I used to buy good virgin Spanish olive oil in tin - I had a Spanish friend that insisted that Spanish oil is better than Italian and that the Italians just have better marketing.<p>But then one day I realized that I live north of the alps and that I should therefore use virgin rapsöl instead. "Virgin Rape" in English. They re-marketed it as canola in America for obvious reasons but their version also has a couple of mutations that make the flavor milder. Virgin rape is different than processed rapeseed cooking oil - processed has no flavor while virgin tastes nutty.<p>Farmers have been growing it north of the Alps for thousands of years all the way up into Scandinavia. The fields of yellow flowers are everywhere.<p>One nearby farm that I buy it from, it tastes like hazelnut. At another farm it tastes like sunflower seed. It's softer than olive oil and doesn't have that bite at the back of your throat.<p>It makes beautiful mayonnaise - a nice rich yellow color and faint nuttiness - you can't use olive oil for mayonnaise because of the sharpness in olive oil.
Taste aside, rapeseed oil is rich in erucic acid unless it is made out of canola. Canola is a special low-erucic variety of rapeseed that is safe for consumption in large quantities.
The tin part is interesting to me - I don’t know of any coops in Spain that still sell it in tin. It must be one of those things that people abroad deem authentic but which aren’t.
I learned this recently while doing an olive oil tasting in Greece: the bite in the back of your throat is caused by polyphenols - antioxidants. The bite is indicative that the olive oil is providing something healthy
I'm Spanish, born in Jaén (the most Olive Oil producing province in Spain).<p>There's multiple kinds of olives, each producing different kinds of oil. The processing used also affects the end result (extra virgin olive oil comes from the first press, less quality oils from successive processing).<p>* Picual is the most popular one. It has a strong taste, that "bite" that you mention, and a long shelf life. This means that it is the most exported one. That is probably why you (and others) have associated olive oil with that strong profile. It is however not the only kind out there!<p>* Cornicabra is the second most popular one. It is milder than Picual in taste, but still strong and durable. You might find it in some specialist shops.<p>* Arbequina has less of that "bite" that you mention at the end. Unfortunately it has a shorter shelf life as well, which means that it also tends to be exported less.<p>Because of this is unlikely that you will find it outside of Spain. At the same time it would be the best kind for making mayonnaise, especially if you don't like the bite at the back of the throat (that some people actually enjoy).<p>And these are just the 3 more popular varieties. There's many more local, smaller ones.
I use olive oil for mayonaise all the time and I don’t mind the sharpness/bitterness that comes from emulsification, it’s just another style.
There is no better olive oil than local greek one in my experience although what you describe sounds good too. Of course taste is highly subjective, but that simply works the best for me (and I am a visitor to all those countries, no strong emotional attachment to one from my country since we don't grow olives at all, its often shown by folks from southern Europe as you experienced too).<p>Also rapeseed oil doesn't have all the benefits extra virgin olive oil has but its a healthy choice too. It seems more temperature stable so doesn't burn as easily as EVOO so maybe better for various cooking.
Just fyi, virgin Rapeseed oil in English *<p>You don't ever want to utter or write the words "virgin rape"