Really great olive oil is so important to my cooking that I wrote a whole book about it (Flavored Oils, 50 Recipes for Cooking with Infused Oils).
For me, the three fundamentals of great cooking: spectacular ingredients, correct technique, and dramatic presentation. Take the incredibly simple dish, pasta with garlic and olive oil. Three ingredients. The olive oil is a flavor equal to the garlic and the pasta. Add zucchini cut into long, thin strands on a mandoline and suddenly you have Spaghettini Squared.
To show just what goes into the making of great olive oil, I take you to Silver Ridge olive grove to meet Bob Singletary who's developed a world-shaking (well, tree shaking at least) way to harvest olives. Later, we tour the production plant with Michael Laukert and watch olive oil pour directly from the press.
Just-made mozzarella drizzled with your best olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper is as good as food can ever be. Tune into the show to see how to make mozzarella yourself, including bite-sized bocconcini stuffed with basil and cherry tomatoes.
