Extra Virgin Olive oil is the one you definitely should NOT use as it does have a low smoke point. Pure olive oil has a higher smoke point and can be used, although other oils may be better.
The smoke point of Extra virgin olive oil (374–405) is too close to the temp you need to fry (350-375) and EVO has a very distinct taste which is not welcomed in most fried foods. Find some recipes or chefs that recommend frying with it - you wont.
The majority of chefs from countries bordering the Mediterranean would laugh at your claim that extra virgin olive oil is not suitable for frying. Obviously you shouldn't go using your fancy $100 bottle for deep frying, but mostly because it would be a waste of money, and because frying dulls the flavor. You want to save the really flavorful and expensive oils for salads and as a finishing touch.
I've been pan frying eggs, onions, pork chops, chicken, potatoes, fish, basically anything interchangeably in extra virgin olive oil and butter/ghee for decades. There is certainly a flavor difference, but that's because the olive oil is much milder in flavor than butter, and the process of frying dulls the flavor of the olive oil, as mentioned.
I - along with millions of people in countries bordering the Mediterranean - enjoy the flavor of food cooked in olive oil.
Adam Ragusea did a great video on the topic, with cited sources. I highly recommend watching it:
The bottom line is that extra virgin olive oil is more heat stable than other cooking oils with higher smoke points. Just don't use it to sear steaks or something.
So much of the conventional wisdom around cooking is not based on scientific fact, but rather on unsubstantiated observations and gut feelings. The viability of extra virgin olive oil for cooking is one of those pieces of faulty conventional wisdom, the need to sear steaks to "seal in the juices" used to be another big one, until we finally got the record set straight.
Welp, I took your recommendation and owe you an apology. Adam’s video was eye opening. I was clearly wrong on this and I’m glad you took the time to share these sources. Thank you.
It's an extremely interesting subject of research, which may hold a large part of the explanation for the apparent health benefits of the Mediterranean diet :-)
I believe the cheaper blended olive oils cause a lot of problems. I now use only pure, high quality olive oil (from Kalamata, Greece, where I visited a couple of years back and saw them make (and drink) the stuff) and have experienced far less oil burning issues in all my pans.
I fry most things in either extra virgin olive oil or butter. The olive oil stands up to the heat better than butter (the milk solids will burn).
https://youtu.be/l_aFHrzSBrM