We have sold a lot of strange things over the years, but I think this might be the first time I have imported olive oil from California.
Single & Fat make just one thing properly, olive oil. This is their California Batch, made exclusively using organic Arbequina olives grown in California’s Central Valley. One type of olive rather than a mysterious concoction of oils from six different countries that have spent the last nine months going on a European tour in the back of a tanker.
Arbequina olives are tiny little things that produce a beautifully light, buttery oil with a grassy flavour, a little hint of almond and a gentle peppery tickle at the back of your throat. The olives are harvested at peak ripeness and cold pressed within hours to preserve the flavour and naturally occurring polyphenols. I have now read far more about polyphenols than I ever expected to.
Pour it over tomatoes, pasta, salad, burrata or scrambled eggs, dip bread in it or basically put it on anything that could do with being a bit shinier and nicer. You can cook with it too, with a smoke point of around 210°C, so it isn’t one of those precious olive oils that only comes out when your posh friends visit.
Each bottle contains 500ml and the packaging may well be one of the best things I have ever seen. Anyway, olive oil from California, just like lots of my favourite things.