I was born in Canada but my body was crafted in the Balkans, just like my family’s extra virgin olive oil. In fact, several millennia of inter-glacial Big Game hunters precede me. When I discovered that my ancestors drank olive oil daily, then sparred with Mammoths and saber-toothed tigers, I simply stopped questioning why people complement me for my radiant confidence and smooth beige skin. Real oils.
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It’s been almost a year since I wrote the original article, which blew up on social media.
In that article I unveiled the lies that many North American olive oil importing companies tell their customers in order to make more money delivering inferior product.
Many of the myths and lies surrounding olive oil, particularly as they relate to storage and extraction, have been carefully designed to maximize profits from unsuspecting consumers unfamiliar with the inner workings of extra virgin olive oil production.
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How many “olive oil cabinets” have you come across?
I come from a family that owns nearly 8,000 olive trees on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, and I can tell you, I’ve never come across a single, gold-plated olive oil display case.
When you look beyond the very modern, very masturbatory awards shows and sommelier schools that have cropped up in just the past few decades, olive oil generally doesn’t become more interesting the more money you make.
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In the past 70 years, Industrial Vegetable & Seed Oils have been produced in greater quantities than they ever have been in human history, even when adjusting for changes in manufacturing capacity. This is a phenomenon that must be viewed with a great deal of suspicion.
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Mandarinak is a dipping sauce made from mustard and mandarin oranges. While not uncommon in Dalmatia at dinner parties, it is typically served in higher end restaurants. It pairs best with fresh bread and/or seafood.
This one is my mother’s recipe. It’s not a traditional Croatian recipe by any means, but it is composed of indigenous ingredients found in Croatia.
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Nobody talks about forearm strength these days.
Yesterday, I slammed a bottle of olive oil onto the counter and some of it splashed back into my eye. I forgot to put the lid back on…
Not gonna lie. It stung. Selo, of course, is packed with the antioxidant Oleocanthal, which gives its powerful peppery kick.
Last night I mowed down some seriously tasty Korean fried chicken.
I love spicy food and I can almost never say no to that super hot gochujang chili. I crushed plate after plate of sweet and sour hot wings, but it wasn’t until my bowels were heaving this morning that I stopped to think about what I actually put into my body.
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Knedle are a very popular, quick Croatian dessert. They are basically just fried, potato-based donuts filled with whole pitted plums. We typically eat them at Church luncheons for dessert to go with coffee.
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Last week we played around a little and mixed a bit of everything from the Mediterranean, including bread, cheese and olive oil, into a fusion eggs benedict. This time we’ll go with something a little more authentically Croatian, a Croatian flatbread.
This week’s snack is a simple and extra-flavorful homemade garlic and herb seasoned Croatian flatbread recipe. In Croatia, we call it lepinja. This flatbread is a great appetizer, snack or hors d’oeuvre for a party, and it’s a relatively quick recipe that can be ready in just under 45 minutes
The reason I chose dill for this recipe (it’s called kopar in Croatian) is because of how commonly it is grown in gardens in the old country. I fondly remember picking dill in the summers with my Baba on mornings where she would make fresh flatbread.
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I’ve been posting Selo Oils-inspired snacks on both my Twitter timeline and here on the blog for the last few months.
This week’s snack: “Mediterranean Eggs Benedict.”
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