It is impossible for me to walk past any shop’s collection of speciality oils and vinegars.
What’s not to like about them? Sparkly bottles come in all kinds of sexy shapes and sizes; anything to catch your eye. For some strange reason my gaze always fall on the most exotic, not to mention, exorbitant product on the shelf and when I see the price my heart plunges like the anchor of a boat in the sea. Dejectedly, I will put the item back on the shelf and trudge to the next aisle.
So imagine my delight when Elizabeth from Bien Manger contacted me out of the blue, asking whether I would like to review any of their products. Immediately, I perused the site and compiled a list of products I am enthusiastic to review. Problem was there were so many! When she didn’t reply I seriously thought I scared her off with my long list. Crazy woman that blogger, not to mention greedy…
However, she did come back to me, having been swept along in a rush of other things to do. Before I knew it a very special parcel arrived from France soon after.
When looking at the pictures on the website you get no real idea of how minute the bottles of oil are but they do state the volume which is 10cl (100ml/3½ fl oz). It took me a while to open it and when I did it saddened me to no end because the colour of the oil is beautiful and it meant I had to consume it relatively quickly to enjoy the product in its best condition.
Interestingly, there are many health benefits to drinking a teaspoon of pine nut oil a day. It’s mostly famous for being an appetite suppressant which in turn helps weight loss. Rich in antioxidants it also helps to reduce LDLs and heal peptic ulcers and gastritis. Since it has a low smoke point it generally isn’t used for cooking and instead employed as a finishing touch to a dish. One teaspoon of the oil in my mouth felt like I had fifty pine nuts swirling around in my mouth and the flavour is quite strong but pleasant, so there is no need to use huge amounts at a time. I greatly enjoyed it on a fresh, crispy chicken salad.
The pistachio nut oil I looked forward to the most. There was no confusion in flavour as to what it actually was but the nuttiness was accentuated in the oil, not the sweetness of the nut. It worked wonderfully splashed on a piece of grilled salmon. In salads it worked well although the flavour got slightly muted with new potatoes.
The biggest surprise for me was the lemon vinegar. I honestly thought the taste could easily be replicated by using freshly squeezed lemon juice with some sugar and voila. Not quite. It was sweet, tangy and ….vinegary! Before I knew it I was splashing it on all my food and Neil had to draw the line at desserts! My favourite way of eating it was with turkey slices, chopped avocado, finely sliced red onion and strips of red pepper; all tossed with plenty of the vinegar.
Yes, the size of the bottles of oil disappointed me and they are on the pricy side as well but in terms of quality all the products emanated excellence.
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