Olive Oil

I cook with a lot of olive oil—it’s a cooking medium and a seasoning, and I love to keep a lot of options on hand in my pantry. Here’s the basic breakdown, though. If I call for “olive oil,” I mean extra-virgin olive oil, but not the super-precious stuff—find a brand of good Spanish, Moroccan, or Italian olive oil that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg (Atlas Organic brand from Morocco is what we love and use in all Sea Creatures restaurants). Then, you also want to have a little bottle of really special stuff—in the book I’ll call it “really good olive oil.” That’s the stuff that should be date-stamped from the past year and should be stored in the dark, far from the stove. Use it to dress salads or anoint burrata or a perfect summer tomato. I like too many to mention, but I especially love a good spicy Tuscan oil such as Selvapiana or Frescobaldi Laudemio.