Does good extra-virgin olive oil have to be expensive?

I've been using this 100% Greek extra-virgin olive oil for cooking and dressing salads since February. My only complaints relate to how difficult it is to raise the tin's turtle-like plastic neck into its pouring position and to unseal it, below.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss extra-virgin olive oils, which can cost up to $20 or $30 a liter, compare organic and conventional apples, and herald 'the return' of Costco Wholesale's Organic Strawberry Spread.

You don't see too many bargains in extra-virgin olive oil these days, so a flier I received in February from the International Food Warehouse in Lodi caught my attention.

A 3-liter tin of Isle of Cyprus Greek Extra-Virgin Olive Oil was being offered for $14.99 or about $5 a liter.

Good extra-virgin olive oil was selling for around $5 a liter about 10 years ago, before a sudden and unexplained spike nearly doubled the price.

Then, blends of Italian, Spanish, Greek and Tunisian oils began to appear at a lower price than bottles of 100% Italian or Spanish extra-virgin olive oil, also referred to as EVOO.

I started buying extra-virgin olive oils from Lebanon, Syria and other Middle Eastern countries in 3-liter bottles that I found in South Paterson stores (about $15).

"Solely by mechanical means," above, refers to obtaining the oil from the olives without the use of hot water or chemicals. Another label, below, refers to "a pure and virgin product obtained ... without any additives."

In February, I bought 2 tins of Isle of Cyprus extra-virgin olive oil, and started to use it for frying eggs, omelets and frittatas, and for dressing salads, along with balsamic vinegar.

I also added it to bottled marinara sauce and drizzled it over reheated leftover pasta.

The oil was fruity and thicker than others I have purchased for the same price, and compared favorably to a Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil from Costco Wholesale that cost $11.99 a liter.

The International Food Warehouse then started selling 1-liter bottles of Isle of Cyrus EVOO for $4.99, but I didn't get to the store before the sale ended.

On May 22, I picked up 2 more tins of the Cypriot oil for $13.99 each.

The golden-green oil and balsamic vinegar make a great salad dressing.

I recall going to the store earlier in May, but found the tins had run out.

I overheard another customer telling his friend the Isle of Cyprus oil must be "adulterated," if it was being sold for such a low price.

But I don't see any evidence of that from the taste and aroma.

It's just a good extra-virgin olive oil at a great price, especially if you use it both to cook and dress salads.

The producer of Isle of Cyprus Extra-Virgin Olive Oil may have cut its price to be competitive in world markets after the island experienced financial problems this year.

It is imported by Phoenicia Specialty Foods of Houston, Texas.


International Food Warehouse, 370 Essex St.,

Lodi; (201) 368-9511. Open 7 days.

Conventionally grown Jazz Apples were $2.49 a pound at the Paramus Shop Rite on Wednesday or only 50 cents less than organic apples at Whole Foods Market.

Comparing apples

Price increases for food never seem to end.

On a visit to Whole Foods Market in Paramus on Wednesday, I couldn't find any organic apples for less than $2.99 a pound.

I bought a single Gala Apple ($1.11), an unusually crisp Braeburn from New Zealand ($1.44) and a Fuji Apple ($1.64), all organic.

A single organic apple cost more than an entire pound of conventional apples a couple of years ago.

Then, I drove over to the ShopRite across the street for lactose-free milk, and saw conventionally grown apples were going for $2.49 a pound.

Whole Foods organic apple prices were stiff, but I also found frozen, antibiotic-free turkey backs and necks for a low $1.49 a pound.

ShopRite had antibiotic-free Readington Farms chicken quarters for $1.49 a pound.

They're back

After several futile searches for Kirkland Signature Organic Strawberry Spread on visits to Costco Wholesale, I finally found some today at my warehouse store in Hackensack ($7.49 for a 42-ounce bottle).

When I couldn't find the spread -- which family members singled out for praise -- I bought Smucker's Strawberry Preserves, made with high-fructose corn syrup.

I also picked up Kirkland Signature Natural Peanut Butter (Creamy), and will refrigerate it to prevent the separation I didn't like the last time I tried it ($9.99 for two 40-ounce plastic jars).

The ingredients are Dry Roasted Valencia Peanuts and Sea Salt.

Costco Wholesale supersizes Korean roasted seaweed

Kirkland Signature Roasted Seasoned Seaweed is made in Korea and sold at Costco Wholesale. Ten packages are wrapped in clear plastic, each weighing  .6 ounce. I paid $7.49 at my Hackensack Costco.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss a popular Korean snack now being sold under Costco Wholesale's Kirkland Signature label, and food-shopping frustration at the International Food Warehouse in Lodi and Corrado's in Clifton.

Those addictive sheets of roasted and  salted seaweed from Korea are now being sold under the Kirkland Signature label at Costco Wholesale.

Each package weighs .6 oz, and appears to contain many more sheets than the smaller packages I've purchased at Korean supermarkets and Trader Joe's.

On the Web site of H Mart, a chain of Korean supermarkets, packages of seaweed, also called laver, weigh only .15 oz and .17 oz -- less than a third of  Costco's version.

Costco sold a brand of Korean roasted seaweed in the traditionally sized package, but the Kirkland Signature version comes in a bigger package that can be shared by two.

This afternoon, I snacked on seaweed sheets wrapped around canned-fish salad with chickpeas.

The Costco package shows the sheets wrapped around rice, shredded over raw fish and as an ingredient in canapes.

Ingredients are seaweed, corn oil, grape seed oil, sesame oil and sea salt. The package is marked "Winter Harvest."

An expensive Bentley automobile was parked on Sunday in the lot of the International Food Warehouse in Lodi, which sells many ethnic foods at a discount.

A liter package of this 100% juice from Turkey was 88 cents.

Out of oil

I drove over to the International Food Warehouse in Lodi to pick up another 3-liter tin or two of Isle of Cyprus Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which a sales flier offered for $13.99 or a dollar less than before.

But the store had sold out. 

I use this thick, fruity olive oil for frying eggs, omelets and frittatas, and to dress salads. 

So, I took three 1-liter bottles of the same Greek extra-virgin olive oil to the register, but the manager wouldn't honor the $13.99 price. Each bottle was marked $6.99.

Consolation prizes

I picked up four 1-liter cartons of Aroma-brand 100% Pomegranate-Apple Juice from Turkey at 88 cents each; four 1-liter bottles of Vintage Lemon-Lime Seltzer at 59 cents each, and yams at 99 cents for 3 pounds.

The store also sells wine and beer, but nothing appeared to be a bargain.

Two organic brown eggs fried in Isle of Cyprus Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil with Kirkland Signature refrigerated pesto from Costco Wholesale. Instead of bread, I warmed up leftover organic brown rice for a delicious breakfast.

Out of salt fish

Stores like the International Food Warehouse can drive you crazy when you make a special trip for an item, only to find it was sold out or never came in.

On the way back from an errand in Morristown last week, I stopped at Corrado's Family Affair in Clifton to buy 1-pound bags of salted cod from Canada.

The previous time I drove to the store, there was a  sign at the fish counter listing the price for large pieces of dried cod fish, with and without bones, and for dried fish in plastic bags, but I couldn't find a single bag.

Ackee and salted cod fish with Valentina Mexican Hot Sauce.

On Thursday, the same sign was there, but still no bags of cod fish.

I went over to the customer service counter, only to find a line of shoppers checking out their purchases.

In frustration, I shouted out for help, and an employee said the store had ordered the bagged cod fish, but that it "never came in."

Stolen fish?

Imagine: A truckload of dried codfish hijacked somewhere between Canada and New Jersey. 

Next time, I'll call the store before going there.

On the way back to Route 80, I stopped at Food Basics on Getty Avenue in Paterson, and picked up three 1-pound bags of dried Alaskan pollock at $3.98 a bag.

Pollock is a wild-caught fish that tastes similar to cod, but my wife prefers the latter.

Another problem I encountered at Corrado's is missing price signs.

In the produce section, 16-ounce plastic tubs of Uncle Vinny's spring mix and other salads had no price stickers or price signs on the shelf, but a sheet of paper hanging from a shelf gave prices for smaller packages.

An employee I asked just shrugged, and said he didn't know the price of the larger package.

Cucumber kimchi, Cypriot olive oil, wild lox and more

Cucumber kimchi, with onion and sweet pepper, came from Jeon-Ju Jan Chi Jip, a small Korean catering shop at 200 Broad Ave, in Palisades Park (201-944-0471). I also found tofu and a half-dozen small, shrink-wrapped fish, below. The three dishes made for a nice, no-fuss dinner.

Taking into account portion size and price, the shop gives good value, with many items costing $5.99 and $6.99.

Three-liter tins of 100% Greek extra-virgin olive oil are on sale again for $14.99 at the International Food Warehouse, 370 Essex St., Lodi. On Saturday, I bought two more tins of this unusually thick and fruity olive oil from Cyprus that works out to about $5 a liter.

Costco Wholesale provides a terrific way to end a meal with Parmigiano Reggiano and reduced-fat Swiss cheeses, left; organic unsulfured, sun-dried Calimyrna Figs, top; and sodium-free almonds I roast at home and dust with Vietnamese cinnamon.

Costco Wholesale's Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon costs $15.59 for 1 pound (packaged in two half-pound pouches), the first price adjustment I have seen in well over a year. The old price was $15.39.

Costco Wholesale still has the best price on smoked wild salmon, even with a 20-cent price increase my wife encountered last week.

The sockeye salmon is sliced and preservative free: Ingredients are salmon, salt, brown sugar and natural wood smoke.

Compare the color of this wild salmon to the artificially colored farmed fish used in the vast majority of smoked salmon, and the choice is clear.

My wife also brought home a 10-pound bag of sweet potatoes for $5.99. Costco stocks them only for holidays.

That night, she boiled a few sweet potatoes with Kabocha squash, then mashed them with olive oil to accompany wild-caught sea bass from H Mart, the Korean supermarket in Englewood.

The mashed sweet potatoes are also wonderful for breakfast as a foundation for two organic eggs fried sunny side up.

Then, you can break the yolks over the sweet potatoes and eat them together. Who needs bread?
 

Sunset-brand Beefsteak Tomatoes at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack were looking a lot better at the end of last week, above. A 5-pound box was $6.99. I used them sliced in a frittata with whole eggs, egg whites, low-fat milk, shredded cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto and Organic No-Salt Seasoning, below.

 

'Fresh corn' in February's bitter cold?

I didn't expect to find "fresh corn" when I made a rare visit to the International Food, Wine & Liquor Warehouse in Lodi this afternoon. I did purchase 12 cans of California Garden Moroccan Sardines for 99 cents a can, below, saving me a trip to South Paterson.

Editor's note: Today, I report on sale items at the International Food, Wine & Liquor Warehouse in Lodi, and at Starbucks coffee shops.

Every visit to the International Food, Wine & Liquor Warehouse in Lodi turns up fewer bargains.

Today, I purchased Isle of Cyprus Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil and California Garden Moroccan Sardines in Soya Oil.

I bought two 3-liter tins of the Greek olive oil for $14.99 each or about $5 a liter (on sale through Feb. 26).

The sardines were 99 cents a can, and the cans are the same size as the 99-cents sardines I usually drive to South Paterson to buy.

I bought 12 cans to add to pasta sauce and salads or to heat up with sweet peppers and onions, and eat over organic brown rice.


The food warehouse is at 370 Essex St.; 201-368-9511. Open 7 days.
 

The Starbucks shop on Essex Street in Hackensack.

The purchase of 1 pound of whole-bean coffee at Starbucks comes with a bonus: a $5 Starbucks Card (through Feb. 24).

Today, I purchased 1 pound of the Veranda Blend, one of the lighter Blonde Roast Coffees, and asked for a Turkish grind -- basically a powder -- for my drip coffee maker.

That exposes more of the coffee to hot water and produces a more robust brew.

The premium coffee was $11.95, but the $5 gift card brought it down to $6.95, a bargain.