Actually, if you know about olive oil you use it to deep fry anything that can stand up to the taste. I currently live in Italy, and around here every Italian home kitchen I know of fries only in Olive oil. If you're frying tempura, you would probably want to use a lighter tasting oil so that the delicate taste is not impaired.
When you fry food a certain percentage of moisture that is present in the food must evaporate out of the food before the oil can penetrate it. Each oil has a different percentage of moisture that must evaporate first before penetrating. Of the different oils olive oil has one of the highest percentages of moisture that first has to evaporate. This means that the food stays in the oil for longer without the oil penetrating the food and leads to the food feeling less oily after cooking. It's also a healthier type of oil to use than most other oils due to the fat type.
You would definitely want to fry with a filtered olive oil to make sure that the little bits of olive won't scorch and it wouldn't make sense to pick the most delicate tasting oil as much of the taste would be lost during the heating and frying process. But, filtered EVOO is very good for a home kitchen for frying because the antioxidants that are present in it will help keep the oil from degrading. Olive oil is NOT an appropriate choice for frying in a restaurant because it doesn't handle being heated up over and over again and kept at hot temperatures for long periods of time.
Also, EVOO is defined by acidity the world over, among other factors such as taste and having no processing other than filtering. From the
IOOC website:
Virgin olive oils are the oils obtained from the fruit of the olive tree solely by mechanical or other physical means under conditions, particularly thermal conditions, that do not lead to alterations in the oil, and which have not undergone any treatment other than washing, decantation, centrifugation and filtration.
Virgin olive oils fit for consumption as they are include:
Extra virgin olive oil: virgin olive oil which has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.8 grams per 100 grams, and the other characteristics of which correspond to those fixed for this category in this standard
If by
so you're not buying real EVOO at the stores
you mean the normal brands in the clear glass containers on the supermarket shelves, you're right. You can tell that by looking at the label, but unfortunately most Americans aren't educated on what to look for.
Keith
Olive Oil HealthL'arte dell' Olivo fresh olive oil
