Olive and Other Vegetable Oils

Stick to canola, almond, very good quality peanut oil (probably French and in small bottles), sunflower, safflower, olive, or grapeseed oil. The commercial oils on the shelf of the supermarket I leave up to your own research. Just beware of stabilizers and other chemicals. Never use those commercial “fats” and oils for deep-frying, especially the butter-flavored ones.

When buying oils, choose them according to their use. As we embraced all extra virgin olive oils with passionate fervor, we thought the darker green the better, and Italian and unfiltered oils even better. The truth is in a question: would you pour raw green olive oil on a delicate butter lettuce? Of course the answer should be no. You would use a mild (but fully flavored) light yellow-colored extra virgin olive oil from the south of France. Or a good quality almond oil. Nut oils go very well with the whole endive and chicory family of greens, and canola is a good all-purpose cooking oil that does not cost a lot of money. When it is organic and cold-pressed, it can be magnificent. (See Resources.)