The intense gold of cold-pressed rapeseed oil (otherwise known as canola oil) reflects the still (in late April) yellowing spring fields of oilseed rape.
Golden rapeseed oil
My earlier post described how some farmers are now producing distinctive cold-pressed rapeseed oil, with clear provenance, from their oilseed crops, but the oil itself deserves more attention.
Cold-pressing rapeseed
Like extra virgin olive oil, cold pressed rapeseed / canola oil is extracted from the oilseed by a mechanical process (there may be some warming, but not above 40°C) which doesn’t alter the oil in any way. Nor does the oil require further refining, allowing the flavour of the rapeseed to survive.
Oil of distinction
The flavour is truly distinctive, a far cry from bland highly refined vegetable oil (much of it also from rapeseed). Rapeseed oil doesn’t have the peppery fruitiness of olive oil, but instead a more subtle nutty flavour. And rapeseed oil is more versatile in the kitchen, with a high smoke point of around 230°C.
All this has won the oil a loyal following, including chefs such as Mark Hix, chef-director of the Caprice restaurant group and author of British Regional Food
I often use rapeseed for roasting, where olive oil might burn and become acrid. It’s also good for frying, even at very high temperatures. Some say it’s good for mayonnaise, but I like some olive fruitiness in my mayonnaise and salad dressings.
The healthy option?
Olive oil has a reputation as the healthy option, but cold pressed rapeseed oil may be even better. It’s lower in saturated fat (6% against olive oil’s 14% and sunflower oil’s 11%) and has high levels of omega 3 and 6 polyunsaturate and omega 9 monounsaturate fatty acids. Impressive health claims are made for these, but the Food Standards Agency urges some caution, suggesting that fatty acids from vegetable sources may not have the same health benefits as those from oily fish.
Essential Reading
8 Comments
I haven’t yet tried rapeseed oil but I used to be horribly allergic to the pollen from the fields. We lived next door to a farm that had rape fields all around so it was pretty rough for a few weeks during the summer. Luckily I grew out of it. I must get some of the oil to try now!
Hmmm, tried this at the Good Food show in London last year and didn’t like it. But I am into walnut oil if that counts!
I’m sad to say that I’ve never seen coldpressed rapeseed oil on sale anywhere – does anyone know where I can get it? I ought to have a go. The other one I should try is hemp oil – anyone tried that?
Richard – most of the producers’ websites – see links at http://www.tracingpaper.org.uk/2007/04/05/the-yellowing-countryside/ – have details of stockists.
Kathryn – Joanna Blythman, writing in today’s Guardian – http://environment.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,2060537,00.html – agrees with you, describing rapeseed oil as “dry, tinny, bitter”. She also discusses a lot of the alleged negative impacts of rapeseed – high use of nitrates, pesticides etc.
According to Wikipedia (not a wholly reliable source, I know) – Canola is a trademarked cultivar of genetically engineered rapeseed variants
Are all these yellow fields growing GM crops?
Peter – Wikipedia is wrong on this one.
All edible rapeseed / canola is the result of intensive but conventional (ie crossing plants etc rather than directly altering the genetic make-up) plant breeding to eliminate the toxic erucic acid from the plant.
Furthermore, rapeseed / canola is one of the crops that has seen most GM research and development of GM varieties, largely because it’s so prone to pests and diseases.
GM varieties are available, but they’re not grown in the UK. In fact, no GM crops are currently being cultivated in the UK and no commercial cultivation is expected till 2009 at the earliest (DEFRA – http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/gm/crops/index.htm). But GM rapeseed may be grown elsewhere and imported into the UK.
Could anyone tell me when rapeseed is harvested. We have just moved to a rural area and are facing a rapeseed field.
Hello Richard. you can get my rapeseed oil in a number of ASDA stores throughout East Anglia also in about 150 East Anglian Delis and Butchers shops/Farm shops. Alternatively you might like to contact me through our website at http://www.laemunns.com and we will post some to you. Our oil is extra virgin cold pressed so doesn’t have any of the transfatty acids present that we are all warned to avoid where possible.
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[...] real benefit to this oil though it its versatility; it has a smoke point of around 230 degrees (see here) compared with just 190 degrees c (375f) for extra virgin olive oil (210c / 410f for the refined), [...]