Olive Oil
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#1: Olive Oil Author: ChelseaLocation: Your Imagination PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:07 pm


In Carola, Carola causes a sensation when she takes cod-liver oil from Matey's cupboard rather than olive oil in order to cook donuts. My thought is - even if she had taken olive oil, those donoughts would have tasted funny. Olive oil is a very strong flavoured oil and does not do well for baking or cooking sweet things. Granted, cod liver oil was probably worse, but still.... Carola was the first book I read, and I didn't understand why the, presumably royal Lady Russell, would find the story of the donoughts at all amusing.

 


#2:  Author: patmacLocation: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:52 pm


LOL! the only thing I can think of is that the alternatives were butter or lard! They certainly wouldn't have had sunflower of groundnut oil. Mediterranean countries use a much lighter version of Olive Oil for ordinary frying. Virgin Olive Oil is expensive and reserved for dressings. They would probably have used Pomace Oil (Aceite de Orujo) which is made by refining/processing olive oil pressings. The least expensive type, no real taste and used primarily for deep frying. As a dedicated Google junkie ( Confused ), I came up with this link: http://www.elliskaiser.com/doughnuts/history.html A search of 'doughnuts history' will bring up more than you ever wanted to know. Now have a craving for Krispy Kreme doughnuts. The English version is much heavier and even needs chewing Sad

 


#3:  Author: Kathy_SLocation: midwestern US PostPosted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 12:24 am


Fascinating story, Pat. Laughing I thought doughnuts were originally deep-fried in lard! Or later in a really hydrogenated vegetable oil, such as Crisco. Not that I've ever made them or anything.... And Krispy Kreme always seem a bit heavy to me! I only met them in Indiana, where, oddly, people rave over the thngs. Here's my favorite doughnut making description (Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farmer Boy):
Quote:
Almanzo took the biggest doughnut from the pan and bit off its crisp end. Mother was rolling out the golden dough, slashing it into long strips, rolling and doubing and twisting the strips. Her fingers flew you could hardly see them. The strips seemed to twist themselves under her hands, and to leap into the big copper kettle of swirling hot fat. Plump! they went ito the bottom, sending up bubbles. Then quickly they came popping up, to float and slowly swell, till they rolled themselves over, their pale glden backs going into the fat and their plump brown bellies rising out of it. They rolled over, Mother said, because they were twisted. Some women made a new-fangled shape, round, with a hole in the middle. But round dougnuts wouldn't turn themselves over. Mother didn't have time to waste turning doughuts it was quicker to twist them.

 


#4:  Author: EllieLocation: Lincolnshire PostPosted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:48 pm


I really, really want to eat doughnuts now. The best ones though, are from the kiosks along the seafront in any resort worthy of the name, when they are cooked in front of you, and travel the length of the fryer on a conveyor belt, getting flipped over in the middle, before falling off the end into a bed of sugar. I'm almost tempted to drive over to Hunstanton to see if the doughnot kiosk is open, but I doubt if it is.

 


#5:  Author: KBLocation: Melbourne, Australia PostPosted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 9:11 pm


*drags discussion slightly back towards the topic* Might olive oil then have been less strongly flavoured than it is now, when we have all sorts of distillation and other purification processes? Or was it simply that EBD didn't really know that much about cooking anyway? Twisted Evil

 


#6:  Author: ChelseaLocation: Your Imagination PostPosted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 10:27 pm


I think that all of your ideas are likely KB. Though, it did disturb me that they 'borrowed' oil from Matey's medicine cupboard - that didn't sound very appealing at all!

 


#7:  Author: patmacLocation: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 10:47 pm


Olive oil has always had various grades. Any country that produces olive oil, laughs up it's sleeve at the people who pay for extra virgin or virgin for cooking. It is strictly for salad dressing, pastas and marinades - on special occasions. The grades are: Extra virgin - considered the best, least processed, comprising the oil from the first pressing of the olives. Virgin - from the second pressing. Pure - undergoes some processing, such as filtering and refining. Extra light - undergoes considerable processing and only retains a very mild olive flavour. As for it coming from Matey's cupboard. Warmed olive oil was poured into the ear to melt wax! She would have had a stock - though I would be surprised to find that she had enough to fry doughnuts!

 


#8:  Author: KBLocation: Melbourne, Australia PostPosted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 11:04 pm


Wasn't there a girl who had to wash her face in oil at some point? Ah, got it. Isobel Drew in Peggy: “Why, of course they couldn’t! If they had, they’d never be able to catch us out as they do.” Isobel spoke feelingly. The night before, she had occupied herself between tea and prep in pouring a modicum of the olive oil with which she had to wash her face in winter into the inkwells in her form-room, with the result that no one was able to write properly. One wonders just what that was supposed to do! Shocked

 


#9:  Author: patmacLocation: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 11:12 pm


This topic runs doesn't it *g*. There weren't the modern face creams and dry skin was supposed to be better for not washing so oil was used. Makes a mess of the pillowcases though!

 


#10:  Author: KBLocation: Melbourne, Australia PostPosted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 11:14 pm


Just like oil. *groan* And I imagine she must have slept with a towel over her pillow as Jacynth Hardy does in Rosalie after smoothing her hair with olive oil to become a Dutch Doll for the fancy dress party.

 


#11:  Author: KateLocation: Ireland PostPosted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 11:16 pm


*speaks with experience* It is REALLY hard to get olive oil out of your hair.

 


#12:  Author: Helen PLocation: Cheshire PostPosted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 11:50 pm


Now come on Kate, you can't leave it there! Please tell us curious lot how the olive oil got there in the first place! Laughing

 


#13:  Author: KateLocation: Ireland PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 12:04 am


Embarassed Now promise you won't all think I'm really stupid.... I was about 14 (old enough to know better) and was running a bath when I realised that there was no bubble bath/bath OIL left (do you see where this is going?) In my search for a substitute (soap was not good enough, oh no!) I decided olive oil could not be that different to bath oil. (where I got that idea, God knows. Maybe from the Chalet School?!) So I threw in about half a bottle, had my bath. Ended up DRIPPING with oil. I managed to rinse it off my body in the shower, but my hair! I had dunked my head into the bath water, and OH MY GOD, the oil just STUCK to it. I had to wash it about six times that night - with washing-up liquid, because the ordinary shampoo just slid off. Even the washing-up liquid didn't lather for ages. I still had to sleep with a towel on the pillow and re-wash it a few times in the morning. Incidently, my hair looked GORGEOUS when it was finally clean... Embarassed Embarassed Embarassed Embarassed Embarassed Embarassed Embarassed Embarassed

 


#14:  Author: LadyGuinevereLocation: Leicester PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 12:14 am


Quote:
Incidently, my hair looked GORGEOUS when it was finally clean...
Gelatine is the same for hair. My hair used to be GORGEOUS after I'd had that in it! Eggs as well seem to be good for hair. ~LadyG

 


#15:  Author: Kathy_SLocation: midwestern US PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 12:16 am


Yes, many techniques for refining oils were available by the 30s and were/are vital for purifying seed oils. You really wouldn't want to eat oil pressed directly from your average oilseed crop! Olives are unusual in that their oil can be cold pressed and eaten without significant refining. As Pat says, "extra virgin" and "virgin" oils are the most expensive -- valued precisely because of their tasty "impurities." The oil left in the mashed olives after this, and oil from damaged olives in which part of the oil has been degraded (yum, soap!), is then extracted by harsher means and refined to edibility or used industrially, e.g. in the cosmetics industry. Despite its many useful properties, pure "oil" (unsaturated triacylglycerol) isn't exactly tasty on its own -- but it's fine for frying, as long as it's not too unsaturated to handle the heat. (Olive oil is relatively heat stable.)

 


#16:  Author: KBLocation: Melbourne, Australia PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 12:25 am


*giggles* Oh, poor Kate! I just hope you didn't try to blow-dry your hair, heat stability or not...

 


#17:  Author: Helen PLocation: Cheshire PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 12:35 am


Thankyou for telling us, Kate! Laughing And I don't think you're really stupid - I'm sure we have all done just such ridiculous things in our lives and it is always nice to hear we are not the only ones! Very Happy However gorgeous your hair may have been afterwards, I don't think I'll be trying that in a hurry!

 


#18:  Author: Joan the DwarfLocation: Er, where am I? PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 2:15 am


*g* @ Kate Very Happy I'm guessing washing the face with olive oil was for dermatitus or some such, and done like the ancient Greeks - rub on then scrape/wipe off. The dirt attaches to the oil and gets taken off, without having to wash with soap which will dry it out. If she wiped properly, it shouldn't make that much of a mess on the pillows...

 


#19:  Author: pimLocation: the Derbyshire wilderness PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 12:07 pm


*g* at Kate. Although, my flatmate used olive oil regularly on her hair last term when she was running out of shampoo to avoid buying a new bottle (for some reason there was an abundance of olive oil in the house Confused) she claimed it made her hair look better, and considering it looks like a haystack as a rule I sadly had to concede that she was right. *le sigh* NOT that I will be using it myself ever.

 


#20:  Author: AlexLocation: Manchester PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 2:08 pm


We supply Olive Oil from the hospital pharmacy, presumably for ear wax, but they also keep it in A and E in the resusitation room. Shocked

 


#21:  Author: JennieLocation: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 3:33 pm


Olive oil and almond oil are both good for the hair. But don't wet your hair before applying shampoo. Lather up a good dollop of shampoo in your hands, then rub it through your hair, then start massaging it in, until all your hair has a coating of shampoo. Think emulsion such as mayonnaise, leave the shampoo on for a few minutes, then rinse off thoroughly. Your hair should be sleek and shiny.

 


#22:  Author: DawnLocation: Leeds, West Yorks PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 5:32 pm


Aged about 15, I'd heard that putting oil on your hair was good for it's condition, so did and then rinsed thoroughly. I then sat in front of the fire to dry it. Was about to go to bed, when I realsied my hair was still wet. Then realised it was still oily not wet and like Kate it took me forever to wash it out - but again it did look extra shiny and nice for several washes afterwards.

 


#23:  Author: RosieLocation: Huntingdonshire/Bangor PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 10:27 pm


All these oil in the hair stories are much more interesting than mine - I was putting olive oil in my ear every night (this is harder than it sounds...) cos I had permanent earache and I was spending days trying to work out what the manky patch of hair just behind my ear was each morning..... After the penny FINALLY dropped I started sealing my ear with cotton wool! By the way, my ear stopped aching after a few days of this treatment!

 


#24:  Author: MissPrintLocation: Edinburgh PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:03 am


I was advised by my doctor when I was in my teens to use olive oil on my hands and face. I purchased a 2oz bottle from the pharmacy and applied it as directed, and it was revotling stuff. It was the nastiest quality, and smelled rancid. This was in the late seventies. As far as eating the stuff goes, if Matey's stock was the same as I got from the pharmacy, then it would not have imparted a particularly olive-y taste, had it been used. Extra virgin olive oil is gorgeous, mopped up with some fresh bread. Much nicer than bread and butter. Mmmmm.

 


#25:  Author: KirstieLocation: Ayrshire PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:07 pm


Some of the elderly wards I worked in as a student nurse rubbed olive oil on dry skin especially on legs. It was very messy.

 


#26:  Author: EllieLocation: Lincolnshire PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 8:20 pm


When I was a toddler, and for many years after, mum had a small bottle of olive oil in the medicine cupboard. I don't think it was ever used, but she would never have dreamt of using olive oil for cooking anything.

 


#27:  Author: Carolyn PLocation: Lancaster, England PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:19 pm


I remember my mum putting olive oil, slightly warmed into my ears at night with a piece of cotton wool as a bung when I was a kid. Not sure why but presumably it was somehting to do with wax (eurgh...yuk) When J was a baby he had very dry skin and the healthy visitor (to use the term the kids use! Laughing ) advised massaging olive oil into his skin, and onto his scalp for cradle cap as well. I used to oil him almost all over a couple of times a day! It was the cheap light olive oil we used as she told us it was cheaper thany bying it specialy at the chemist and just about the same stuff.

 


#28:  Author: KatarzynaLocation: Preston, Lancashire PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 10:40 pm


I use olive oil for the very bad ezcema i get on my feet - i was told to use almond oil but alas I am chronically allergic to almonds. The olive oil works quite well, though is a tad messy - partiuclarly if done last thing at night and then you can't be bothered to let it soak in before you go to bed.

 


#29:  Author: francesnLocation: away with the faeries PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:36 pm


My aromatherapist told me olive oil is one of the best massage oils around for skin and hair apart from the smell....(i think she'd probably bath in the stuff if she could) I have to say my hand and feet and hair all soft and lovely whenever I treat them with olive oil - although my employers look at my strangely when I wander through the house with my head wrapped in cling film to prevent the oil dripping everywhere. Rolling Eyes

 


#30: Olive oil Author: Alison HLocation: Manchester PostPosted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:40 pm


I used to use olive oil for cleaning my recorder out at school, because the teacher told us that it was good for woodwind instruments - no idea why. I don't know why Matron didn't just lock the medicine cabinet in "Carola" - she'd had years to learn her lesson after Joyce Linton put sulphur in her cooking in Tyrol!

 


#31:  Author: francesnLocation: away with the faeries PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 12:34 pm


olive oil on wooden instruments!!!!!! *shudders* linseed oil is the stuff you need - much lighter texture and won't stain the wood *hugs collection of instruments protectively*

 


#32:  Author: LyanneLocation: Ipswich, England PostPosted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 12:47 am


Katarzyna wrote
Quote:
I use olive oil for the very bad ezcema i get on my feet - i was told to use almond oil but alas I am chronically allergic to almonds.
Have you tried grapeseed oil? It's what I use for the boys' eczema. I add a drop of lavendar oil to help them sleep. I took Robert to a fancy dress party some years ago as a ghost. As he was only 3, he didn't want a costume over his face, so I made an old sheet into a thing to go over him from the shoulders down, and put copious amounts of white sunblock in his hair (and on his face and arms). He looked adorable, but it took a while to wash out of his hair. And he hated having his hair washed then... Embarassed

 


#33:  Author: Miss DiLocation: Newcastle, NSW PostPosted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 4:51 am


Ohhh. I'll be putting so olive oil on my manky foot tonight. Seeing as nothing else has cleared it up! But I won't be using the $20 a bottle fancy stuff, just the cheap one I use for deep frying!

 


#34:  Author: Tiphany PostPosted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 2:51 pm


A friend of my mother's swears that putting olive oil on your hair and scalp not only makes the hair shiny, but also makes your hair grow thicker. Has anyone else tried this often enough to know if it's true?

 


#35:  Author: KBLocation: Melbourne, Australia PostPosted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 9:59 pm


I don't know how it could. The only thing I imagine is that the oil might coat the hair and make it feel thicker.

 


#36:  Author: claireLocation: South Wales PostPosted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 10:16 pm


Maybe reduces dead ends so it looks thicker? Everyone says mind is thicker since it got chopped (woman came into the hairdressers just after the first cut had been made, took one look and said 'you're brave) from nearly waist length to bobbed

 




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