Olivo olive oil tasting

It would be fair to say that, for me, cooking oil is a means to an end. Sure, it's a staple ingredient in my pantry and I usually have extra virgin olive oil, canola oil and vegetable oil on hand for various purposes. I have also given flavoured Prenzel rice bran oils to some foodie friends as birthday gifts. But I do find myself easily 'olive oiled out' at The Food Shows and other food-based events. I guess I just need to find move novel ways to use flavoured oils other than drizzling them on salads.

Today, I found a small olive oil tasting at The Pantry. Olivo is based in sunny Martinborough and there were four oils available to try. The extra virgin olive oil had a pleasantly mild flavour and would make a good base for most things requiring oil.

Then there were three infused varieties: cumin, fennel and orange. The fennel infused oil won't be to everyone's liking, but I grew up eating finocchio bulbs as a treat so it had a very nostalgic flavour for me. My favourite was definitely the orange infused oil, delicate yet distinctly orange, especially when used to make chocolate mousse. Now we're talking!

I'm glad I have 'discovered' what is a new product for me and am keen to try making chocolate mousse with the orange infused oil, especially as it uses Whittaker's Dark Ghana chocolate as its base. Mmmmm.