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This post contains products independently chosen (and loved) by our editors and writers. Food52 earns an affiliate commission on qualifying purchases of the products we link to.<\/em><\/p>\n No single phrase in the cookbook lexicon inspires more terror in me than \u201cgood olive oil.\u201d Occasionally it\u2019s mentioned outright in the ingredient list, but more often it\u2019s passed over breezily in the introductory text. Royalty like Ina Garten<\/a> and Marcella Hazan<\/a> use the phrase, normalizing its usage so much that it appears over 100 times on NYT Cooking<\/em> alone.<\/p>\n Rarely, if ever, is an additional explanation given about this mythical \u201cgood\u201d olive oil. If you are anything like me, you’re doing the best that you can out here. You do not have a jug labeled \u201cgarbage olive oil\u201d that you glug, while cackling, onto your food. You do not have an olive oil cabinet with a top shelf. You bought 1.5 liters from Costco thinking a problem was solved, an ingredient procured. But then you stumble across an otherwise fine pasta recipe and while reading the ingredient list a shockwave of anxiety ripples through your kitchen. Your peace is shattered as you stare at the bottle in your cabinet wondering \u201cIs this one good? How would I, an idiot, even know?\u201d<\/p>\n My instinct in times like this is to turn to the internet, finding that one single item to solve my problem. Alas, the internet provides no salve here. One of my go-to sources in times of uncertainty, America’s Test Kitchen, could only describe its winning bottles in a taste test<\/a> of mass-market olive oil as \u201cacceptable.\u201d Acceptable \u2260 good.<\/strong><\/p>\n I wanted to figure out some simple guidelines so I could once again rest easy in my shopping. For help, I asked a panel of experts: Tom Mueller<\/a>, the author of Extra Virginity: The Sublime And Scandalous World Of Olive Oil<\/em><\/a>; Wilma Van Grinsven<\/a>, a certified olive oil sommelier and the author of The Olive Oil Masterclass<\/em><\/a>; and Sascha Dhanjal Eifler, owner of Saffi Saana<\/a>, which specializes in artisanal olive oils.<\/p>\n One simple clarification up front, helpful to me at least, is that if you\u2019re cooking with olive oil, by all means, go with the large, affordable jug. High heat obliterates the flavor<\/a>. Chances are if you\u2019re looking at a recipe calling for a high-quality olive oil it is because the oil is being used as a dressing or condiment.<\/p>\n The second thing to accept is that there isn\u2019t going to be a simple supermarket solution. \u201cGood oil is extra virgin, which means, more or less, [it\u2019s] fresh-squeezed olive juice,\u201d Mueller tells me.\u201d[This means it hasn\u2019t] been processed, refined or otherwise chemically altered.\u201d The problem is, particularly in the United States, the phrase \u201cextra-virgin\u201d is not consistently regulated. One 2011 study<\/a> from UC Davis\u2019s Olive Center found that nearly 75 percent of top-selling imported olive oil brands marketed as \u201cextra virgin\u201d did not meet the standards set by the International Olive Council.<\/p>\n This means we\u2019re getting stale olive oil, sometimes blended with other oils. \u201cOil quality in the same store, under the same label, changes from month to month,\u201d Mueller says. \u201cNo way to predict how, much less give solid advice to consumers.\u201d He used to recommend some Trader Joe\u2019s varieties and California Olive Ranch, but says neither has maintained their quality.<\/p>\n
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