[Disclosure: This is a paid partnership with Oilwell]
When it comes to olive oil, you’re not exactly short of choice. Whether it’s a simple, cheap olive oil to cook with or the best extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) out there, these days you’ll find one for every purpose, taste and price point. Yet despite this relatively crowded market, there’s a new kid on the block – OilWell olive oil – and it may have just filled a gap we never knew we had.
Like everything, the world of olive oil is far from simple. Once upon a time, it was considered pretty highbrow to have any kind of olive oil. Forget bogstandard cooking oil, made from sunflower, rape, or something else. Anything ‘ordinary’ was frowned upon (even if it was the best oil for the job), because we’d found the nutty, grassy notes of olive oil and embraced them.
But having done a few olive oil tastings myself in my role as a judge for the Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards, I know as well as anyone that olive oils can vary hugely. The best olive oil for cooking isn’t necessarily the best to drizzle on your salad, and vice versa. And even if you adopt the strategy of assuming that extra virgin olive oil is always the one for salads, there’s then the matter of personal taste. Some like them strong and peppery, others want something more subtle.
Which is why OilWell olive oil tried to bridge the gap – offering a high quality extra virgin olive oil, at a reasonable price, with a light fruitiness that will appeal to all sorts of people. On top of that, it’s a sustainable olive oil and unlike most oils, OilWell comes in a squeezy bottle rather than glass, making it even easier to use – and therefore encouraging people to use it every day.
Why is OilWell olive oil a good kitchen essential?
Like various other kitchen condiments, sauces or seasonings, it’s tempting and easy to fill up your kitchen cupboards with a billion different olive oils. The best olive oil for cooking, the best olive oil for putting on salads, and so on and so on.
The difference with OilWell extra virgin olive oil is that it’s an all-rounder. Unlike lots of other olive oils generally available in the UK, which tend to be fairly strong, OilWell is made from Arbequina olives which create a light, fruit olive oil. Couple that with the squeezy bottle it comes in and you’ve got an olive oil that works for drizzling over a salad, jazzing up roasted veg, or even using to cook on some occasions. One olive oil that you can use every day, for everything.
A Little Bit of Spain in My Kitchen
OilWell olive oil is made from 100% Arbequina olives, grown in the Lleida region of Catalonia, Spain. Arbequina olives are super small (less than 2g) and their trees take 10-15 years to mature, but they’re known for producing one of the most light, fruity and smooth olive oils out there.
OilWell olive oil is also single-origin which means if you try it, you’ll be tasting it as it’s meant to be – not diluted or blended with other oils.
Flavour That Doesn’t Overpower
Arbequina olives are harvested earlier in the season and cold-pressed almost immediately, so you can expect flavours of green apple, fresh-cut grass, raw almond, soft citrus and artichoke, and a hint of banana. This means OilWell’s extra virgin olive oil is light, fruity and smooth with the great flavours you’d expect from a decent olive oil, without some of the bitterness that can sometimes put people off.
It also means that without having too strong a flavour, it’s a great olive oil for various uses, whether you’re drizzling it over tomatoes, roasting fish, or even baking with it. Think ‘everyday hero’ that you could use for a weekly dinner or pull out to impress for dressings, dinner parties and more. In OilWell’s own words, ‘elegant enough for finishing, light enough for daily use’.
The Squeezy Bottle You Didn’t Know You Needed
If you’re not an olive oil expert, you could be forgiven for not necessarily noticing the more subtle flavour of OilWell olive oil. But what you won’t fail to notice is the bottle. Because when have do you see a squeezy olive oil bottle?
Unlike the glass bottles you’re used to seeing, OilWell comes in a squeezable 500ml PET bottle. It’s BPA and phthalate-free, made from over 30% recycled plastic (with plans for 100% soon). And while some “eco” packaging can feel a bit flimsy, this one is sturdy and coloured to keep the oil inside safe from light (which can affect its flavour in the long run).
But aside from all that, a squeezy olive oil bottle is a bit of a revelation having used it in my own kitchen. No oily drips down the side of the bottle. Super easy to squirt while cooking, or drizzle on stuff as a dressing. Perfect for an everyday olive oil.
Cooking With OilWell: Ideas & Inspiration
Like most olive oils, OilWell olive oil is pretty versatile. Some people think you shouldn’t cook with olive oil because its low smoking point means if you try to use it over high heat, you’ll cause health issues. But it turns out, that’s probably not the case (according to the Serious Eats guys), so OilWell olive oil can indeed be used for cooking.
That means you can do everything from drizzling over fish or veg when you’re cooking them, tossing with things like roasted carrots, or even baking olive oil cakes (yes, they’re a thing).
Obviously you can also use it to drizzle over burrata with fresh basil or finishing dishes like homemade pizza or salads.
I actually used it to make my own little version of Pan con Tomate, drizzling tomatoes and garlic with it while I roasted them on the barbecue, and then adding more onto toasted bread once I’d smeared the garlic on it, and a bit more on the finished product for good luck. The good thing is, you can actually go quite generous with it because its lightness means it won’t fight with other flavours — just make them shine.
Why You Should Try OilWell Olive Oil
I guess the question is why would you not? It tastes good, it’s easy to use thanks to the squeeze bottle, and it’s super versatile due to its light fruitiness. It’s also eco-friendly thanks to the packaging, and is ethically minded. OilWell gives 1% of profits to Feeding Britain, helping tackle hunger across the UK.
And if you’re ordering in the UK, delivery is free — which is always a win.
With all that in mind, if you’re looking for the best olive oil to cook with, or a great olive oil for drizzling on salads or finished dishes, at a price point that means you can use it everyday without breaking the bank, you may just have found it.
If you fancy giving it a try, you can find it at OilWell.co.
