Oil

Here is a little list of cooking oils and their uses.

Sesame - this one often gets used for stir fry dishes. it has been around at least 2,500 years and was one of the first types of oil. Sesame is a good source of Vitamin E and can help lower blood pressure. It sells for a relatively high price due to the difficulty in extracting the oil from the sesame seeds.

Olive - the extra virgin is best used cold for salads, the regular better for cooking. One of the most well known, also reputed to be good for lowering cholesterol. The extra virgin oil is from it's first cold pressing, the rest from further pressings.This oil has been used for around 5,000 years spreading out from the Mediterranean to Northern Africa.

Almond - not often used in cooking, it's a great oil for mixing with scented essential oils for use in massages, etc. it's also very good for the skin, rehydrating dry skin as it absorbs very well.

Walnut - nice for salad dressings, either alone or mixed with vinegar or lemon, and especially if used with walnuts. Like most other oils it should be stored in a cool, dark area to stop it going rancid. Also used by the Renaissance painters as a base thinner. It's a good source of  Omega 3 fatty acids as well as several Vitamins.


Sunflower - Nice and bland, great for cooking with, doesn't leave much of an after taste and can be used at high heat.

Pumpkin seed- a dark brown oil, also used in salad dressing. It has a smoky flavour which doesn't appeal to everyone. An important export from Austria and Slovenia. I've not tried it but apparently is good drizzled on ice cream, or mixed with honey to make a dressing.

Corn - another bland oil. It can be used in all kinds of cooking although it is now being warned that overuse of any kind of corn isn't good for the body, increasing chances of developing certain diseases as well as depression. This is in part due to excessive amounts of Omega 6 fatty acids.