73 Virgin Olive Oil Benefits referred to the frying and the nutritional properties of olive oil: “The best eggs are those from hen. When fried with olive oil they are very good, given that all food spiced up with oil is nutritious; but the oil must be recently made, with low acidity, and from olives. Usually, it is a proper food for humankind” A beautiful poem for olive oil in Al-Andalus times. Some centuries later, olive oil for cooking appears in ‘The Quixote’. Miguel de Cervantes describes a simple recipe that even today can be enjoyed “[…] and two olive oil boilers greater than those for dyeing were used for frying doughs, and with two great shovels they took them out when fried and plunged them into another nearby boiler with honey “ (II 20) (Figure 4.2) Olive oil is currently being substituted for cooking purposes in the Mediterranean basin by other vegetable fats. This is probably due to a lack of information as such fats are neither as healthy nor characteristic. Numerous scientific studies have shown that the use of olive oil, for raw and cooking purposes, is the healthiest, tastiest, and sometimes cheapest option, nevertheless, much remains to be done with respect to educating the consumer. The key points are information, science and to convince people not to impose habits on them. Moreover, olive oil consumption plays a key role in the economy of Mediterranean farmers. Figure 4.2. Fritters fried in EVOO with olive tree firewood. Los Rondeles Celebrations. Casabermeja (Malaga, Spain). Celebration declared of Touristic Interest by the Provincial Council of Malaga. Photography: Francisco Lorenzo Tapia.
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