Olive oil in cooking

Olive oil is one of the most versatile ingredients in the kitchen. It can be used for cooking, but a high-polyphenolic extra virgin olive oil often makes the biggest difference when used as a finishing touch to a dish.

It's not about being afraid of heat. It's about using the right oil in the right place.

Can you fry in olive oil?

Yes. Extra virgin olive oil can be used for many common cooking methods in the home kitchen: vegetables, eggs, fish, potatoes, onions, beans, and gentle sautéing.

The important thing is to avoid the oil smoking heavily. When the oil reaches its smoke point, the temperature has become too high, the flavor deteriorates, and delicate aromatic compounds break down faster.

For everyday frying on low to medium heat, extra virgin olive oil is perfectly reasonable. For extremely high heat, long deep-frying, or vigorous wok cooking, it's often better to choose a simpler oil or a cooking technique that is better suited to the ingredients.

What happens when olive oil is heated?

Heat affects olive oil in several ways. Some volatile aromatic compounds disappear, pungency and green fruitiness become milder, and certain phenolic compounds can decrease.

This doesn't mean the oil becomes dangerous as soon as it's heated. It means you won't get the same sensory and analytical value from a premium oil if it's used where the flavor will disappear anyway.

For Vala Selection, it is therefore more logical to use CORE primarily cold, lukewarm, or as a finishing oil. This preserves more of its green fruitiness, bitterness, pungency, and documented polyphenol profile.

When CORE is best suited

CORE is made for daily use, but not necessarily to replace all cooking oil in the kitchen. It is best suited where the oil will be noticed:

• over tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, and salt
• on beans, lentils, chickpeas, and soups
• over roasted vegetables after cooking
• on fish, eggs, potatoes, and bread
• in yogurt, cream cheese, or simple sauces
• as a finish to pasta, risotto, or grilled ingredients

It's a way to make food more Mediterranean without complicating it.

Cold, lukewarm, or hot?

Think in three levels:

• cold use preserves flavor, aroma, and polyphenols best
• lukewarm use works very well over cooked food
• hot cooking works, but should be controlled and not overdone

If the goal is to get the most out of a high-polyphenolic oil, cold or lukewarm use is almost always best.

Frying vegetables, fish, and eggs

For everyday cooking, olive oil is particularly good for ingredients whose flavors complement it: vegetables, fish, eggs, potatoes, and legumes.

Use medium heat, don't leave the pan empty with oil for too long, and add the ingredients when the oil is hot but not smoking. If the oil starts to smoke heavily: lower the heat, move the pan aside, and start over if necessary.

A simple rule of thumb: if you want to clearly taste the oil's pungency and green notes, add it after cooking. If you just need a cooking fat in the pan, use a simpler extra virgin olive oil.

Deep-frying and very high heat

It is possible to deep-fry in olive oil, and olive oil has historically been used for deep-frying around the Mediterranean. However, for Vala Selection CORE, this is rarely the best use.

Deep-frying requires a lot of oil, long heat exposure, and high temperatures. This makes the method less economical and less relevant if you want to preserve flavor and polyphenols.

The same principle applies to hard searing at very high heat. It's not a moral question, just a practical one: use premium oil where it actually makes a difference.

Cooking and health claims

Olive oil in cooking should not be described as a treatment or medicine. The EU-approved health claim applies to olive oil polyphenols and the protection of blood lipids from oxidative stress when the conditions are met.

If you want to understand this part more precisely, it's here: polyphenols and oxidative stress.

More information

About the Mediterranean diet: Mediterranean diet and olive oil.

About quality grade: extra virgin olive oil.

About cold extraction: cold-pressed olive oil.

About polyphenols: polyphenols in olive oil.

Sources: International Olive Council on olive oil and gastronomy. UC Davis Olive Center on myths, cooking, and handling of extra virgin olive oil.