A shrewd observation Rupert.
I thought I’d try this Puglian EVOO and I’m afraid it does not hit the mark.
I have also bought a Greek EVOO which was a pound dearer and have yet to try it.
I really hope I get to try the Portuguese EVOOs that you are raving about.
I partly point the crooked finger at the wellness influencers for the absurd markup in olive oil, I understand that this is not the whole picture and that much has to do with poor weather conditions where much of the oil is produced but since olive oil is being flogged as a health elixir and not just a kitchen staple, the increased demand on low supplies puts the price mark at dizzying levels.
A 500ml bottle of Aurora extra-virgin olive oil costs about £22. 500ml might be okay for someone who likes to put it in a shot glass for a daily hit but 500ml doesn’t go far in the kitchen as far as cooking is concerned. That’s why I use rapeseed oil for basic cooking and use olive oil for everything else.
Here is a wee tale that should reflect the pathos of the whole dire situation. About four years ago, I went to an Italian restaurant with my partner and son. We had to book, despite having arrived to find we were the only people there. The owner, a flamboyant Italian chap in a suit, showed us to our table. We ordered our respective dishes, not cheap, about £16 per dish. Mine was a pasta dish and I like to drizzle some olive oil over the pasta, it helps to glaze the pasta, making it easier to slurp and gives extra flavour where the sauce spreads thin. My son also likes to do this, so I asked the owner if we could have a small amount of olive oil for our table. One moment, he said and ducked off into the kitchen. About five minutes later he called out from the kitchen door that they did not have any olive oil. An Italian restaurant with no olive oil? I thought. Or did they?
This is quiet interesting.
For many years I was using oilive oil based margarine and then one day something happened and I stopped.
I have used ghee before I came across olive oil.
I do find the price of olive oil prohibitive and there are some unknowns to - with the verious different types. Then if you apply you get what you pay for unless you steal it - yes I have seen some brazen stealing going on these days … Well if you can’t pay very much then I guess you don’t get very much.
Did you use Bertolli butter, because I buy that? It is cheaper than full butter and tastes, to me, all right. I’ve tried ghee on quite a few occasions and just don’t fancy the smell or taste. I tend to be sympathetic to people who find themselves pilfering essentials, it makes me sad that people feel the need to pocket basic goods because the prices are so high. Although if one is happy with cheaper alternatives like rapeseed oil, then it’s a good life, but once something becomes too in demand, watch those prices hike.
@Rups , I’m the same. I use rapeseed oil for lots of cooking. £16 a dish? What did you order? It’s weird that Italian restaurant had no olive oil. A mate of mine’s mother in law said to “only use a small amount of olive oil on most foods”. Some chefs drench the food in it. You can tell from my post I haven’t eaten out in years.
You’d think that at £16, I’d remember the type of pasta I ordered but, sadly, I can’t. It was a dockside restaurant in the city, so overpriced to the hilt. Eating out is a minefield, and bills that I think are eye watering, friends think are decent. I don’t understand it. I feel as if the venue has punched me in the wallet, and I feel the bruise for weeks afterwards. I remember travelling to the city not long ago and thought I’d treat my partner to a drink at a bar by the dockside, same spot as where the restaurant was, the football was on and it was heaving. My partner wanted a double vodka and red bull and I was going to order a beer, no dark ales on tap so I had to settle for an IPA, her drink cost £12. When told how much, I stood at the bar for a moment with a Victor Meldrew expression on my face …
@Rups , that’s what I’m like when I get a pint in some pubs. Especially in Manchester city centre. 
I nearly had a heart attack once when I paid several pounds for one pint. No wonder people (me included), prefer to buy a few cans from the supermarket.
Economics is bonkers. Why is the price of a pint the same price as a pair of trousers? I don’t understand why a consumable can cost just as much as something you can own that lasts for years. To me it doesn’t add up, an economist probably has the answers that are just out of reach for me. No wonder most economies are always on the brink.
@Rups , that is a question I can’t answer unfortunately. As you said, bonkers economics. It’s no wonder many pubs are shutting down. A pub near where I live shutdown a few years ago. From the local gossip I heard, some apartments are due to be built. Sad really.
Before I “discovered” olive oil, I was introduced to margarines - I think they used to say butter is bad for you, milk is bad for you etc. and so things like Flora margarine were the “healtier” options. We started off on Flora and transitioned to Bertolli which may have been considered the healthiest. I used it for many years as an oil subsititute and continued to use butter e.g. Lurpak or Anchor. I never had a problem with Betolli (spread) but at some point must have thought it not same as “natural” and so switched to olive oil and rapeseed oil.
I think then that I have used Bertolli butter though I see it as a spread rather than butter and I think Bertolli don’t call it butter unless there is a Bertolli butter that I haven’t actually seen.
I used to love going to different supermarkets to see who had it on offer and tried to save 50p or whatever saving I could make because I hated paying full (inflated) prices. Very occasionally I had to pay the inflated price. I do the same today with olive oils or any other product that might be sold in this manner but it’s not so easy now that the BoGoFs are banned or no longer fashionable.
I think Bertolli is just an olive oil and butter blend, although I haven’t deep dived on the subject and tend not to deep dive into my pockets at the till, so Bertolli it is. I’ve never fancied the taste of margarine, I think because my father always used butter and then I’d have sandwiches for lunch at friend’s houses and found the taste bland. Bizarrely, one of my first jobs as a teenager was promoting I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter in a supermarket, I had to wear a tux with bow tie and offer samples on bread. I was a terribly shy child and got sacked because I struggled to approach people, I just loitered around the spread section with my silver tray and hoped people would ask me for a sample.
