Oil and Vinegar Pairings

10 fun, tasty ways to blend and play

The pairing of oil and vinegar. It's been a staple for centuries. For those of us alive today, the most common pairing is for salad dressing. Beyond that we pair the two for bread dipping.

Up until a few years ago I always looked for the best extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)to pair with the best balsamic vinegar. It always tasted good, but it was a fairly one-dimensional flavor any way you did it.

Then in 2011, I was on a trip through Napa Valley and got a taste of infused oils and vinegars. That opened a whole new world of flavor for me. All of a sudden, salads took on a whole new taste and there were new ways to enjoy dipped breads, sliced fruit and even ice cream.

What I was sampling in Napa were things like blood orange infused EVOO, peach infused white balsamic and other fruity infused oils and vinegars. It was like walking into the See's Candies store of oil and vinegar and I loved it. I purchased a few bottles of my favorites and brought them back to Seattle. As time went on, I ran low on the goods and ordered more over the web.

Then a wonderful thing happened. Queen Anne Olive Oil Company opened on top of QA hill and I had a chance to stop in and sample their fare. As noted in a recent article in this magazine, they have more than 25 oils and 25 vinegars to choose from. With bread pieces available, I could individually sample the flavors. And with their small bottle options I could buy lighter servings without going broke. 

But it's pairing I became most interested in, so here's a sampling of ten pairings to consider for a myriad of meals.

• Peach Balsamic & Blood Orange EVOO: This awesome fruit pairing is a staple at home and punches up the flavor of my 5x a week spinach salad intake. See recipe below.
• Honey Ginger White Balsamic & Persian Lime EVOO: A pairing that works great for a salad starter leading to an Asian entrée, or use it as a dip while your guests are awaiting a stir fry.
• Grapefruit White Balsamic & Lemon EVOO: For a weekend breakfast, toss this in a bowl with blueberries and sliced strawberries, then serve it as a side of something simple like pancakes or bacon and eggs. I have been known to simply pour a cup of this delight over pancakes in lieu of using butter and syrup.
• Pumpkin Pie Spiced Balsamic & Roasted Walnut Oil: A great dipping blend for a fall dinner, or even a simple plate lunch of sliced bread, turkey, hard cheese and cranberry sauce.
• Chocolate Balsamic & Blood Orange EVOO: Chocolate lovers will love this for dipping bread into as a dessert rather than high cal candy. But you could also pour it over vanilla ice cream!
• Fig Balsamic & Garlic EVOO: Doing a Mediterranean night? Use this as a starter for dipping, or as a salad dressing in a Greek salad.
• Thai Lemongrass-mint Balsamic & Lemon EVOO: Cook up some whole grain white rice and then blend this in just before serving with a favorite Thai dish.
• Vanilla Balsamic & Maple Balsamic & Toasted Almond Oil: Instead of ice cream for dessert, drizzle this over squares of feta cheese and mop up the rest with a sliced baguette.
• Vanilla Balsamic & Chocolate Balsamic: If you're counting calories there's no reason why you can't blend together two balsamics and still get the same taste pleasure.
• Chocolate Balsamic & Harissa EVOO: Need a little fire? This blend packs some heat and then some. Use it as a palate cleanser in your next multi-course Spanish meal.

In each case, my standard is 1 tablespoon of each oil and vinegar, per person, and then refine your blending from there if you like.

Pairings are endless. Queen Anne Olive Oil Company has more than 50 suggested pairings at the front desk and you can surely come up with a few of your own once you get the hang of it.

Please note: extra virgin olive oil has a low smoke point, which means you can ruin its flavor even at low heat. If it smokes it becomes carcinogenic (cancer causing) and no one wants that. Never use extra virgin olive oil in a heated pan - for that use extra light olive oil which has a much higher smoke point and is  available at better grocery stores.

Start the pairing and have fun!

Tom Mehren/Fall 2013

Spinach Salad with Peach Balsamic & Blood Orange EVOO

• 1 cup of organic baby spinach leaves, whole
• 1 tbs sliced red onion
• 3 tbs sliced almonds
• 3 dried apricots, medium sliced
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbs peach infused balsamic
• 1 tbs blood orange infused  EVOO

Put it all together in a small mixing bowl and toss together well. Serves one.