When we began our project one thing that we struggled with was a substitution for olive oil. Olive oil is not commercially available in the UK… yet. We understand that may be set to change – At Huggit’s Farm,overlooking Romney Marsh in Kent, they have ambitions to produce British Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Strangely, we have also struggled finding pure British vegetable or sunflower oil so that leaves us with one alternative… rapeseed oil.
Before we started our project we had never used rapeseed oil in our cooking so were keen to see how it holds up in our cooking compared to our regular olive oil. Our first issue was where to buy it. In January we had difficultly finding any supermarket which actually stocked the stuff but something remarkable has happened since that time. Now all the major supermarkets now stock a healthy supply of rapeseed oil and our local Waitrose stocks no less than 5 different types including an own brand bottle.
Rapeseed oil does not come cheap though, it comes in at a similar price point as a premium extra virgin olive oil, so you certainly cannot get too liberal with the stuff but with half the amount of saturated fat it is a healthier option. It also has higher levels Omega 3, 6 and 9… whatever that means.
Rapeseed oil is billed in the culinary press as the next big thing and sales are up by 11.5 per cent on last year, but I suspect most of that is down to our personal expenditure.
If you want to find out more about rapeseed oil the good people of Farrington’s Mellow Yellow cold pressed rapeseed oil are coming to our British Family Fayre event (This also makes them our favorite rapeseed oil producers!).
i’m sure when i bought it in sainsburys it was nearly the same price as veg oil. however that may be because its grown about half a mile from here.
Yes i have been buying British rapeseed oil and actually, although as you say more expensive, it is somehow a cleaner taste and i don’t feel as bad knowing it is a) British b) has less saturated fats. The colour is also great and i add some to sponge cakes which makes them much more yellow looking.
We’ve been using Farringtons for years since we tasted it a a Waitrose food fair at Leckford. It makes great salad dressing and is great for frying and roasting.
Thanks for your fantastic support British Family – I have been working at Farrington’s for a few months and its great to see the growth of cold pressed rapeseed oil as more people learn about it. I will be at the British Family Fayre and I’m really looking forward to it. We will be there with samples for people to taste on the day and try for themselves! Kelly
Sainsburys round these parts has sold it for a fair few years now. I use it for all our basic cooking. Not for mayonnaise though as its too strong a taste, then it’s just regular (non British) olive oil. It is great to have a British alternative though 🙂
By the way. Did you see Top Gear on Sunday championing British manufacturing?!
see our review here of a great rape seed oil producer who also do a smoked oil which is fabulous they are based in Sussex and sell via farm shops and farmers markets http://wp.me/p2rWWt-Z6
The cheaper generic “vegetable oil” is generally rapeseed oil.
Yes, we noticed that but we have struggled to find this made in the UK only. It is generally an EU blend.