What oils do you have in your cupboard?
I’m a bit fussy when it comes to which particular oils I like to cook with, but possibly not fussy in the way that you might expect.
My household favourite is a mild olive oil. I am not a fan at all of extra virgin olive oil as I find that the flavour is way too strong for my liking and I find it overpowers a lot of food. I have had the privilege of using and working with some ultra expensive products that some people I’m sure would drink, so I have given it a good nudge to find one that I enjoy, but extra virgin olive oil is just not my thing.
My go to is this - a 4 litre drum of extra mild olive oil that you can find in Coles which generally costs only $27. I buy in bulk because we use it a lot and it’s way more cost efficient than the smaller bottles.
You won’t ever catch me personally using Canola oil. I’m not a preacher so I won’t be forcing any opinions but I’m just going to say it’s nasty stuff and if you want more details then please please do some research. Once you have, I promise you will soon be throwing that stuff away (not down the sink though please)!
If I’m going to deep fry then I will go for grapeseed oil it as it has a high smoke point and a pretty neutral flavour. Not that we deep fry much but one very important thing to check out is the smoke point of your oil; it is the highest temperature your oil can reach before it starts to give off nasty toxins.
My other fave is coconut oil, not so much because it’s amazingly good for you (which is a bonus) but personally I use it because I love the flavor with any type of Asian style dish. Coconut oil is everywhere nowadays which is great as it no longer costs the earth but it is still a good idea to go with organic.
Very very rarely you might see sesame oil pop up in a dish, but it has a strong flavor and my style is pretty subtle so I save this one for dishes that really need it. I never actually cook with sesame oil as it’s more just to flavour a dressing or toss through something like noodles.
I went down the road of fancy oils once and found that they are not only ridiculously expensive but they tend to sit in my cupboard and do nothing; mostly because I like fresh flavours and they aren’t on my conscious radar. The one exception I have is chilli oil - I am very partial to a chilli condiment, and this little guy has just come into my life, thanks Alex. You could virtually throw it onto anything. I just had it on my lunch, a simple omelet with Persian feta and avocado - delicious!