for “basic” cooking ! The high quality one is for specific recipes (salads, pasta, tartare, etc)
Cheers from San Diego California
This is exactly the way I do it too, John! haha
Yes.😊
Definitely. I've been really enjoying Partanna for salads and have been using up some Portuguese olive oil for general cooking. I wish Ethan would have added in a mass-market olive oil like Bertolli or Pompeiian for an extra comparison.
@@mikeschumacher nice!!!! I use Partanna almost exclusively now. Just added another comment about it a minute ago! It’s replaced my previous go to cooking and finishing oils (occasionally do pick up a single varietal artisanal oil at a local shop but 95% of my EVOO is Partanna for the last few years
The flavor profile is so much better than many high end EVOOs I’ve tried. It’s an amazing value twhen buying the right 101 Oz tins. Far far far superior to the other large commercial brands like Bertolli, Pompeian et al.
Always insightful and intentioned. Thank you for the insights and deep dive!
Everybody knows brussel sprouts should be fried in bacon grease
Or duck fat
I love these comparison videos. It really hits home on what is good, better... or more importantly, worth it. Keep these coming please.
Just wanted to share, got excited to see a new Ethan video on Sunday night as I clean up dinner. And a deep dive to boot. Thanks, Ethan!
I always assumed that when you recommended peanut oil for certain uses, it was highly refined. And indeed the one you show it is highly refined.
When I was living in China, I was able to buy (at a premium price), high quality unrefined peanut oil. It's quite nice, I used it on pancakes, delicious! You really get the peanut flavor.
here in the states you can get arawana unrefined peanut oil on weee. i'd recommend it too, it really tastes like peanuts
now there's a flavour I really do NOT want on all my food!
I love these deep-dive videos so much Ethan. Keep ‘em coming!!!
The reason why you couldn't tell the difference between the brussel sprouts outside of them having a pretty strong flavor is that you cooked them together, olive oil shines on its aromatics that's the main source of flavor, so when you impregnate the aroma on to the other foods by having them in an enclosed space cooking for 25 minutes, yeah, you wouldn't tell a difference.
Ethan, this is a top notch content. Thanks for looking for a cooking questions we all have and answering them so thoroughly. ❤
By the way, when is the second part of the "chicken breast science" coming out? I want to know about the brining
I've been using Laudemio for years since visiting their production facility in Tuscany. I didn't even know that it was so highly regarded when I went but I fell in love with the taste and have been using it ever since. Its SO worth it!
And if you're using Laudemio, Giuseppe Giusti is a wonderful balsamic vinegar of impeccable quality to have with it.
I love watching your content Ethan, as a professional chef myself of 16 years it's lovely to see someone diving more into the science of why and why not on things in the eating world.
I would like to see an episode at some point of how you would compare "Choice", "Select" and "Prime" steaks in addition to how you would make the cheaper one more tender and juicy. It's a conundrum i have been pondering recently. (I know other yt chefs have done this, but I would like to know Ethans take on it as he has a uniquely insiteful and informative method of getting a result)
In my experiments of EVOO buying every popular store brand and comparing to small batch online companies, the difference in price is based not only on flavor but also polyphenol content and yield. Younger early harvested olives will have that signature bitter/peppery flavor which translates to higher polyphenol content but lower oil yield where as the matured ripe olives are more buttery and mellow with higher oil yield for a better tolerated flavor price point. This is similar to every other kind of fruiting plant like chili peppers (green is more bitter while red is more fruity). I've even had oils that were a mix of young and matured olives which gave mild fruity notes. These 3 are really the main flavor profiles to distinguish an oil's quality and polyphenol content. I personally use a pricey high polyphenol content EVOO (1000+mg Olea True) as a morning supplement which is extremely bitter while also drizzling a cheaper EVOO in my daily meals for a mild fruity kick.
Cooking is the Equalizer in EVOO as with any food that removes/changes most of the raw flavors/antioxidants which is why they say to not heat it up and lose those compounds. This makes a lot of sense, especially if it's an expensive oil but that doesn't mean it's not possible to cook with it. Based on the price alone, it would be logical to use cheaper neutral oils for cooking and leave the EVOO for finishing flavor. Then there's the whole topic of trendy health oils against gmo seed oils talk but that's a different argument in itself.
Overall in my opinion, expensive olive oil isn't worth it unless you're chasing that high polyphenol content for health reasons which is again, very bitter tasting. There's plenty of affordable EVOO that use young olives and give that balanced peppery kick like California Olive Ranch or Amazon's Italian. Kirkland's is more of that middle ground buttery fruit flavor which is good too. Those Ferrari and luxury EVOO are really just brand exclusivity with marketing and not worth the subtle difference in flavor.
Could it be that during the oven roast the aromas contaminated each other? They were separated on the tray, however the oven is a confined space and circulating its own air.
Unlikely. I follow the Mediterranean way of eating, so I make all my own food with evoo as a component of almost every meal. For just about every evoo brand I've tried, the flavor dissipates quickly when it is cooked.
You’re doing the the Lord’s work Ethan. Keep it up. These videos are awesome.
Love this series! I've been watching you for years and continue to enjoy your spirit and content. Hugs from Texas!
I've been really into home cooking and have been taking it seriously and your channel has been one of my biggest inspirations and has been a great source of tested information thats been helping me with figuring out where to spend my money and where to save money for cheaper ingredients. Thanks :)
Another comparison idea: Dutch process cocoa vs regular cocoa?
I just buy a mid range standard Olive oil (Bertolli) and use it for everything. However, I also have no taste buds. I learned a lot from this video and it was very enlightening, thank you.
Although i don’t know if it is also used in other parts of the world, here in Spain we use mostly extra virgin and virgin olive oil and sunflower oil, and since extra virgin is too expensive to deep fry, what we generally do is, at least in my household, a mixture of oils, specially about 2/3 sunflower, 1/3 olive, and it does make a big difference in flavor, specially in French fries. Personally I reacently tried mixing olive and pepper oil for rice and it also made a big difference. Maybe a future video idea could be how different mixtures of oils affect cooking. As always Ethan great vid, looking forward for the next.
My mum always did that too! I grew up in London and the only place my mum used to be able to get olive oil at the time was the local Greek delicatessen (as supermarkets and grocery stores did not sell it) and she only ever got those big tins! She also did this mixing thing for frying with ghee and sunflower oil too, depending on what she was frying. I thought it was just my mum who did that😂
I love these comparison videos! I also love roasted brussel sprouts, and recommend drizzling toasted sesame oil on them for the last five or ten minutes in the oven. Omg, it's so good! 😋
Hey Ethan love your videos! Ever considered getting a large lazy susan so you can give it a good spin to make it easier on you to not remember where stuff is? I know the cutting boards and stuff are hard to forget the orientation of and moving around the containers themselves is also hard. I figure it may make it easier on you to lose track of them and take less effort :)
In any case keep it up! Love the scientific method you take in your vids. Chefs of every level can find some things that can elevate their cooking. A lot of culinary is adhering to the past and tend to not deviate much from what they thought even though we know much more than we did before and a lot of the ideas are based on conjecture not research so you often come to some great conclusions by testing. It is great to know not just the how but the why of things.
I was thinking the same thing! I guess to make the most out of the lazy susan, you would spin it and pick one item, but then redistribute the rest and spin again. Repeat until everything is taken.
Your videos are really informative and well made! Just want to add that Olive oil turns taste pretty quick if you do not store it properly and it should be protected from sunlight as this accelerates the aging process.
If you really want to taste what olive oil should taste like the best way to do it is by spreading it on a thin slice of bread and shorty after it has been pressed.
This was very helpful. Thank you for your work!
I produce olive oil. Small quantity , but I do personally care for the trees (from pruning, to harvest...) with some help, of course. This premise to explain that I know something about olive oil, and quality. Harvesting olives when they are "ripe" (which means "overripe" as far as I'm concern 😏) means not only extracting more volume, but also allowing the olives themselves being easily nicked during the harvest, even if the harvest is done manually (as we do here), Can't even imagine the olives conditions if not hand picked when ripe. The best time to harvest, in order to extract top quality, is when the olives start turning color, from bright green to purple. Overripe olives, already completely black (worse if they turn brown!) do not have polyphenols (or very little). Olive oil of high quality is always the youngest one (providing it has been stored properly), so, judging an olive oil from 2021 in 2023 (unless this video was from 2021) doesn't make much sense. Was the cheap olive oil from overripe olives younger? Anyway, it is also important how short of time it takes from the harvest to the actual pressing (milling) of the olives: the shortest the better: ideally, only a few hours ,would be ideal (I was once lucky to have olives milled at the "frantoio" only 3.5 hours after their harvest!). 12 hours is very good, 24 hours is acceptable. I have a hard time to believe (but I do) that you couldn't tell the difference between the two olive oils... and even preferring the less tasty on the pasta salads! Perhaps this comes from having built a palate with mediocre olive oils, creating that expectation, just like several kids prefer frozen fried fish over fresh fish because they built that taste at home. Try just to smell, blindly, a fresh good olive oil (a Raggiola variety from my area would help) against ANY cheap oil from overripe olives... you can't possibly not be able to distinguish. Don't mess up things masking with vinegars or spices, just olive oil... Oh, boy, what a tirade I wrote!
This makes me feel a lot better about just using avocado oil for literally everything 😂 high temp neutral oil is the way to go for me
Is virgin avocado oil even a lot cheaper?
I would have loved to see a confit test. I love to make a vegetable and fish confit dish where I just put whatever fresh veggies I have and occasionally fish into the oven at like 200 F just absolutely drenched in EVOO and forget about it for like an hour or something. It's amazing onions and garlic just absolutely melt and the gentle cooking and the insane amount of oil makes any veg just perfect. I haven't made it in a while but I honestly couldn't imagine doing it with a neutral oil. I am sure the flavor diminishes but to what extent I don't really remember... I will have to run some tests I guess. It's a really long cook time but at a low temp. I wonder if adding some robust EVOO to a neutral oil confit at the end could give more flavor...
i hope you keep making these because they are very educational and useful, for not only yourself, but every one of us
I've absolutely loved your videos for quite some time now and I just wanted to personally let you know that your content puts a smile on my face. Your effort, planning, and dedication to the quality of these videos is evident, and you should be very proud of yourself. Please keep it up and don't change a thing.
Thank you so much for your in-depth explanations regarding your testing method, assumptions and sources. I cannot (within a youtube comment) fully explain how much your insights have changed the way I cook, how much more joy and self-doubt you've allowed me to add to my daily cooking routine and how much I look forward to your videos whenever I see that you've posted one. Thank you.
You're very welcome! Thank you for the kind words!
I really like the flavor tests. A lot of people do not realize that there are many differences between neutral oils and EVOO, even the "light" olive oils. I would certainly interject that the olive oils may have flavors that break down in heat, so the flavor would not be as significant. The finishing oil probably has those super flavors which is why they came through on the chicken. BTW, your choice of dishes on your videos is really good. I love EVOO and try to use it for everything, except cakes or other pastry when the olive oil flavor is very definite and not right for those recipes.
ethan out here giving the best cooking content on the platform 😍😍 these are all the questions I've been wondering about ever since I started my cooking journey
Thanks so much. I've been imagining doing stuff like this for decades. This is invaluable knowledge.
Really enjoy your deep dives, Ethan! My favorite thing in life is to learn new things and you've taught me so much over the years!
do this with your friends. this is basically a sample size of 1 since you're the only one doing the taste tests.
Excellent point.
it's not something hard to get anyway, you can easily do your own testing if you don't trust him.
Test it yourself and put your results out there. We can grow the sample size!
@@cherriberri8373 it is becoming many experiments with 1 ample size lol
I look at this experiment differently. He is not the sample, but the measuring device. Sample here is olive oil.
You never miss Ethan. Thanks for another great informative, science based cooking breakdown! Keep up the amazing content
For the roasted vegetables, it might have been better to use something like Cauliflower, which has a recognizable flavor, but is much milder than brussel sprouts. That said, given a choice between roasted cauliflower and roasted brussel sprouts, I'd be choosing the mini-cabbages every time.
Loved this video. Definitely going to make a difference to my shopping budget. Thank you!!!
The videos in this food series might be my favorite CZcams series ever. Thanks.
Can you compare different types of cooking fats? For example, frying a cutlet in oil, butter, tallow, and wagyu tallow?
This is such a fun series because there are endless comparisons and experiments you can do. Thanks Ethan!
Thank you for the time and effort you put into these videos. This may not be a very commonly used one but I would love to see homemade demiglace vs store/amazon bought demiglace. I think knowing if the time commitment is truly worth it would be very valuable. Thanks again!
Thanks for another great and interesting video.
I love your methodical approach.
I don't know about the expensive olive oil you buy from the market but I get my olive oil from my grandparents' farm which is famous for one of the best olive oils in turkey and you can absolutely taste the difference in anything. first of all, the smell is the greatest factor for me when it comes to olive oil. since the smell affects a big portion of the taste before you bite your food the "holy" aroma of a great olive oil influences the experience. I bought really good quality olive oil from the supermarket just to see if it is different from the standard ones and the difference wasn't that big. imo if you buy olive oils from famous regions that are made by farmers it's the game changer.
I have fresh olive oil from a relative in Greece. The flavor is incomparable to anything I've ever bought, though I have never bought the most expensive olive oils available, just some of the moderately more expensive extra virgin oils.
To find the best olive oil without paying an arm and a leg for it will always come to knowing a guy with olive trees. I am in greek and even here that is the best way to find good olive oil for it's price
Kalamata olive oil! The best!
Awesome video. I like the work you put into your projects!
I absolutely love olive oil made from more mature olives. I've had some that were absolutely not spicy nor bitter, just "velvety" and floral and warm. Absolutely delicious. Unfortunately "spicy" seems to be all the rage, and the mature oils seem to be hard to find, even here in Europe.
Great episode!
I think with the brussel sprouts there was a lot more exposure to (hot) air, allowing all the flavor and scent molecules to disappear, versus the chicken cutlet where the oil is locked into the breading on first contact.
The nicer one they have at Costco is fantastic. Tremendous difference between the Tuscan and California ones. (That’s the smaller 1L glass bottles, not the big plastic jug)
My favorite is the Kirkland Spanish extra virgin olive oil from Costco. I've tried about 10 different affordable extra virgin olive oils, and this was my absolute favorite for flavor. Buttery and olive-y.
A video on washing meats with water before cooking. HOW and IF it effects flavor or anything else would be interesting. For example, washing the salt off a steak before cooking.
I wouldn’t consider peanut oil a neutral. It’s very strong in smell and taste.
I would compare various olive oils dipping bread in them. That’s when I can really tell the difference.
Love having this series😊
In 2013 I visited the Castello Nipozzano, the Frescobaldi winery in Tuscany. We were on a tour and had a wonderful dinner at the castle which included a variety of wines from the Frescobaldi estate. At the end we were able to go and purchase wines and olive oil from the shop. I purchased my very first bottle of Laudemio olive oil. It is such a remarkable olive oil. I have used it since, at times difficult to get here in Canada. I use it only as a finishing oil…..a drizzle on grilled vegetables, a nice pasta dish……it is divine. Pricey, but divine!
Como española, no me imagino una vida sin aceite de oliva. Sano, delicioso y, afortunadamente, en mi país tiene un precio muy asequible. Una rebanada de pan bueno con aceite de oliva y una pizca de sal, o un buen tomate de huerta con aceite de oliva, sal y ajo picado... no se necesita nada más para disfrutar de nuestro aceite. Y además ayuda a limpiar nuestras arterias!
My Mom was first generation Sicilian. She always had good Sicilian EVOO on hand. She swore by it.
A recent trip to Italy gave me the opportunity to taste various oils with tours to different regions and companies. This test could have completely different results based on the specific oil used. Some oils I tried were very aggressive while others landed lightly on my tongue. I certainly agree that we shouldn’t fry items in extremely expensive EVOO but finishing oil comes down to personal preference. I was blessed to try an aged truffle infused olive oil and was absolutely delighted and impressed. I was happy to buy and ship some home from the farm where the tasting occurred. A little goes a long way.
This is my new favorite channel, Ethan you rock!
I actually stopped worrying about what kind of oil to cook with years ago. Given all the studies coming out about seed oils being incredibly heart-unhealthy, and oilve oil consistently being shown as hearth healthy. I just switched over to olive oil/animal fats for 95% of my cooking needs. Refined olive oil is neutral tasting and cheap. It doesn't have a super high smoke point, so sometimes frying stuff doesn't work out, but for the most part I use olive oil for things like dressings or light frying like mushrooms/onions. Or I use butter/lard/tallow. All of which are shown to be massively better for your health than seed oils.
I have a nicer olive oil when it's the star of the show. I use refined or animal fats otherwise because they have either a neutral, or positive impact to the taste of the food.
Which seed oils are you talking about? Oils like canola oil and sunflower oil are considered heart-healthy because of their low saturated fat content and high mono/poly unsaturated fat content. Canola oil has less saturated fat than olive oil even. Butter and lard are not considered heart healthy because they have high amounts of saturated fats. If you went to the doctor with high cholesterol for instance, they would tell you to decrease the amount of butter and lard you use
@@mirandalovesfood Canola and Vegetable oil, Grape Seed, Safflower, Sunflower oils.. are all highly processed. Really bad for your gut. Only oils I will use are Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Italy, Avocado Oil, and Coconut oil sparingly, and Non GMO. Butter as well, preferably fresh pasteurized. Quality Fats.
@@djkenny1202 I can understand using the other oils, but butter and coconut oil? I had high cholesterol and these are things my doctor told me to avoid. Obviously, these things can be used in moderation, but I don’t understand how butter can be considered better for your heart than some seed oils
@@mirandalovesfood it’s inflammatory. You don’t want processed chemicals in your body. A little good quality fat is much better. You might avoid Coconut Oil in your case. But I would stay far away from those other oils.
@@djkenny1202 thanks, I tend to use mostly olive oil and some canola oil in my cooking, but I’ll ask my doctor more about canola oil to be safe
We gotta see Ethan try some authentic olive oil from a small producer. Though I have yet to taste it, the freshest oils apprently look green (almost unnaturally, for an oil) and taste much different (according to accounts of Italians I’ve talked with)
Please do this with marinating times! It would be great to know if duration makes any difference to end product, or whether it’s the same difference to just apply sauce before cooking
I am HOOKED on your deep dive videos. New subbie. 🙋🏾♀️I have stood in the EVOO section wondering which one? 😂 This answered so many questions for me and I’m not a novice in the kitchen. I guess I’m binge watching your channel today.😅 Hubby loved your Chipotle bowl video. He’s always getting double steak. I made your version and it turned out great 👍🏾 TY❤
I think comparing Spanish Tortillas cooked with each oil would be interesting. I started cooking tortilla with vegetable oil, but have since switched to olive oil. I THOUGHT there was a big difference, but now I’ll need to try other oils to check again. It is a lot of oil to use each time 😬
I've done this taste test before. Olive oil makes a massive difference. It's like the difference between using water and wine to deglaze your pan. Good olive oil is even better, though the result is a little more nuanced and you probably wouldn't notice if you weren't looking for it compared to standard olive oil.
There’s also the issue of the entire European olive oil industry being controlled by organized crime, and they frequently cut their product like it’s cocaine with baby powder. As far as I’ve heard, the Costco store brand has the best chance of actually containing what the bottle says because of their strict control of their supply chain that smaller brands just don’t have the resources for. So a lot of really fancy EVOO may have a lot of additives that you won’t know about unless you send a sample off to a lab
You know this because you're part of an organized crime syndicate? Or do you have a reliable source for this information?
There are in fact monitoring organizations out there that show almost all evoo on the shelf to be pure and unadulterated. Please stop spreading unsubstantiated conspiracy theories.
Source: trust me bro
The myth originated with a 2010 UC Davis report that has been entirely misunderstood. The report found that about 70% of evoo on the shelf had been degraded by oxidation or other poor storage conditions. This is unsurprising for anyone who understands the chemistry of food science. It would be good for consumers to be aware that evoo is a perishable product, rather than spouting nonsensical conspiracy theories. Yes, adulteration happens, but it is not commonplace.
Urban legend
Always leaves me with more to think about- luckily I love thinking about food ❤