Cold Smoked Olive Oil

In May, I tried smoking some olive oil, using oak. I poured a 500ml bottle into a very shallow bowl, and placed it on the bottom rack of my cold smoker, while I also smoked some cheese and butter. It was probably smoking for 6-8 hours.

I have a feeling I did two bottles, and the fact I can only find one suggests that I palmed the other off on one of my happy guinea-pigs. Anyway, first impressions were that it was a bit harsh, so I simply put the rebottled oil in the back of my cupboard, to age a little.

I rediscovered it this weekend, and wishing to cook a light lunch today – chopped mushrooms and cavolo nero fried off in a wok and served with some pasta – I decided to give it a try. As I have found before, time has mellowed the taste, and produced something wonderful. The mushrooms, in particular, were delicious. I am not even sure I would say they were smokey – they simply had a sweet taste of oak in the background.

Needless to say, I’ll be cooking with this; but I’d better make some more, if it takes 5 months to be ready! To be honest, I am guessing a couple of months will suffice – we’ll see.

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