Flavoring Olive Oils

Recipe Courtesy of the Olive Source

Downloaded from the

Cañada College Olive Festival Web Site

October 6th & 7th 2001 10am-5pm

Our friend Tony Pennisi at Big Paw Grub makes some excellent infused oils using dried wild herbs. He says that the intensity of the flavor varies with the season, whether the herbs are wild or domestic, how the local growing conditions have been, etc. etc. It takes a lot of trial and error. Its more art than science and the people who are good at it are reluctant to share their trade secrets. The oil will pick up the flavor fairly quickly, in the first few weeks, and then slowly intensify. Its OK to leave the herbs in for a long time, eventually all the flavor leaves the herbs and the oil flavor stabilizes. Most oil sellers keep it simple and use one herb at a time. I have seen smoke flavoring added to an herb or peppers added to any one of the herbs. When mixing herbs, think salad dressing. Look at some recipes for dressing and substitute the dried herbs for any fresh herbs called for in the recipe. A dipping blend is like an Italian dressing with much more oil than vinegar.

Flavored olive oils and dressings make great gifts but watch out; there are safe and unsafe ways to make flavored olive oil. The unsafe way is to put anything in the oil that contains water. That would include garlic, lemon peel, fresh peppers, fresh herbs and spices. The oil will not support bacterial growth but the water containing herbs will. Botulism bacteria can grow in this type of environment. There are several ways to get around this

1. Mix all the ingredients, refrigerate them and use them within a week

Here's some recipes from Carapelli:

2. Preserve the added ingredients:

Maybe you have seen garlic or herbs mixed with oil. The way it is done commercially is to first preserve the water-containing garlic, herb, etc. with a strong brine or vinegar solution, then put it in the oil. The vinegar solutions used commercially are up to 4 times stronger than the vinegars you find in the supermarket. You can find them at commercial food supply outlets. Many of the herb mixes have both salt and vinegar which both prevent bacterial growth. You could use one of the olive pickling solutions listed above.

3. Dry the herbs to remove all water, leaving the essential oils: This can be done with a food dehydrator or just by leaving in the sun. Then add the spices and herbs. Whole sprigs of thyme, rosemary, dried peppers, etc. can decorate the inside of the bottle this way.

4. Press the olives with the spices

Putting lemon, garlic, etc. in the olive press with the olives is the safest way to flavor oil. You must have your own olive press (See First Press), or take it to a commercial press. The oils from the added ingredients mingle with the olive oil and the watery part of the spices are removed along with the olive water. You could add essential spice oils to the olive oil to achieve the same effect.