Sunday, June 30, 2013

Vinegar and Oil

Have you ever been to a store that sells olive oil and vinegar? Oh, I don't mean a grocery store that has a couple shelves full of oils and vinegars -  mean a store that sells mostly olive oil and vinegar.

Yup. a whole store.

Picasso's Olive Oil opened here in Longmont recently and I spend some quality time tasting and testing the various oils and vinegars.

I have to tell you, I really don't need more versions of vinegar or oil. But that doesn't stop me from tasting, sampling, testing, and ... okay, well ... maybe buying.

You can find a few boutique, varietal and flavored olive oils at most regular grocery stores. Specialty grocers have more variety. But this shop had a whole lot more, like wild mushroom and sage oil, or Milanese gremolata oil.

And then there are the flavored balsamic vinegars. Oh my.

I didn't sample everything in the store - just the vinegars and oils that were a little different from the ones I've tried before. I mean, I've used lemon, lime, garlic and basil olive oils. And I love them all. But this time around, I wanted to find some things that were different.

My first interesting discovery among the oils was a butter-flavored olive oil.

You know how people describe some olive oils as "buttery"? Usually that means it's smoother and milder than the oils that are fruity or spicy. This oil was more buttery than that. I decided it would be good on popcorn, or as a finishing oil on poached fish, or as a mild dipping oil for bread.

Or for cooking, when I want a mild, buttery flavor. Like maybe eggs, hmmm?

When  started sampling vinegars, I was really smitten with the black cherry balsamic. It reminded me of a tart cherry syrup. This would be great on ice cream or over fruit or in baking or slathered on duck, pork, or chicken. Or to add depth of flavor to a fruit pie.

Or, in a cocktail. Yes, I said it. Cocktail. I'm working on something now. Stay tuned for the crazy.

Picasso Olive Oil is at 2055 Ken Pratt Blvd. in Longmont. You can also order online. This is NOT a sponsored post. I just happened to go there and thought it was worth writing about.
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