Best Food Recipes 2023 Step by Step with Pictures
Olive oil of the highest category (extra virgin) is essentially freshly squeezed olive juice, which professionals call first–pressed oil. This oil is obtained by cold pressing the fruits and separating the excess liquid in a centrifuge. Fresh olive is a capricious product, and within a day after harvesting it begins to oxidize, lose its shape, taste and aroma, so olives are turned into oil as close as possible to the place of collection and never transport fruits over long distances. This means that the first-pressed oil retains the unique aroma of olives of the region where it was made. Notes of flowers and fruits, artichokes and fresh grass.
Such a bright personality requires careful handling: extra virgin olive oil works best in its natural form at room temperature in salads, appetizers, sauces and even in cold desserts. Many manufacturers enrich its notes with additional flavors – basil, lemon zest, garlic, dried tomatoes and truffle. So the oil turns into a ready-made refined dressing. It is enough to dip a piece of ciabatta in olive oil with the aroma of noble white truffle to feel a powerful polyphony of flavors.
Many home cooks are sure that frying and stewing in extra virgin olive oil is not right. From the heat, fragile natural flavors are destroyed, the oil changes texture and color, and the piquant bitterness turns into outright bitterness. But this is only partially true. In fact, the so–called “smoking point” (that is, the temperature limit after which all of the above irreversible processes begin to occur in the oil) even in first-pressed oil is quite high – up to 180 ° C, depending on the acidity of the product. In other words, if the dish is slowly languishing or baked in the oven with gentle heating, extra virgin oil releases all its flavor and transmits it to the products, which is exclusively beneficial for fish, meat or vegetables. This is the secret, for example, of the Provencal ratatouille – only mixed vegetables cooked in “virgin” olive oil turn into a luxurious, fragrant southern sun whole.
But if we are talking about high temperatures – deep-frying or frying in a hot frying pan, then the temperature shock will kill all living things. For these purposes, it is logical to use refined olive oil: it is sold both in pure form and mixed with a small amount of extra virgin (usually in a percentage ratio of 80:20). This oil is a workhorse in the kitchen, it is more affordable and absolutely universal, suitable for salad dressings and frying in a frying pan. Due to the high density, olive oil practically does not penetrate into the product during frying. And this is good news for those who want to eat a ruddy steak and observe the principles of a healthy diet: after frying, it is easy to remove excess olive oil with a paper towel.
It is worth considering that due to the high density, olive oil practically does not penetrate into the product during frying. The only thing to avoid is deep–frying and a hot frying pan
And although it’s not the season for cucumbers and tomatoes, you can add a little bit of them for a light aroma and smell. The combination of vegetable oil infused with crushed garlic turned out to be very successful. From personal experience, it turned out that it is better either not to use peas at all, or to use just a little and freshly frozen, since canned is not very suitable. Corn is also not a mandatory ingredient, but with it, the salad looks more fun.
Currently, canned fish is quite often included in many salad recipes. It is not surprising, because it is combined with almost all vegetables, but I want to share an unusual recipe for a salad with beans, fish, pickled onions and tomatoes. The salad is suitable for a festive table and for an everyday menu.
Ensalada mediterranea. A very simple and very popular salad in Spain – in the hot season, it can probably replace a full lunch. In every country, even in every region of a more or less large country, there is a salad that the locals eat most often. In Spain, at least on the Costa Blanca, it is ensalada mediterranea (Mediterranean salad) or ensalada mixta (mixed salad). By and large, there is only one difference – in the Mediterranean oil is always olive, in the mixed one there can be any vegetable. Don’t wait for an exact recipe – it doesn’t exist. I will tell you how it is most often prepared in our region.
