DO YOU CAREFULLY CONSIDER which wine you’ll use in a sauce recipe? Most cooks do, and after participating in an olive oil tasting, I’ll now apply the same rules when choosing olive oil.

Olive Oil Tasting Set Up

At San Francisco’s Hotel Vitale last weekend, Chef Michael Tuohy (from Grange Restaurant & Bar), conducted an olive oil tasting using methods quite similar to those used by wine afficianados.

Following Strictly Olive Oil’s Tasting Guide, Tuohy coached participants to use the same “4 Ss” wine lovers are familiar with:

1. Swirl
2. Sniff
3. Slurp
4. Swallow

Participants also cleansed their palates between offerings (with the addition of astringent Granny Smith apple slices — since, of course, oil and water don’t mix).

Foodbuzz Blogger Festival Participants

Although you don’t have to worry about driving after an olive oil tasting, you will find some of the commonly-used vocabulary similar to wine tasting, including: Peppery, Spicy, Buttery, Woody and Grassy.

The biggest difference I noticed was that olive oil tasting, versus wine tasting, seems to involve more areas of the body.

Chef Tuohy joked about using the sensual oils on your hair, but I’m referring more specifically to the back of your mouth and throat. Even some of the very good oils we participants sampled, when rolled around our mouths and tongues, negatively effected our nerve endings. As we slurped and swirled, a few of the offerings left a lingering harsh and bitter — almost caustic — sensation.

Chef Michael Tuohy

My favorite oil — California Olive Ranch’s 2009 Olio Nuovo — stood out amongst those oils we sampled. (Disclosure: the company sponsored the event and provided participants with bottles to take home.) Blind tasted against the provided Tuscan, Sicilian and Spanish oils, Olio Nuovo blew the competition out of the salad bowl.

I have often watched as some of the best home cooks and professional chefs used good olive oil as a finishing touch before a dish is served. Yet I never quite understood or appreciated the process.

It took this olive oil tasting to open my eyes — or, perhaps I should say, open my palate — to the importance of the oil used in cooking.

I can’t wait to learn — and taste — more!