Olive Oil

[khan200us]

I use Olive Oil frequently as it is the main ingredient of my food. I find it extremely expensive to buy it in Finland.
Can you suggest me some cheap deals on bottles of 500 ML, 1L, 2L, and 3L price-wise?

Any online/internet food stores in Finland like the Tesco's e-grocery services in the UK?

Kind Regards

[Rosamunda]

On-line grocery stores in Finland - no, not really. There is one but it is very expensive. There was a thread on here a few months ago about it, and an article in HS also (try the search engine).

Olive oil... any particular kind? If you want basic olive oil then try Prisma / Citymarket / Lidl - they all sell their own brand of basic olive oil.

I buy 5-litre metal cans of olive oil from Heino. But you need a trade card to shop there (or a friend who has one).

Have you tried using rapeseed oil?

[Mook]

Try Jasmin in Hakaniemi metro. They have pretty decent olive oil at a reasonable price.

[jmakinen]

The absolute best bargain in olive oil is Lidl - 1 liter at 4+€ - wins taste tests etc,

Another option is Monumental in plastic bottle at Heino 5+ € for a liter.

Watch out for anything just labeled 'Olive Oil' - it may be Pomace - ZERO taste even if literally olive oil

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-pomace-olive-oil.htm

I found it in a known Italian restaurant in Vilnius - Da Antonio. I asked for salad with olive oil - but didn't taste it - waiter insisted it was - brought out bottle - Pomace!. I have also found it surprisingly at Trader Joe's in US

[Karhunkoski]

Must say I don't find it expensive here (at least the proper decent stuff doesn't seem much difference in price to elsewhere in Europe and it's certainly not something I fill my suitcase with when I travel). What sort of quality were you buying eslewhere?

[jmakinen]

If one uses the Lidl price of 4+€/liter it is priced quite OK in Finland. And the quality is excellent.

I usually check olive oil prices whenever shopping outside Finland - and we are not doing badly - but unfortunately it is a rarity.

[FinnGuyHelsinki]

Have you tried using rapeseed oil?

I would ask the same question. To each their own, of course, still it has always escaped me why some people want most of their food to taste like olives.

[jmakinen]

I would ask the same question. To each their own, of course, still it has always escaped me why some people want most of their food to taste like olives.

Well actually olive oil has its own taste - which is not really the same as the fruit. It gives its own LUXURIOUS taste - far beyond just being an 'oil' - and even more it has very good nutritional and health values. Plus it also has a high smoke temperature.

There are of course places where one wants to use a neutral-tasting oil - for that purpose grape seed oil is fantastic. Heino imported it for awhile - but stopped. Now available in Tallinn - one can get at Stockmann but at ridiculous price.

Rapeseed oil is OK (but just OIL and GREASE) - and healthy - and so is Peanut and Corn. But IMO not as good as using Olive for taste - and Grapeseed for neutral needs.

[tizlit]

jmakinen is right. Olive oil is the base of any cooking. Like in Finland cream is often added into sauces, for taste.
Unfortunately a real good quality is not found in the supermarkets, but... bought locally in small villages.
I mix sometimes expensive olive oil with some rapeseedoil, and use it for cooking, for sake of economy. Takes you a long way. Of course this is cheating.

[FinnGuyHelsinki]

Olive oil is the base of any cooking.

That's credit to olive oil marketing but as such, completely untrue. Of course one can use whatever they prefer, but using olive oil generally makes your food taste of olive oil, and that is something totally foreign to dishes from numerous countries. Olive oil has its place in certain types of food, but to generalize it as "base of any cooking" is like saying ketchup goes with everything. Maybe you're conditioned to think that the taste of olive oil is 'normal', but that definitely isn't universal. That is not to say what is best, e.g. (especially cold-pressed) rapeseed oil does have its own distinct taste as well and I wouldn't be using that everywhere either.

[jmakinen]

All true enough - but olive oil has an addictive taste - I have many Native Finn friends who have indeed turned to using olive oil almost exclusively - yes ALMOST (even French Fries taste exotic when using olive oil - the expense though has you using the same oil again soon - CALORIES )

And the shops are filled with it - (touted health advantages have a say too - though rapeseed supposedly also good)

And this is a major happening when you think it was almost impossible to find ANYWHERE - say 25 years ago - except my suitcase

[am I Finnish yet?]

Olive oil is actually not suitable for high heat cooking and frying. I avoid that, and eat it when I can eat it either unheated or only mildly heated. There is a brand of cold-pressed organic olive oil that I buy at the kesko chain.

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=56

In principle, organic, unrefined, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil should have the lowest smoke point of all forms of olive oil since this form of the oil is the least refined, most nutrient dense and contains the largest concentration of fragile nutritive components. Based upon this, I cannot imagine exposing this type of olive oil to high heat, anymore than I can imagine exposing fresh organic flax oil or evening primrose oil. For a natural, very high-quality extra virgin olive oil, I believe the 200-250°F range reflects the most likely upper limit for heating without excessive damage. In other words, this would allow the use of extra virgin olive oil for making sauces, but not for 350°F baking or higher temperature cooking. It is best to add it to your dishes after they have been cooked to enjoy the wonderful flavor and nutritional value of olive oil.

For anything that I don't want to taste olive-like, for frying, or baking I use rapeseed oil.

[jmakinen]

Yes - apologies - had the grapeseed oil in mind when mentioned high smoke point.

And yes - it is good to keep temperature lower - for the Freench Fries - I do them in pan at lower temp and longer time - but yummy.

And yes - there might be an olive-taste component of olive oil - but it is a far cry from the olive taste from olives that people are usually eating - mostly because 'eating olives' are mostly brined and the green ones are picked raw

In any case to me the good olive oils have a deep, 'luxurious,' taste that adds an extra layer of taste to foods - even those not originally from Mediterranean. As I said, it is addictive -and one is an addict or not

The Lidl oil at 4+€ is excellent - some of the more expensive oils are particularly nice and a bit more tasty for dipping a good bread and/or using on a fresh Romaine or Frisée salad - but there are also a lot of high-priced ones that do well to equal the Lidl one.

[Rosamunda]

(even French Fries taste exotic when using olive oil - the expense though has you using the same oil again soon - CALORIES )

Not too sure what you mean... all cooking oils are 100% fat and therefore have the same calorific value ie around 880 calories per 100 grams.

The only reason I mentioned rapeseed oil is because it is "healthy" and almost tasteless so quite versatile. It has a high smoke point (230 deg C) so is good for frying if you like fried food and also for roasting in the oven. And it is cheaper than olive oil, though the organic cold-pressed rapeseed oil is, like any quality product, more expensive.

Nutritionists are finding more and more good things about it (it is low in saturated fats and can reduce bad cholesterol). I've used olive oil in most of my cooking for years but recently I have started to switch to rapeseed. I still like olive oil in a salad dressing but have decided that it is nice to cook with an oil that doesn't have such a strong flavour for a change.

[jmakinen]

Not too sure what you mean... all cooking oils are 100% fat and therefore have the same calorific value ie around 880 calories per 100 grams.

I only meant that the olive oil costs enough that you want to make French Fries with it again so as to use the same oil - the calorie thing means one is eating too many French Fries

The only reason I mentioned rapeseed oil is because it is "healthy" and almost tasteless so quite versatile. It has a high smoke point (230 deg C) so is good for frying if you like fried food and also for roasting in the oven. And it is cheaper than olive oil, though the organic cold-pressed rapeseed oil is, like any quality product, more expensive.

Well - if one uses Lidl Olive Oil - it means it's 2-3x more expensive than rapeseed - but one doesn't use THAT much that it is a real cost concern.

Nutritionists are finding more and more good things about it (it is low in saturated fats and can reduce bad cholesterol). I've used olive oil in most of my cooking for years but recently I have started to switch to rapeseed. I still like olive oil in a salad dressing but have decided that it is nice to cook with an oil that doesn't have such a strong flavour for a change.

Yes - rapeseed is healthy (Canola across the pond - CANadian OLA (oil) ) - but as said I - and probably many others - stuck on the particular flavor - and do use grapeseed when not wanting any additional taste to the main ingredient.