Vegetable oil is one of the most important basic ingredients in the kitchen. Depending on the use and preparation method, you can choose from a wide variety of oils. For example, olive oil, safflower oil, various nut oils or grape seed oil are suitable for cold dishes, salad dressings, marinating or refining.
Virgin or cold-pressed oils have a high proportion of unsaturated fatty acids and possess the fine taste of the seeds, kernels or fruits used in their production. For frying or grilling at high temperatures, heat-resistant oils such as coconut oil, peanut oil or rapeseed oil are particularly suitable. Kernel oil, which is particularly popular in Styria, is made from the peeled and roasted seeds of pumpkins and is a real speciality. The deep green and wonderfully nutty pumpkin seed oil is used to refine salads, snack dishes or soups - giving them a unique flavour.
Olive oil has been extracted from the kernels and flesh of the olive for at least 8000 years. The olive tree is not called the oil tree for nothing and is mainly cultivated in the Mediterranean region. Around 5 kilos of ripe olives are needed to produce one litre of oil. There are various production methods, the aim being to leave the oil as unadulterated and natural as possible. Virgin olive oil is extracted without the use of heat and exclusively through mechanical processes. This is the best way for olive oils to develop their full variety of characteristics and aromas: one time fruity, green and mild, the next time spicy, nutty and delicately bitter, in colour greenish, yellow or golden. With over 800 olive varieties, it is easy to imagine the spectrum of flavours that this oil can exhibit.