- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
Publishers Weekly
Setting aside Spanish, Italian and Greek olive oils, Gage (Bread and Chocolate) profiles 15 American producers and highlights olive oil's merits to demonstrate the difference it makes in food and to emphasize that American oils can be as good as those from Europe. Gage's brief portraits of different oil companies are engaging and informative: at the outset, she explains olive oil fundamentals-production, the industry's American history, classification, food pairing-but the profiles bring it all to life as she describes visiting California groves and her conversations with the passionate people who run them. The recipes use olive oil both subtly (as in a red wine calamari stew) and overtly (mashed potatoes drizzled with olive oil, for example). The dishes, which generally require only intermediate kitchen skills (though sometimes above-average access to specialty ingredients, such as Persian lime olive oil), are mostly Mediterranean inspired, and in Gage's detailed introductions she often recommends specific oil varieties to use. Home cooks will be glad to come across this appreciation of a versatile and delicious ingredient. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Overview
American wine and cheese? Sure. But American olive oil? Absolutely. More than a decade ago a California oil won an international competition—in Italy. And upstart American olive-oil producers—many profiled in this book—haven’t looked back, creating artisanal oils that now come in first place in tastings worldwide.
For those whose knowledge of olive oil remains extra-virgin, author Fran Gage sets out all the essentials: buying and storing high-grade oils, ...