FOOD NEWS
The High-Quality Olive Oil Ina Garten Lives By
BY KAREN HART
Ina Garten, AKA the Barefoot Contessa, is very fond of extra virgin olive oil. However, her favorite variety doesn't hail from Italy, where many brands of fancy oil come from.
Garten told Bon Appétit that she prefers California-made olive oil over Italian, due to its fruitier taste and lack of a slightly turpentine-y edge or bitterness from the olives.
"My favorite one is Olio Santo," Garten says. "I would say I've been using it for the 20 years that I've been writing cookbooks, but probably long before that too."
According to Garten's website, she prefers this olive oil because it is "flavorful, fruity, and not heavy" and lacks the bitter aftertaste associated with some other varieties.