culture notes: on olive oil
It’s been sort of a battle, me and olive oil. Or a resistance, to be less dramatic. When I first lived abroad, in Spain several years ago, I became convinced that olive oil just didn’t agree with my system. And I may have been right in a sense — I was living with a host family, so eating home-cooked Spanish food that was made with a lot of olive oil. So when came to Italy, and was cooking for myself this time, I stuck with good old butter for all my cooking needs, it was what I was used to, even if it shows a perhaps obtuse resistance to assimilation. (Is assimilation really the goal anyway?)
When I first was living with Italian roommates here, cooking was a sort of cultural interchange adventure — I loved noticing all the little details of how we, instinctively, cook differently. Not just the classic difference in dishes, regional pasta sauces, and things like that, but the things you might not think of. As an American I make mashed potatoes whipped with a lot of butter, whole milk, and salt. Italians will make a potato puree, add just a little olive oil, salt and maybe pepper, and sometimes re-bake it afterwards with parmigiano cheese grated on top. They make polenta with chicken stock and oil, to serve with meat or sausage; I make cornmeal porridge with milk, cinnamon and sugar, and they look at me like I’m crazy. When their mothers come to visit, even more so. Don’t even ask what they had to say about the idea of pasta with butter. And nothing else.
Now however I do use olive oil sometimes. It started creeping in when I’d try new Italian dishes like spaghetti carbonara, or making focaccia dough which needs to be coated in a little oil while it rises. And of course when cooking for yourself, you can not over-do it with the amount, and not overwhelm yourself with unfamiliar ingredients. Putting a little on the skillet and throwing in some pre-mixed spices you can get at one of the outdoor markets here, is the fastest way to make your apartment smell like heaven (and about 80% of the work of a great classic tomato sauce for pasta or pizza). Of course there are some things I’ll never switch to olive oil for — fried eggs for one thing. Been there, it’s just weird.
