Gourmet & specialty oils: aroma for special moments
Walnut, pumpkin seed, sesame and more refine dishes with a few drops. We show you how to use them, and where producers like to cheat.
Truffle oil: luxury or deception?What makes specialty oils special
Gourmet oils are not all-rounders but flavour givers. They are cold-pressed from fine seeds or nuts, keep their full aroma and go a long way with a few drops. Their place is the cold kitchen: for drizzling, in dressings, over soups or even in desserts. They are too precious and too delicate to heat.
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The varieties in brief
- Walnut oil: intensely nutty and tangy, fine on salad, vanilla ice cream and fruity desserts.
- Pumpkin seed oil (Styrian): dark green, strongly nutty, classic over salad, soups and regional dishes.
- Sesame oil: warm and nutty, defines hummus and Asian cooking. Toasted sesame oil is especially aromatic.
- Argan oil (edible): mild and nutty, refined with couscous, yoghurt and honey.
A few drops, kept cool
Specialty oils unfold their aroma at the very end. Add them over the finished dish, not into the hot pan. Like all cold-pressed nut and seed oils they belong in the fridge after opening and should be used up promptly.
Buy small bottles of dark glass. That keeps the aroma and stops the oil from turning rancid.
Truffle oil: luxury or deception?
This is where it gets uncomfortable, and we say it openly: the vast majority of truffle oils on the market contain no real truffle. Instead, a synthetic aroma is added to a cheap vegetable oil. The main compound is called 2,4-dithiapentane and makes up around 90 percent of the truffle smell, without any truffle ever being involved.
There is hardly any real labelling obligation for this. Even homeopathic amounts of cheap Chinese truffle are often enough to write „truffle“ on the ingredient list. If you want real truffle aroma, look for visible truffle pieces, a clear origin, an honest price and a short, natural ingredient list. We do not sell you an illusion, we tell you what to watch for. You decide.
More from the kitchen
From the everyday oil to the special drop, the cooking-oils overview has the right oil for every occasion.