Olive Oil-More Than Just An Anointing Oil Suitable For Cooking

The use of Holy oil and anointing oil is a regular feature of most religious activities in Nigeria. Any oil goes but the most popular among the others is olive oil. Goya extra virgin olive oil wins when we talk of brands and type.

Origin Of Olive Oil As Holy Oil And  Anointing Oil

The use of olive oil in religious activities dates back to centuries ago. There are records in the Bible where the oil was mixed with others for anointing priest and kings in Israel and use in Egypt, Roman and Greek in their sacrifices and offerings to their gods.
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The tree have been mention in several places of the Bible like when the dove came back to the ark with an olive branch, when Jesus was welcomed in Jerusalem by placing olive branches on the road and when Jesus was praying in the garden of olives.
Today, the rest of the world are moving away from its religious use to a more personal form, consumption. Although, this is not the case yet with Nigeria.
When you visit a Nigerian home and see an olive oil in the house, the first thing we think of is its religious significance in the house. Hardly will anyone link it with cooking. That is because Nigerians hardly cook with it. Maybe they don't know it is a healthy oil for cooking or they don't like using it. Truth be told, majority don't know that this oil is very healthy and good for cooking.
But not every olive oil can be use for cooking. There are different types of olive oil and have different health benefits. They are;
a. Extra virgin oil: this is the finest of them all. It is the strongest, fruitiest and the most pleasantly flavoured. It is made by first cold pressing of olive. It retains most of its valued content. It is best for consumption.
b. Virgin oil: this one is from second cold pressing of olive. The flavour is milder.
c. Pure olive oil: this is coming from an oil made using chemical processing. It lacks the flavour and fragrance of the other two.
d. Light oil: this is a combination of olive oil and refine oil. This is not suitable for consumption because of several factors.

When To Use Olive Oil

Oils are either vegetable or animal oil. Vegetable oils are more preferred due to their health benefits when compared to animal oil. The most common vegetable oil in Nigeria is the peanut oil also known as groundnut oil.
It is good for cooking and other things.
All vegetable oils contain different amount of nutrients at various degrees.  Unfortunately, not all nutrients are in one oil. Also, the way groundnut oil response to heat is different from other oils which can alter some of the nutrients.
The break point of oil is the temperature it gets to before losing some of its nutrients. One of the signs it exhibits is a blue smoke from the fire if it is on fire. That does not mean that some nutrients at are not damage at lower temperatures.
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The break point of groundnut oil is higher than that of an olive oil. That makes it very suite for super-high-heat cooking like searing meat and deep frying. At this temperature, olive oil may not stand a chance because it's break point is lower. The break point of groundnut oil is 568°F. The following is the break point for the various grades of olive oil.
Extra virgin oil: 375-405°F (suitable for sauteing)
Virgin oil: 390°F (suitable for medium heat sauteing and pan frying)
Pure olive oil: 410°F (best for roasting, baking and deep frying)
Light oil: 420°F (not suitable for cooking)
So before you use olive oil from cooking, consider the temperature it will get to.
Buy now from Jumia: Olive oil
Buy now from Konga: Olive oil
The health benefits of cooking with olive oil
Olive oil

Fortunately, most of our cooking and frying do not require so much heat making olive oil good. Aside cooking, olive oil can also be use on salad dressing or mix with other oils for cooking.
So the next time you visit the market, why not get a bottle of olive oil and start using. There are countless claims on its Beth benefits which I don't want to talk about here because many of the research done so far are from business research institute.
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