The Costco Olive Oil Samin Nosrat Recommends
Cooking experts have a list of qualities they want to see when they are looking for good olive oil. Where Food & Wine is concerned, only extra virgin will do, and the best olive oil producers won't hesitate about revealing exactly when the olive oil goes past its use-by date.
There are other cues too. Olives aren't just grown in Italy, they are found across southern Europe, including Spain, Turkey, and Greece– so if a label only says that the olive oil is produced in Italy, you may be better off giving that bottle a hard pass, since you aren't told where the olives are sourced; and that's much more important. Another sign a bottle of olive oil is worth having in your kitchen? Its container will be either dark or completely opaque, simply because olive oil goes off very quickly when it is exposed to both sunlight and heat, per Bon Appétit. All of this brings us to Samin Nosrat, host of "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" and her olive oil of choice.
Samin Nosrat has a simple reason for being partial to this oil
Like most chefs, Nosrat is picky about her ingredients. She tells The Seattle Times she's partial to artisanal two-year-old soy sauce which she uses sparingly, just as she has revealed she is partial to a special Japanese salt that costs an eye-watering $20. And while she enjoys using these special ingredients, she's not about getting fans to spend a whole load of cash on condiments either — which explains why she is also partial to Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
So we shouldn't be too surprised when she's given the two thumbs up for an ingredient that we've raved about in the past: Costco's Kirkland Signature organic extra-virgin olive oil, which she simply says is: "really good."
Costco is very clear about where the olives are sourced (Portugal, Tunisia, Italy, Greece), as well as where it is bottled (Italy), per Clean Wellness. It also adheres to strict regulations as set by the European Union with regard to olive oil. It tells you where it olives are from and when the oil's best before date is. The oil can also carry one of three EU quality seals: PDO or "Protected Designation of Origin," PGI or "Protected Geographical Indication," or Organic Olive Oil, per Our Olive Oil. And we're sure that if the transparency doesn't sway you, we're pretty sure that the oil's rich flavor and aroma will.