Taste test: summer salad oils
Olive and rapeseed oils are staples for salad dishes, but how do more exotic options fare?
In summer, fresh leaves are ideal as a side dish or as part of a salad main course. Drizzling a little olive or rapeseed oil (mix it with balsamic vinegar to create a vinaigrette) over the leaves is a great way of sprucing them up.
But there are salad oils beyond these staples. We did a blind taste test of Mokhado’s range of lesser-known oils (avocado, apricot kernel and macadamia nut oil) against some better-known alternatives. Here's how they scored.
Extra virgin olive oil
Good quality olive oil should never be overlooked. We used Filippo Berio, which was called ‘peppery’ and ‘nutty’, with a flavour that’s not too strong. One person called it ‘plain’, which refers well to the not overly strong taste, but also attests to olive oil’s ubiquitous nature these days – it’s the expected item.
Rapeseed oil
Rapeseed doesn’t have a very strong taste, making it a good alternative to olive oil. We used Farrington's cold pressed Mellow Yellow rapeseed oil. One taster said it tasted like “sesame flavoured water”, and one said it didn’t gel well with the salad, but largely people thought it was fine, if a little unremarkable.
Avocado oil
This avocado oil from Mokhado didn’t receive the warmest welcome due perhaps to its “nutty start and bitter aftertaste”. It also has quite a pungent odour.
Apricot kernel oil
This oil smells just like marzipan. One person described it as akin to “eating Christmas cake in a salad” but it’s a lot better for you! Some didn’t like the combination of flavours, and maybe salad leaves on their own are a bit bare for this one to work – but it is delicious, and smells fantastic.
Macadamia nut oil
The scent of the macadamia nut oil was compared to cookies, biscuits and popcorn. It has a rather subtle and delicate taste, and found favour with quite a few tasters. The flavour doesn’t stand up well in salads with strong-tasting leaves like rocket though.
Have you tried any exciting salad oils this year? Let us know all about your discoveries in the Comments below.
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