macrakis@harvard.ARPA (Stavros Macrakis) (03/06/85)
> I'm looking for a good all-purpose healthy cooking oil, ... > [usable]...during Passover... parve I don't know about the Jewish requirements, but olive oil is the universal fat around the Mediterranean. These days in Boston, you can get good olive oil at $10/gal (Berio at Martignetti's); more for special ones; avoid the cheap ones. You can use it to deep-fry (its smoking point is high), saute, and stew; make sauces (mayonnaise etc.); and dress salad, boiled greens, broiled fish. There is no question, though, that it adds its own character to what you use it on. You imply that you are Jewish, but don't mention from where; if you are Ashkenazi, presumably it is irrelevant to your cooking tradition; if you are Sephardic or Arab (or Persian? do they also use olive oil?) then presumably it is a natural. You might want to talk a look at Claudia Roden's Middle Eastern Cookery (Penguin)--she is an Egyptian Jew who has collected a wide variety of recipes (not just Jewish). On the other hand, under Orthodox Christian rules (widely ignored...), olive oil is prohibited during Lent, presumably because it is so good and so rich that it might as well be meat fat. As for health, it is monounsaturated, and various studies have claimed it is very healthy. However, many of these studies appear to have been commissioned by the Agriculture Ministries of olive-oil-producing countries.... But then, one of the lowest rates of heart disease in the world is in Crete--real olive country. -s
figmo@tymix.UUCP (Lynn Gold) (03/14/85)
> > I'm looking for a good all-purpose healthy cooking oil, ... > > [usable]...during Passover... parve > > I don't know about the Jewish requirements, but olive oil is the > universal fat around the Mediterranean. These days in Boston, you can > get good olive oil at $10/gal (Berio at Martignetti's); more for special > ones; avoid the cheap ones. You can use it to deep-fry (its smoking > point is high), saute, and stew; make sauces (mayonnaise etc.); and > dress salad, boiled greens, broiled fish. > In addition to olive oil, the following oils also work: corn oil margarine (especially at a fleishadik meal when you want something for bread) safflower oil peanut oil any other oils which come from plants I use corn oil and margarine. --Lynn Gold Tymnet, Inc. ...tymix!figmo
jje@pedsgd.UUCP (Jeremy Epstein) (03/29/85)
> > > I'm looking for a good all-purpose healthy cooking oil, ... > > > [usable]...during Passover... parve > > In addition to olive oil, the following oils also work: > > corn oil > margarine > safflower oil > peanut oil > any other oils which come from plants Sorry to say, but corn oil, soybean oil, most margerine, peanut oil, and virtually any other oil is NOT kosher for passover. The only oils that I know of which are kosher for Passover are safflower and olive oil. The latter should be avoided except in limited amounts since it is VERY high in saturated fats (not the polyunsaturated variety). --Jeremy Epstein Perkin-Elmer {decvax,ucbvax}!vax135!petsd!pedsgd!jje