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.

Mold in Bear & Wolf canned wild salmon from Trident?

Some of the ingredients for canned-fish salad.

Editor's note: Today, I report on how I turned green when I opened a can of wild salmon. I also describe a shopping trip to Trader Joe's and Fairway Market, both in Paramus. At the latter, I saw another shopper put roasted coffee beans to his nose.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I took out two cans of wild Alaskan salmon, a can of yellow-fin tuna and another of Moroccan sardines to make fish salad with chopped red onion, mayo, Dijon mustard and cumin.

Of the canned fish, the salmon went in last, but when I upended the second can and dumped it into a bowl, I noticed what looked like mold covering the bottom of the salmon.

I thought at first it might be skin, but the salmon was skinless and boneless. I tried to remove the part covered by mold and continue making the salad, but eventually dumped everything in the garbage.

The Bear & Wolf Pink Salmon was from Costco Wholesale, but I have been buying it for more than a year and have never encountered such a problem before. I could not see any damage on the can.

Today, I looked at the Web site of Trident Seafoods Corp. of Seattle. Wash., maker of the canned salmon and other seafood products sold at Costco. The FAQs for canned salmon don't address mold.

The site says salmon are usually canned in the summer and have a shelf life of six years.

The cans contain wild-caught Pacific salmon from Alaska with no mercury. I sent an e-mail explaining what happened, and I'm awaiting a response.

Update

Click on the following link for Trident's response:

Result of mold complaint 

The Nose

I had lunch with a friend at the Suburban Diner on Route 17 north in Paramus and then continued north to Trader Joe's and Fairway Market to pick up a few things.

Fairway was selling its extra-virgin olive oil -- a blend from Spain, Greece and Italy -- for $4.99 a liter, with a limit of two. I believe the regular price is $8.99.

I also stopped at the butcher's counter for beef oxtails, hoping to improve on the ones we got from Costco that were mostly fat and bone. 

Fairway's oxtails looked better and were $6.29 a pound, compared to $4.49 a pound at Costco.

I picked up a small wedge of Spanish Fig Cake with Almonds ($9.99 a pound), an item I haven't seen elsewhere, and a pound of Brazilian Dark Roast coffee beans, Turkish grind (on sale for $6.99 a pound).

I almost didn't buy the Brazilian coffee after seeing a man grab some of the store-roasted beans and put them to his nose, then throw them back. He did the same with beans from another bag, but used a metal scoop the second time.

I guess this shopper doesn't know the real aroma is when the beans are ground. I don't think you can tell much by sniffing the beans.

"Sir," I said, "you really shouldn't have put your hands in the beans and put them up to your nose."

He agreed, saying he realized that, though too late, and that's why he used the scoop for his second sniff test. Little comfort. 

Jazz apples

At Trader Joe's, I bought two packages each of uncured, preservative-free bacon and uncured beef hot dogs, both from animals raised without antibiotics ($3.99 and $4.29 each, respectively).

A 64-ounce bottle of Organic Lemonade (18% juice) was $2.99 and a 32-ounce container of Organic Plain Low Fat Yogurt also was $2.99.

A 3-pound bag of small, crisp Jazz apples was $3.49 or $1.16 a pound.