Could olive oil really be going out of fashion? The ubiquitous ingredient has long been such an essential for health-conscious foodies that it's hard to imagine its popularity waning. But believe it or not, olive oil's position as the healthy choice is being challenged by several rivals - oils that taste good and whose health benefits are no less impressive. So why are some people moving away from olive oil, and which other products are jostling to take its position?
The answer, it seems, is that you really can have too much of a good thing. While good olive oil may be healthy and taste great, it isn't quite the culinary cure-all it's been touted as. Perfect in salads, it's otherwise less versatile than it has been given credit for. With a smoke point of 191°C, extra virgin olive oil starts breaking down before reaching the temperatures needed to crisp something instantly in a pan, and thus can leave fried food soggy. And then there's that unmistakable flavour - peppery, rich and slightly tart, it can overpower more delicate tastes if used indiscriminately. While the Spanish still use olive oil for just about everything, fashionable Italians use it only in dishes where they are sure its extra flavour is welcome.
Extra virgin olive oil's premium flavour status is also being increasingly challenged - in particular by argan oil. Harvested from a bushy tree native to south Morocco and Algeria, argan kernels produce a fine reddish oil whose sterling health-boosting qualities are currently being recommended by many nutritionists. And as one nutritionist, Seki Tijani at the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy, puts it: "Not only can argan oil be useful for people looking to lower their levels of LDL, or 'bad' cholesterol, it also has anti-inflammatory properties, and its vitamin E content provides a source of fat-soluble antioxidants."
Possessed of an addictive, nutty flavour (which it loses if heated), argan oil is used widely in Moroccan cuisine for dips and salad dressings - crushed almonds and argan oil are a particularly popular combination. While it's utterly delicious, argan oil's high price (generally around one dirham per millilitre) means it's used sparingly. This eye-watering cost seems more reasonable, however, when you realise how complicated production is. You need a whole argan tree to produce a single litre of oil, and the Berber women who monopolise production pound the kernels for up to 10 hours to extract it. There is an odd but charming shortcut for this process, however - argan producers encourage goats to climb their argan trees and nibble off the unneeded fleshy pulp around the kernels, creating a surreal sight popular for tourist snapshots.
Less common among gourmets but possibly better for you is flaxseed oil, a thick, golden oil so healthy that it can be consumed in capsules as a dietary supplement. Containing the highest level of Omega-3 fatty acids of any vegetable oil, flaxseed oil has particularly high levels of alpha-linoleic acid, which a recent study at the University of Boston Medical School has shown can reduce the risk of heart attack by lessening calcium deposits in the arteries. The amounts of Omega-3 acids in flaxseed oil mean it is regularly recommended for those on a vegetarian diet, and therefore miss out on the fatty acids provided by oily fish. As Tijani notes, regular consumption may also help your appearance. "Flaxseed oil is a rich plant source of Omega-3 fatty acids that are needed for heart health, hormone balance and healthy skin, which can be moisturised from the inside out."
While its health benefits are well-documented, there's no denying that flaxseed oil's strong, smoky flavour is something of an acquired taste. That said, it has long been used as a garnish in Germany, and can taste great drizzled over boiled potatoes with soft cheese and dill or on smoked fish. The once unloved rapeseed oil is also gaining a newfound respectability. The oil has long been dismissed as a cheap, quasi-industrial foodstuff, more popular for animal fodder than human consumption. Recently, however, its health properties have seen it become an ingredient of choice, in particular for frying and roasting.
It is for its high levels of Omega-3 (of which it contains more than olive oil) that rapeseed oil is particularly valuable. As Tijani clarifies: "Cold-pressed rapeseed oil is a source of heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids that are also needed for a healthy brain and nervous system and can help ease the pain of sore or stiff joints." While its taste isn't particularly distinctive, rapeseed oil has a helpfully high smoke point of 240°C and its sweet, mild flavour doesn't mask other ingredients.
Given olive oil's flavour and prestige, none of the alternatives mentioned here is likely to displace it entirely, of course. But having fresh choices that can make food crisper, lighter or nuttier means there are more unique choices found on kitchen shelves which olive oil once occupied unchallenged.
