Oil Essential

Most foodies will, no doubt, have a selection of never-to-be-without items in their kitchen store cupboards, a variety of condiments that add essential flavours to their cooking that have the ability to take a dish to another level. We have now added another item to those core essentials, smoked olive oil from The Artisan Smokehouse.

Being willing testers and guinea pigs for unusual or new products, we gratefully accepted a bottle of this smoked olive oil that is fast becoming an ubiquitous ingredient in our kitchen.

The light olive oil is infused with real maple wood smoke, not just ersatz flavourings, so it is a very nice addition to many foods. The aroma is pleasantly smokey and the flavour subtle enough to complement most things.

Artisan Food Trail Approved
We are pleased to give this award to The Artisan Smokehouse for their Lightly Smoked Italian Olive Oil

We’ve roasted, sauteed, drizzled and dressed with it giving various dishes a nice smoky background that doesn’t drown out any of the subtleties of the food we put it on.

Potatoes are simply gorgeous when fried in it as are croutons for salad and also on the salad itself. Added to a marinade for meat such as chicken, it gently suffuses the flesh with its flavour as well as adding moisture.

Salad dressings are a whole new experience whether mixed with cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar or even lemon juice. We’re still contemplating making mayonnaise with it too… just imagine…

The smoked olive oil has become such an intrinsic part in the kitchen, lately, that it now has permanent residence on the worktop rather than being tucked away in the pantry.