The olive oil renaissance

Extra-virgin olive oil has overtaken Perelló olives and Torres crisps as the “present du jour” to take to “trendy” dinner parties, said Arabella Bowes in House & Garden. It’s a trend being driven by the “sober curious movement”, especially at this time of year when more people look for booze-free Dry January gifts.

There are around 1,600 olive varieties and “thousands of flavour profiles”, so there is plenty of choice. But with each bottle lasting up to six months, an olive oil’s provenance is becoming more and more important. People are now “demanding” to know “what ingredients have gone into it, where the olives were grown and who’s behind the brand”.

“Extra-virgin olive oil is now a cultural marker of taste,” Delli’s Octavia Pendrill-Adams told The Telegraph. The bottles look great on kitchen shelves and the oil is so versatile in cooking. “Premium, pretty and, crucially, ethical brands” have gradually become a “status symbol for our pantries’, Elinor Griffin, oils buyer at Waitrose, told the paper.

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With money tight, shoppers are shifting towards “little luxuries” to bring joy to the daily grind, said Andrew Ellson in The Times. An “elegantly packaged” premium bottle of extra-virgin olive oil – or Evoo – will last months and that makes it “more appealing than a bottle of fizz that will disappear” in one sitting.

And then there’s the health benefits, said Julia Musto in The Independent. Packed with oleic acid, “a good fat” which can help lower levels of “bad cholesterol”, it is also high in vitamin E and anti-oxidants called polyphenols, which can help “prevent cell damage that can ultimately lead to heart disease and cancer”.

I recommend treating Evoo ”like seasoning”, Katia El-Fakhri, co-founder of Glug olive oil, told The Telegraph. Use it to finish a salad or a pudding, “tasting as you go to judge the balance”. The paper’s reviewers found Glug’s Evoo For Drizzling, £16 for 750ml, “grassy, refreshing and a little appley”.

Those who “aspire to be on Masterchef” should check out the Evoo from Two Fields Zakros, £18.50 for 500ml, said Chloe Mac Donnell in The Guardian. A top-notch brand, it is “used by restaurants including Primeur in London, Sargasso in Margate and The Pig hotel group”.

If you prefer a more reasonably priced supermarket option, Tesco Finest Sicilian Extra Virgin Olive Oil, £9 for 500ml, is a good choice, said Stacey Smith in Good Housekeeping. It has a “wonderful green appeal”, like “crisp salad leaves” and is “just as grassy on the palate, with a big, bold peppery thwack and a super-smooth aftertaste”.