food coma
BY SARAH DECKER & SHANNON FINNELL
A Taste of Flavor
Popeye would ditch spinach for this olive oil
G
o ahead and pour yourself a little
drizzle of olive oil from your
kitchen. Ok, now taste it — by
itself. Disgusting? Then throw that crap
away and head down to Olive Grand, where
owners Tamara Oldenburg-Sires and Mike
Sires sell a variety of olive oils and balsamic
vinegars that are delicious enough to drink.
An olive oil tasting at Olive Grand is a lot
like a wine tasting. It has all the complexities,
all the excitement and about a million times
more fl avor. If you’re interested in food,
Oldenberg-Sires can tell fascinating stories
about the history of olive oil, the revival of
U.S. olive growing and why fi nding good
olive oil in grocery stores is diffi cult.
The fi rst thing to understand about
sampling the great variety in extra-virgin
olive oils is the difference between the
fi nishes: there are delicate, medium and
robust oils. The medium and robust snap
with a little bite, the most robust with an
almost peppery fi nish, while the delicate
oils are more smooth and come from a late
harvest of the same olives.
Olive Grand stocks a selection of
fi nishes, nine total on our visit, and each
one brings a vastly different experience
to the taste buds, from fresh and tart to
buttery and downright hearty. We loved
the fresh, buttery olio novelo and the
powerful pepper of the Tuscan blend. Add
have you
heard...
a balsamic to the Tuscan and the fl avor
profi le is a brand-new experience.
Once you have sampled the straight
extra-virgin olive oils, it is imperative to
move on to the fl avored selection. There
were, again, many to choose from, ranging
from citrus (lemon, lime, mandarin, blood
orange) to savory (basil, rosemary, garlic)
to spicy (chili, jalapeño). Couple these with
any of the fl avored balsamic vinegars they
stock (among them red apple, fi g and wild
cherry), and you can create some of the most
intense tastes you’ve ever experienced.
For example, a spot of the chili olive
oil combined with a peach balsamic travels
the spectrum from immediately fresh and
sweet to savory and smoky then fi nishes
with a spicy kick. Oldenberg-Sires says
that the garlic oil was the most diffi cult
to select; we loved it with the traditional
balsamic and want to try pairing with
different breads.
With each taste combination, the
mind races through myriad possibilities for
culinary applications. But the impulse might
remain to just keep sipping, shot style, from
the tasting cups. If you can tear yourself
away and choose which to bring home, the
knowledgeable people serving up the olive
oil have bucketfuls of suggestions for how to
serve and use each one, plus recipes on the
web. They can even help steer you in the right
direction for the best fl avor combinations.
Olive Grand will host a special
tasting for women at “Ladies Night”
5-7pm Thursday, Nov. 17, with wine and
chocolate.
ew
Too tired for cooking? Know some
new parents who need the gift of
time? Check out Ivy’s Kitchen,
which just completed a massive
kitchen remodel. Ivy’s delivers
oven-ready
vegetarian
food
straight to the home; see her menu
at www.ivyscookin.com
June opened the sophisticated
lounge “Kate’s in June” last week;
the next event we’ve heard about
so far is a wine pouring by Portland
urban winery Hip Chicks do Wine 9
pm-2 am Dec. 9.
Speaking of openings and wine,
Marché’s new addition, Le Bar at
Fifth Street Market, will serve the
fi rst wine of the 2011 vintage at its
Beaujolais Nouveau Celebration
Nov. 17.
UO’s EMU has gone bottled water-
free!
Café Yumm on Franklin launched
solar energy and electric vehicle
charging stations in October. We’re
excited to see them in use!
Hop Valley Brewing has started
canning beer, complete with
a water-based lining for taste
preservation and a six-pack handle
from recycled plastic.
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EUGENE WEEKLY NOVEMBER 17, 2011 29