oxygen through your mouth and draw it across your
tongue to pull the aromas back to your soft palate
and up into your nose. You should get an entirely
new wave of flavors, which again multiply when you
finally swallow the oil. Tasting good olive oil is not
unlike tasting good wine.
How to Store Olive Oil
You wouldn’t believe the number of home kitchens
I’ve walked into where the olive oil was stored next
to or directly above the stove. In every single case,
when I opened the bottle and smelled it, the olive oil
was rancid.
As with all fats, the enemies of olive oil are heat,
light, and air. When exposed to oxygen, long-chained
fatty acids can break down into shorter pieces,
lending the oil an off aroma. Heat and light both
hasten the process. For the longest shelf life, olive oil
should be stored in a dark container (preferably a
metal can) in a cool, dark cabinet, as far away from
the radiator or oven as possible. If you like to buy
your olive oil in bulk, get it in gallon (or larger) cans
and transfer some of it to a smaller container for
daily use. I use carefully washed-and-dried dark-
green wine bottles with small metal pizza-parlor-
style olive oil pourers, so I can choose between
different flavors depending on my mood.
If you plan on using a very special extra-virgin
olive oil only on rare occasions, it’s best to store it in