Garlic and Herb Olive Oil Dip with Carapelli Olive Oil

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Carapelli Olive Oil for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I go through so much olive oil in my cooking. I use it for almost all my cooking. We also use it in salad dressings and for dipping bread into. One of my favorite appetizers is crusty bread and a good olive oil mixed with herbs and garlic. In addition to lots of garlic and herbs, I also sometimes add a good balsamic vinegar.

My family and I recently had the opportunity to do a olive oil tasting with Carapelli olive oil. I had done wine tastings, heard of balsamic vinegar tastings, but had never heard of an olive oil tasting. I was intrigued and couldn’t wait to try it. Carapelli sent us three of their finest olive oils.

Premium 100% Italian – made solely from the first cold pressing of the finest 100% Italian olives with an intense, robust flavor and aroma

Il Numerato – a supremely smooth and low acidity oil that is a result of a delicate cold pressing of olives

Organic – Obtained only from organically grown olives and produced according to organic farming standards; certified USDA organic

To taste these olive oils, we were instructed to pour about a tablespoon of oil into a small blue glass. Then hold the blue glass in the palm of our hands to warm it. The glass is blue to conceal the color of the olive oil so it doesn’t affect how you judge the olive oil. (I guess I’m not the only one who associates a  darker olive oil with a  richer flavor.)

Next we were told to use the 4 S’s to judge the olive oil – Swirl, Sniff, Slurp and Swallow.

First you swirl the olive oil in your glass, after it has warmed in the palm of your hand. Then you take a good sniff. You inhale deeply to get the full aroma of the oil. Next you slurp, take a sip of oil with a bit of air. DOing this helps the oil spread through your mouth and over your tongue. Next you swallow. The oil should not leave any aftertaste, but note if the oil leaves a peppery or stinging sensation on your throat.

We first sampled Carapelli’s Organic olive oil. It was very tasty and had a bit of a peppery feel to me. It was by far the most tasy and complex of the three oils.

Next we sampled the Premium 100% Italian. It wasn’t quite as strong or earthy as the organic oil to me. It was a little lighter, but still very good.

The third one we tasted was the Il Numerato. It was light smooth and so good. I liked it the best. It would be perfect in salads.

After we had completed our tasting, it was time to make some flavored dipping oil. We added herbs and garlic to the organic olive oil and got some crusty bread and dug in. It was amazing!

Get your own $1.00 OFF coupon at www.CarapelliUSA.com and try Carapelli olive oil for yourself. I’m sure you will love it as much as we did!