Ottawa Foodies

Another great spot for olive oil (and deli, cheese, coffee, pasta - wowsa!) is La Bottega in the market. They have a vast selection of oils with many listing the acidity level (a lot of 0.3's if I remember correctly). Also, they've recently renovated so there's room to move around in there finally. Olé! Worth a trip. I never leave this store without a bag.

Does anyone know where to get good quality, fresh-pressed olive oil here in Ottawa? I have looked around a bit but haven't had much luck getting something that isn't infused with herbs and spices or isn't flavourless.

What got me thinking about it: We're about half way done a bottle of extra virgin fresh-press olive oil from the south of France. This stuff actually takes as it should: like olives! We purchased it from O&Co while we were in Paris. Unfortunately, there is no O&Co in Ottawa.

Great selection - also found a wonderful olive oil that is unfiltered and freshly bottled from Italy...and they can't stock it fast enough. Talk to staff and they can recommend type of oil to suit your foodie flavours.

The Byward Market Location (at 64 on George Street) has a very good selection of olive oils from all over Italian regions (Lazio, Puglia, Sicilia, Calabria, Umbria, Toscana, and even the Alpine Lombardia). Many of these are low in acidity and light, since they're pressed at low temperatures: ideal choices for dressing any kind of bruschetta and fresh salads. To try also some Greek olive oils.

La Bottega sells L'Aspromontano virgin olive oil. It has a high smoke point so I can use it for stir fries and it is much more flavourful than grape seed oil.

They have a wide variety of imported olive oils, even two selections of "bottle your own". I beg fellow Ottawa foodies to blow a little cash on some higher quality stuff to taste the difference, it's incredible.

Perfect! Thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to grab a can or bottle next time I'm in that neck of the woods.

I like to buy my olive oil from this Portuguese grocery store. They sell 1 litre cans for around $7, and it's the bold-tasting fruity Portuguese olive oil that I like so much. Look for low acidity <= 0.7%.

In general, an olive oil that doesn't declare its acidity on the label is inferior. There's a possibility that it is okay but is targetted at customers that don't know or care (i.e. 99% of North Americans). But why take the chance?