THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 16, 1995 TAG: 9504130052
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BROWN H. CARPENTER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 175 lines
THEY'RE SQUEEZED from corn kernels, soybeans, peanuts, sunflower seeds, olives, walnuts and even the seeds of the rape plant.
Vegetable oils, running the spectrum from lightly golden to pale green, stand at attention on supermarket shelves. Often, they're snatched by busy shoppers who may give little thought to the subtle differences among oils and their uses in the kitchen.
Some oils are predominant in ethnic cuisines. Some have higher ``smoke points,'' allowing hotter temperatures in the frying pan. Some impart flavors to foods, while others let a food's flavor shine through. And, despite their fat content, some oils even are associated with good health.
Most oils in American pantries - corn, canola, sunflower, safflower and plain old vegetable - are not particularly flavorful.
``They are designed that way, so foods will impart their own flavor,'' says Robert Reeves, president of the Institute of Shortening and Edible Oils, a trade group based in Washington, D.C.
Sesame, peanut, olive and other more tasty oils enhance the foods cooked with them, he says.
Olive oil has become increasingly popular in recent years, partly because of its association with the hearty people of the Mediterranean, Reeves says.
``Corn oil has heavy Hispanic usage,'' says Kay Carpenter, manager of corporate communications for Hunt-Wesson in Fullerton, Calif., manufacturer of Wesson oil products. ``It seems to perform well for frying certain things.''
Peanut oil often is associated with Oriental stir-frying, and likewise imparts its own nutty flavor.
Peanut and corn oils have high smoke points - 440 to 450 degrees, which makes them excellent for frying. Olive oil, on the other hand, smokes at 375 degrees and is more suited to light sauteeing.
A few oils are used more as seasonings. Walnut oil can be lightly sprinkled on a salad, for example. Sesame-seed oil can pep up a stir-fry.
America has caught on to stir-frying. And so have the big producers of cooking oils.
Wesson recently introduced Stir-Fry Oil, which combines canola, peanut and sesame oils with garlic and ginger.
``It's our newest product,'' Carpenter says. ``It's unique in that it's seasoned.''
Take a tour of Hampton Roads' ethnic groceries and you'll find even more diversity: almond oil at Azar's on Prescott Road in Virginia Beach, for example; rice-bran oil at Hilltop's Bella Monte Italian deli; and mustard oil at the Swaagat Indian grocery on Aragona Boulevard. MOSTLY FAT
In America, we consume more than 6 billion pounds of oils annually, according to the shortening and oils institute. Most of it is some form of vegetable fat, as opposed to animal fats more prominent in kitchens of yesteryear.
Soybean is the most commonly used oil in the U.S. - about three quarters of the market, Reeves says - though you may never see it in containers. It is the main ingredient in the generic ``vegetable oil.''
Corn and cottonseeds follow in popularity, Reeves says. Cottonseed oil is used abundantly in the snack industry because it imparts a nutty taste.
But olive oil has become increasingly popular, Reeves says. Even mega-oil manufacturer Wesson got into the act, introducing an olive oil about a year ago.
Olive oils vary dramatically in price and quality. The cold-pressed, ``extra virgin'' products are considered the best, primarily because of their low percentage of acid, according to Sharon Tyler Herbst, author of the ``Food Lover's Companion.''
Olive oils come from Mediterranean countries and from California. Azar's in Virginia Beach even stocks a Lebanese olive oil, and La Tienda, at 190 Boggs Ave. in Virginia Beach, sells a Spanish oil.
Bella Monte carries an array of olive oils, mostly from Italy. Many contain herbs, and some are blends of oils. ``Canolive,'' for example, combines canola and olive oils - the two most closely linked to good health because they are lower in saturated fat than other oils.
A tablespoon of corn oil, for example, contains 15 saturated-fat calories. Peanut oil has 21 calories from saturated fat; chicken fat has 34 calories from saturated fat. Canola oil has about 9 grams saturated fat per tablespoon.
With 120 calories in a tablespoon, vegetable oils are packed with more calories than beef tallow, chicken fat and lard. But the latter are higher in saturated fat.
Saturated fat has been linked to high cholesterol and related health problems, such as clogged arteries and strokes. Recent research also has pointed to saturated fat intake as a suspect in some cancers.
Polyunsaturated fat, the kind found in most vegetable oils, and monounsaturated fats, an ingredient in olive and canola oil, seem to lower blood cholesterol, writes New York Times health writer Jane Brody in her best-selling ``Nutrition Book'' (Bantam, 1987). OUR CHANGING HABITS
Over the past 20 years, Americans have learned to rely more on vegetable oils when frying or sauteing. Our consumption rose from 12.5 pounds per person in 1965 to 25.6 pounds in 1992, according to the shortening and oils institute.
Meanwhile, our use of butterfat dropped from 5.2 pounds per person in 1965 to 3.4 pounds in 1992. Lard consumption fell from 6.3 pounds to 1.7 pounds.
So it's not surprising, perhaps, that the industry keeps bringing out oils with less saturated fat.
Canola oil came on the market in the late 1980s and commands ``a fairly large segment of the industry,'' Reeves says. It displaced previous health-oriented oil leaders, like sunflower (with 13 grams fat per tablespoon) and safflower (11 grams).
On its toll-free consumer telephone line, Procter & Gamble, manufacturer of Crisco and Puritan oils, says ``canola'' is simply a play on ``Canadian oil.'' The product is pressed from rapeseed, much of which is harvested north of the border.
The more healthful oils are even seeping into ethnic cuisine in the United States. Bea McKenzie, who is Hispanic and grew up in Texas, uses canola oil instead of the more traditional lard to fix the burritos and tacos she serves at La Playa Mexican Deli on Diamond Springs Road in Virginia Beach.
``Nutritionally, it's the best to use,'' McKenzie says. ``In Mexico, they use lard. It is very flavorful. But nowadays it is not good for you.''
The menu at Mamasita's Mexican restaurant, on Virginia Beach Boulevard in Virginia Beach, emphasizes that the kitchen uses only vegetable oil.
Theresa Kao, co-owner of the Mandarin Chinese restaurant on Virginia Beach Boulevard in Virginia Beach, says her stir-fry chefs have abandoned peanut oil in favor of vegetable oil.
``A lot of people say they don't want peanut oil,'' despite its distinct flavor, Kao says.
The peanut industry, too, is working on a peanut oil that will increase its monounsaturated content from 50 percent to 80 percent, making it a rival for olive oil.
Health-conscious cooks should scrutinize the P/S ratio of oils - the desirable polyunsaturated fats vs. the less desirable saturated fats, write Dr. Ron Goor and Nancy Goor in their book ``Eater's Choice: A Food Lover's Guide to Lower Cholesterol.''.
``The higher the polyunsaturated- to saturated-fat ratio, the less heart-risky is the food,'' they write. ``In general, a P/S ratio greater than or equal to 1:1 is considered good, and a ratio less than 1:1 is bad,'' they write.
Cottonseed oil has a 4.7:1 ratio; walnut, 7.2:1, and sunflower, 6.3:1. The only animal fat that comes close is turkey at 0.79:1.
A warning: Some vegetable oils, such as coconut and palm, are laden with saturated fat. They are found mostly in processed foods.
Frances Casper, a nutritionist with Consultants in Nutritional Services in Norfolk, says it's wise to watch your consumption of oil, no matter the kind.
``People think if they stay away from animal fat, they can use as much (vegetable fat) as they want,'' she says.
``That's not the whole story. That fat intake needs to be limited. Depending on total calories taken in, no more than 30 percent should come from fat of any kinds.'' ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/Staff color photos
PEANUT
A Chinese staple
SUNFLOWER
Low in saturated fat
CORN
Ideal for frying
SESAME
A flavor enhancer
OLIVE
May cut cholesterol
WALNUT
Good for sauteeing
COCONUT
Beware of high fat
by CNB