5 replies to this topic

[m55m]

I live in China and tea seed oil (camellia oil) is widely available, less expensive and commonly regarded as the best edible oil. I use camellia oil and flaxseed oil. However, it seems that most LongeCity forum members consider EVOO as the best oil.

So my question is:

 

Why do you think olive oil better than camellia oil, since camellia oil has higher MUFA ratio and other poly-phenol, tea glycoside, and tea saponin etc? 

 

From Wikipedia:    https://en.wikipedia...ki/Tea_seed_oil

"With its high smoke point (252 °C, 485 °F), tea seed oil is the main cooking oil in some of the southern provinces of China, such as Hunan—roughly one-seventh of the country's population. Tea seed oil resembles olive oil and grape seed oil in its excellent storage qualities and low content of saturated fat. Monounsaturated oleic acid may comprise up to 88 percent of the fatty acids. It is high in vitamin E and other antioxidants and contains no natural trans fats."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maxwatt]

When in Hunan I was told that camelia (tea) seed must be harvested by hand, which limits availability of the oil for export.  They did extol its virtues, saying it is comparable to olive oil for health benefits.   It imparts a characteristic flavor to the food its cooked with.  I believe one can order it on Amazon in the states if curious to try it.

 

m55m: are you in Changsha?

[m55m]

When in Hunan I was told that camelia (tea) seed must be harvested by hand, which limits availability of the oil for export.  They did extol its virtues, saying it is comparable to olive oil for health benefits.   It imparts a characteristic flavor to the food its cooked with.  I believe one can order it on Amazon in the states if curious to try it.

 

m55m: are you in Changsha?

 

I'm in Shanghai. Maxwatt, you know a lot! 

Acutally I find it hard to get authentic high quality EVOO in China. Availability is also a problem for Chinese to enjoy EVOO.

[maxwatt]

 

When in Hunan I was told that camelia (tea) seed must be harvested by hand, which limits availability of the oil for export.  They did extol its virtues, saying it is comparable to olive oil for health benefits.   It imparts a characteristic flavor to the food its cooked with.  I believe one can order it on Amazon in the states if curious to try it.

 

m55m: are you in Changsha?

 

I'm in Shanghai. Maxwatt, you know a lot! 

Acutally I find it hard to get authentic high quality EVOO in China. Availability is also a problem for Chinese to enjoy EVOO.

 

 

I saw olive oil on the shelves of a supermarket in Hunan, next to the display of camelia seed oil.  I recognized none of the bands, which may be a good sign:  Bertolli, a major Italian brand, has repeatedly been fined by the Italian government for adulteration with cheaper oils, like hazelnut..  Consumer Lab tested olive oils, and only California oil was consistently found to be extra virgin, and from olives, and not rancid from improper storage.  Many people associate the buttery taste of rancid oil with quality. Alas. 

 

I was told one Chinese cooking oil was made by skimming and concentrating the oil that was in the tap water in the Changha municipal water supply.  Mostly used in restaurants.   People complain about Chinese fakes, but they have nothing on Italy in its prime.  40 years ago they discovered that the most popular, best selling parmigian cheese was being made from the dry treated waste from a sewage plant.  It never touched a cow, but at least it was sterile.

 

Wine is a problem in China too.  I was offered a French Grand Cru  that I swear tasted like Little Penguin and a bottle of Little Penguin that tasted likediluted  Bai Jiu with red coloring.  (Little Penguin is an inexpensive Australian brand, simple, drinkable and cheap).  Of course I told my host that his wine was excellent.   
 

[aconita]

It is actually quite simple: China grows quite a lot of camelia but no olives, Europe grows quite a lot of olives but no camelia.

 

Obviously the choice for oil is determinate by local availability, it would make non sense at all for Chinese to use olive oil or for westerners to use camelia oil.

 

Yes, Bertolli is very poor quality even if it is Italian made but most Italian EVOO are excellent as Parmisan cheese is, of course sometimes someone gets caught adulterating those relatively expensive products but it is the exception, not the rule.

 

Outside the producing country things gets a bit tricky, oil, cheese and wine can be of horrible quality, likely fakes since local customers are not used to the real thing therefore unable to perceive the difference whatsoever.

 

Outside China it is the exactly same thing with Chinese restaurants: just cheap garbage for ignorant westerners, the real thing is a world apart.

 

I am Italian and I know about good food, I have been lucky enough to experience real Chinese food and it can match Italian by all means, Chinese and Italian are the two best unmatched cuisines in the world, period.

 

...but don't attempt to eat Italian in China or Chinese in Italy! 

[maxwatt]

Don't eat Italian food in France!  Pizza in Paris is perfectly putrid.  On the other hand, one of the best meals in my life was at a Chinese restaurant in Paris.

All generalities are false, including this one,