[zdean]

Beware of 'local' oils, too. A few years back, I ran a food truck that served Belgian style fries. I tested a lot of oils and decided on olive oil, but everything I could buy at the store or farmers' markets were prohibitively expensive. After some research, I found a regional seller (I'm in Texas) that imports olive oil from throughout Europe and Africa. We ultimately settled on an African import that to me had the best flavor of the bunch.

The interesting things I took away from my meeting with this man were:

1. A lot (if not most) olive oils sold in markets are blends of oil that include cheap oils such as canola.

2. Many local producers throughout the country were unable to meet demand...so they would buy from him and then add to their "locally produced" olive oil which they would in turn sell at a huge premium on site, at farmers markets, and at grocery stores.

I don't have the business any longer, so unfortunately I don't have access to my supplier anymore. For now, I get all of my olive oil via Whole Foods...their store brand is the best priced and I assume that they have some relationships with their producers which minimizes the chance of being hoodwinked.