Food

Cooking with Moro

Olive Oil & Vinegar

Vinegar and olive oil are the yin and yang of condiments, essential to balancing a dish. With Moro's range of both, you can add depth and brightness to just about everything you cook.

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Olive oil - myths and misnomers

MYTH #1 – YOU CAN’T USE IT FOR FRYING
One of the most common myths around olive oil is that it can’t be used at high temperatures. However, olive oil remains stable at high temperatures and has been used for all the cooking needs of peoples of the Mediterranean countries for generations.

MYTH #2 – PRESSED IS BEST
All olive oil is made from oil pressed from the olive fruit. Refined oils have been expertly blended and are lighter in colour, aroma and flavour, while a quality ‘first pressed’ or ‘cold pressed’ extra virgin olive oil (or EVOO) can range in colour from deep green to bright golden yellow.

MYTH #3 – OLIVE OIL IS HIGH IN FAT
While technically true, olive oil is high in healthy monosaturated fats, while EVOO is rich in polyphenols; plant compounds that serve as antioxidants, proven to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease and other major maladies.

MYTH #3 – OLIVE OIL LASTS FOREVER
Olive oil technically has no expiration date. If stored correctly and unopened, it will last forever. Once opened, it’s best to use within three months to ensure optimum flavour.

Learn the best methods and uses for olive oil with Moro.

How to use olive oil

“I use olive oil every day,“ says chef Alastair McLeod, “from my eggs in the morning, to soups, salad, spaghetti, steak and snapper. It’s my preferred emollient.”

LIGHTEN UP WITH MORO DELICADO AND TRADICIONAL OLIVE OILS
Alastair favours lighter-flavoured oils like Moro’s Delicado or Tradicional when aiming for creaminess without wanting to overwhelm the base flavour – in a mayonnaise or delicate herb oil for instance. A lighter olive oil is also great for baking when you want a more subtle flavour.

The first dessert I made with olive oil was the late Alastair Little’s olive oil and sauternes cake, and I still make it decades later.

- Alastair McLeod

DIAL UP THE FLAVOUR WITH EVOO
Extra virgin olive oil – EVOO – should play a starring role, rather than being relegated to support act.

“I love to make a tortilla in the morning and nibble on it throughout the day, “ says Alastair. “This peasant Spanish dish of potatoes, onion, eggs and olive oil relies on a profligate pour of olive oil.”

Choose from Moro’s Frutal, Intenso and Primero when you want a delicious, flavour-forward olive oil.

Fragrant and fruity, Moro Frutal EVOO is perfect for sautéing fish and vegetables, while big, bold Moro Intenso EVOO is ideal for equally robust meats such as lamb. The versatile Primero, full-bodied and fruity with a light peppery finish, is at its best at room temperature – swirled into soup, drizzled over salads or bruschetta, or used to add gloss to chargrilled vegetables.

MAKE IT EXTRA-SPECIAL WITH MORO’S RESERVA FAMILIA
When you’re looking to impress, Moro’s Reserva Familia – a unique blend of rare Picuda and classic Spanish Hojiblanca olives – will deliver. Complex and fruity with a rich mouthfeel, it’s best at room temperature, used to finish a mozzarella di buffalo and tomato salad, as a dip for freshly baked sourdough, stirred through a simple spaghetti aglio e olio, or drizzled over paper-thin slices of beef carpaccio.

Moro Sherry Vinegar has a complex nuttiness, perfect for cooking with steak or chicken marinade.

Moro Vinegars

“Vinegars are an essential ingredient to balance flavours,” says Alastair McLeod. “Everything we taste falls into five categories – sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savoury. If your tomato soup is singularly sweet, pat yourself on the back – you have great tomatoes, but a sensible slake of sherry vinegar restores balance to the broth.”

MORO BALSAMIC VINEGAR OF MODENA
Unsurprisingly, given its birthplace in northern Italy, Alastair uses balsamic vinegar – a blend of grape must and wine vinegar matured in wooden casks – when cooking Italian food. “I love its rich, figgy maturity with seafood, raw or grilled,” he says.

Balsamic is also perfect to dress a warm salad, add depth to a casserole or a jus, or to further flavour rosemary-scented roast potatoes. You can even drizzle it over a delicious, strawberry laden pavlova.

MORO RED AND WHITE WINE VINEGARS
Just like the wine from which it came, red wine vinegar suits heartier meat-based dishes and vegetables, while white wine vinegar is ideal for chicken and fish. Add a splash to oven bakes, to deglaze a pan, or incorporate into a marinade to tenderise and flavour. The most common use for both, of course, is a classic vinaigrette.

MORO ORGANIC APPLE CIDER VINEGAR WITH THE MOTHER

I enjoy apple cider vinegar’s assertiveness in a base for making a classic beurre blanc.

- Alastair McLeod

Apple cider vinegar is also the ideal counterpoint to sweetness in a marinade – sweet and sour pork for example – or used to deglaze the pan after cooking chicken, for an instant ‘sauce,’ or for pickling.

MORO SHERRY VINEGAR
“I love the complex nuttiness of sherry vinegar,” Alastair says. “My favourite use is in a dressing for a well-made horiatiki (Greek salad) punctuated by lemon, oregano, garlic and olive oil,” describing a classic Mediterranean staple.

Deep and complex, with elegant woody notes, sherry vinegar can be added to chilled soup, used in steak or chicken marinades, and pairs perfectly with the charry flavours imparted by barbequing too – from octopus to chicken.

MORO ITALIAN GLAZE
Aromatic Italian glazes are made from a base of balsamic and reduced to a sweet-sour stickiness. Not only do they amp up the flavour of steamed vegies or grilled meat, they can also be drizzled across a plate of fish, bruschetta or even creamy vanilla ice-cream to take your plating to the next level.

Discover the Moro range at www.worldofmoro.com.au