Let's talk about food

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Schraf, please document that I said you lied or leave it alone.

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I know you didn't say I lied, and I'm not accusing you of it.

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You're vindictive and neigh unto impossible for me to get along with.

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Well, it's your choice to feel that way, but I assure you that what you likely perceive as my vindictiveness is simply persitence.I'm a specialty food professional and an olive oil expert, buzsaw, and I let you know this right up front when I disagreed with your assesment of what some olive oils should taste like.You continued to argue with me and insist you knew better than an expert in a very specialized, very narrow subject.Now, I am NOT suggesting that you should have just taken my word for things and I'm pleased that you went and did some of your own research to see if what I was saying was true. I do ackowledge that you finally decided that what I was saying maybe had some merit.It's just that over the years, your consistent reaction to anybody who disagrees with you, even if they have much more education, experience, and expertise in the subject being discussed, is to assume you are correct and the expert is wrong.That's why I joked that you would disagree with a woman on what menstrual cramps feel like if you decided you knew better.

Shrugs.

Puts me in mind of the old joke: It hurts in places where I didn't even know I had places.

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People who think they have all the answers usually don't understand the questions.

Schrafinator:Hello again. Ok...where do I begin? We live in a small town named Edmore. If you take US-127 North out of Lansing, after about 30ish miles or so you will come to Alma at the M-46 exit. Takes that 22 miles westand Bob’s your Unclewelcome to Edmore!Soare you associated with the deli you mentionedZingerman’s? I looked at the web site and became over-whelmed. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to stop in there later this week while we are in A A (for the IAGLR meetings). I asked my wife what kind she would want (based on your earlier response to crashfrog), and she’s not sure. I guess talking to someone like you would be best.Let me sneak in this one other question before we show up at the deli. What do you mean by expensive? I would hate to show up and go through sticker shock when pricing olive oils. Twenty dollars$40.$60what can I expect to pay for a container of liquid that has been squeezed out of an unripe drupe? Spending 60 bucks is not that badif I’m psychologically prepared for it (hey, dropping a 100 bucks or so on a bottle of single malt is something I enjoy doing from time to time). But I do have my limitations.Thanks Again,
FliesOnly

If it leads to better cooking, she'll personally lock us in the bedroom. Maybe that's the problem. I've never taste-tested oils; I just usually pick up a jar, use it till it's gone (two-three months), and then pick up another. I'm sure they're all different; I literally have no idea what I'm looking for or prefer in an oil. Clearly, that's the problem. If there's ever any kind of oil-tasting thing in Columbia I'll be sure to attend. Hah! I just blew a hundred dollars of our insurance money on replacement spices from Penzey's. That's pretty much our "fancy cooking" budget for a long time.

Taste olive oil?I never heard of that before.Make you sick if you drink much of that.

This is sort of on topic, I suppose. I am from Appalachia and was raised (more or less) by my Grandparents, so I am all about the occasional (once a year is ok, once every two years is better) breakfest like my Grandmother made to send my Grandfather off to the mines.I wanted to learn to make biscuit like she did. You get a big bowl of flour, as my Grandmother told me, and work in some lard (shortening is ok, but it don't taste right). I asked how much of the fat to use and she just said, "Oh, as much as you need."

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So?are you associated with the deli you mentioned?Zingerman?s?

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Yep. I work there. (But not at Mail Order-that's a different business though obviously closely related)

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I looked at the web site and became over-whelmed. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to stop in there later this week while we are in A A (for the IAGLR meetings). I asked my wife what ?kind? she would want (based on your earlier response to crashfrog), and she?s not sure. I guess talking to someone like you would be best.

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Yep, come on in and we'll chat. Even better, everything at the Deli is available to taste, so you can try a few and see what you like.

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Let me sneak in this one other question before we show up at the deli. What do you mean by ?expensive?? I would hate to show up and go through ?sticker shock? when pricing olive oils. Twenty dollars?$40?.$60?what can I expect to pay for a container of liquid that has been squeezed out of an unripe drupe? Spending 60 bucks is not that bad?if I?m psychologically prepared for it (hey, dropping a 100 bucks or so on a bottle of single malt is something I enjoy doing from time to time). But I do have my limitations.

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Our prices for a half liter of handmade olive oil range from $12.99 to $36.00, but most of them fall into the $25-$35 range. Liters are a bit more cost effective, ranging from $30-$50.So, it seems like you are well-prepared.

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Taste olive oil?

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I never heard of that before.

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Make you sick if you drink much of that.

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Yep, we do it all the time. How else do you figure out how an ingredient really tastes unless you taste it on it's own?You don't need much to taste properly-maybe a 1/4 teaspoon or so.I figure that people who dip their bread into olive oil are putting a great deal more oil in their mouths (by way of the edible bread sponge) than I do when I take a little sip and slurp.If you ever see wine tasters doing that slurp thing, we do the same with olive oil. It gets a lot of oxygen in and sends more moleculed up into your sinuses where you actually do most of your tasting.

Good grief.The cooking oil costs more than what's being cooked.

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Good grief.

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The cooking oil costs more than what's being cooked.

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These aren't really cooking oils, in that you don't really use them for frying.They are "condiment oils" to be used "raw" in viniagrettes, drizzling over cooked food, eaten with bread, etc.Remember also what I just told FliesOnly; everything in the store is available to taste, and they have trained me (and others) to be an expert, and been able to retain my expertise for 7 years.None of those things is free.

I guess you can't get this kind of olive oil in a regular grocery store?

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I guess you can't get this kind of olive oil in a regular grocery store?

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Rarely, if at all.However, If you have a Whole Foods close to you they will probably have something good, although not as consistently as high quality as our selection, they probably won't have someone like me there to help you, and the prices won't be much cheaper, believe it or not.That's what it's like at our local Whole Foods, anyway.At my business we specialize in handmade, very small production, full-flavored products, so a large grocery store chain that deals in volume and a low- to mid-price range is not likely to find much success with having an expensive oil on the shelf. Especially since there's no good merchandising, sales staff, or opportunity to taste, the customer has no apparent reason to buy the expensive one.Most people in the US have no idea what good olive oil is supposed to taste like, so you get people returning or not buying a peppery oil a second time, for example, not because there's anything wrong with it but because the customer doesn't understand.This message has been edited by schrafinator, 05-24-2005 10:12 AM

What's the brand name for the good stuff, schrafinator? Can it be ordered via the Internet?

Schrafinator: Cool...I'm looing forward to it. We have already discussed having lunch at the deli with a couple friends of ours that know it well (one of them spent 8 years in AA and use to eat at the deli all the time...go figure...small World sometimes). Our plan is to be there somewhere around the noonish hour. Probably a very busy time...but that's when there are breaks between sessions. The prices really don't seem that bad to me...if it is for quality stuff.So....I guess....hmmmm...I'll just walk in and start screaming "Hey...Schrafinator!", until I get a response .