I'm always amazed at what Americans put up with in terms of food. In France, where I live, when you buy olive oil, it's olive oil: simple.

That may not entirely be true, at least as recently as a few years ago. https://www.economie.gouv.fr/dgccrf/plan-controle-2016-des-h...

As this page says, it depends quite a bit on where the oil is from. It’s easy enough (if a bit expensive) to find great oil from small producers.

That's an hilarious statement given the horse meat scandal.

As you say, it was a scandal and we did not accept it.

That's a fair point. Although I feel like if the same thing happened in the states, head would roll just for the fact a lot of people see horses as pets, not cattle. It would be akin to people learning they've been fed dog meat against their will. I would literally expect people to get murdered over that.

I'm certain that there are worse olive oils than Costco/Kirkland, but theirs isn't what I'd call good olive oil. It might be good enough for large scale commercial kitchens, who need to work on a thin margin, but it's not fit for any serious home cook, or an upscale restaurant.

It may be pure, but it is a blend of tens, if not hundreds of olive oils. And it's enough for one of the oils in the blend to be not-that-great (or outright bad) to make the whole blend less than the sum of its parts.

Just like wine, the best olive oils are mostly small-batch, made from olives from just a few orchards, preferably from just one olive cultivar that is listed on the label, and have a taste specific to that and their terroir.

In California, I found not bad oils at ~$25 for half a liter, which isn't too bad of a price, considering the exceptional oils could be double that.

I think its generally the case that people wildly overestimate how much they can actually differentiate between 'superiour, expensive' and 'pretty good, reasonably priced' quality on items like this. Once you achieve that pretty good level double blind taste tests stop showing significant differences. You're literally paying for the experience of spending more money. Nothing wrong with that, if that's your thing.

Olive oil is definitely something where you can go quite a bit higher than the cheapest brands (even the cheapest "Extra virgin" olive oil) and really taste the difference. Say, up to £10/£20 for a 1/2 litre bottle. Possibly higher, but I've not tested more expensive brands than that. Cheaper olive does have some flavour, but is mainly a carrier for other foods and tastes. Really good olive oil tastes absolutely amazing just dipping bread (or even a finger) into it.

I certainly don't buy such olive oil regularly, but I can easily tell the difference if I do.

Chef and bestselling cook book author Samin Nosrat disagrees. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/costco-olive-oil_n_5981e0abe4...

Kirkland organic olive oil has won quite a few blind taste tests and awards. Something that many small batch wines cannot even do.

Actually, I don't know if Kirkland actually produces anything. It's a relabel of other brands. https://moneywise.com/life/lifestyle/the-big-brands-behind-c...

Kirkland isn't a relabel. Kirkland is a house brand, and they specify the product, and contract a company to produce it. Sometimes, the spec is "make same thing you already make, put it in Kirkland packaging". Other times, the specifications result in a different and unique product. Amazon does this with their Amazon Basics and there are probably other house brands, too.

That doesn't necessarily mean it's exactly the same products. Costco can request changes to turn the product into something they are happy to put their label on.

The Kirkland olive oil that has won many blind tests is specifically Kirkland "Organic" Olive Oil. It has to have organic on the label. Try their avocado oil. Much higher smoke point and cheaper. I don't use olive oil in cooking much anymore, mostly just for bread and in salad dressing.

Always buy government or state certified olive oil if you want the best. These types of oils certify the origin of olives For example, the Italian Agriculture certifies the origin of Italian olive oil with a DOP or IGP on the bottle.

Yes, I believe several of the Italian olive oils tested were certified DOP or IGP - the ones that turned out to have canola oil mixed in. I think the Italian mafia was involved.

Kirkland fish oil is also excellent, and reasonably priced as well.