Oil Talk: Which is Better?

Pasta is never pasta without the oil. You may have the best sort of noodles, or all the herbs and spices but for it to authentically taste good, you cannot do without oil. Oil may seem like the bad guy in most recipes - only a necessary evil to keep food from sticking in a frying pan but for pasta to be truly, essentially pasta, there has to be the right oil. My favorite sort of pasta is pesto and it might help others if we compare the sort of oils that you can use to make it really be worth it. Every oil may have different properties that may contribute differently to the general taste of the pasta.

Olive Oil

The traditional oil used for pesto is olive oil, that glorious oil taken from the olives usually associated with the Greeks and the goddess Athena (incidentally, the one from whom the Ateneo is named after). It’s green color provides for the characteristic color of pesto. This oil is composed of mixed triglyceride esters of oleic acid palmitic acid. It is characteristically rich in monounsaturated fats considered to be good for reducing risk of coronary heart disease. It may be a bit expensive in the Philippines though, since olive oil is imported but the richness of taste, consistency and health benefits might be worth it for you. If you want the traditional Western pesto - with it's texture and taste, olive oil is a must.

Sesame Oil

A possible alternative to olive oil could be sesame oil taken from sesame seeds. This is usually used in Chinese, Korean and other Asian delicacies. It has a high level of polyunsaturated fatty acids and natural antioxidants present in the oil and is generally healthy The color might be a little less green than olive oil, but sesame oil is cheaper than olive oil. It also gives a distinctive Asian version to your pesto pasta, that can be coupled with choosing ingredients that are more Asian as well like peanuts, and more tropical herbs.

So choose carefully which oil you use, and make sure you align your other ingredients with the oil. That may be the key for really good pesto pasta you can enjoy.