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Good olive oil is one of the most useful things in a home kitchen, and one of the most misunderstood. Here is how to buy it, keep it fresh, and cook with it confidently.

Why extra virgin is the bottle you actually want

Walk into any supermarket and you will find a shelf of oils described as light, mild, classic, extra virgin or pomace. It is worth knowing what those labels mean, because the difference in the pan is enormous. Extra virgin olive oil is pressed from olives mechanically, without heat or chemical solvents, and must meet a strict acidity limit — usually below 0.8%. That means it keeps the fruit's flavour and most of its polyphenols, the compounds behind the peppery tickle at the back of your throat.

Ordinary "olive oil" or "light" olive oil is refined and then blended with a little virgin oil. It is perfectly fine for cooking, but it tastes of very little. For most home kitchens, one good extra virgin does almost everything.

How to choose a bottle

Freshness beats brand names every time. Olive oil is a fruit juice; it does not improve with age. A few things to check:

• Look for a harvest date, not just a best-before date. Anything from the last 12 to 18 months is in good shape.
• Choose dark glass or a tin, since light degrades the oil.
• A named region or estate — Kalamata, Crete, Puglia, Jaén — is usually a good sign, though a well-priced supermarket own-label can be excellent if the date is recent.
• Ignore words like "premium", "gourmet" and "100% pure". They mean very little.

The best test is your palate. Pour a teaspoon into a small glass: good oil smells green and grassy, sometimes of artichoke or cut tomato leaves. If it tastes flat, greasy or faintly of candle wax, it is old or has been badly stored.

Storing it so it stays good to the last drop

• Keep it in a cool, dark cupboard, away from the oven, the hob and the windowsill.
• Always replace the cap. Oxygen is the enemy.
• Buy a large tin for refilling and decant a week's worth into a small dark bottle. Every time you open a big container, you let in air.
• Oil going cloudy or solid in a cold kitchen is normal and harmless. It will clear at room temperature.

Most importantly, use it up. A half-empty bottle bought a year ago is no longer doing what you paid for. Buy smaller bottles more often.

Cooking with it: heat, and how much to use

The old advice that you cannot fry with extra virgin is outdated. Its smoke point sits around 190–210°C, which covers sautéing, roasting, shallow frying and most pan work. It is more stable than many people assume, because the polyphenols help protect it.

What matters is how you heat it. Warm the pan first, add the oil, then give it a few seconds — you want it to shimmer and loosen, not to smoke. If it does start smoking, tip it out, wipe the pan and begin again; that batch will taste bitter.

• Sautéing: a tablespoon for a large pan of onions is plenty.
• Roasting: toss vegetables in a couple of tablespoons at 200°C (180°C fan) rather than pouring it over. They will colour instead of steaming.
• Shallow frying: about 2cm of oil for courgette or aubergine slices, hot enough that a breadcrumb sizzles on contact.
• Baking: swap butter for roughly three-quarters of the volume in olive oil. It works beautifully in lemon or orange cakes.

If you deep fry often, keep a cheaper bottle for that job, and never reuse oil more than two or three times.

Raw oil is a different ingredient

A finishing oil is a seasoning, not a cooking medium. Drizzle it over sliced tomatoes with salt, over warm bread, over grilled fish or a bowl of beans, and you will taste the difference at once.

For dressings, a simple ratio works: three parts oil to one part lemon juice or vinegar, a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper. Whisk it in the bottom of the bowl before the salad goes in. Greek cooks often add a little dried oregano and a crushed clove of garlic, left whole so it flavours the oil without taking over.

Habits that make a real difference

• Keep two bottles: a workhorse for the pan and a special one for finishing.
• Buy in autumn, when the new season's oil arrives and the freshest stock reaches the shelves.
• Do not save the good bottle for guests. It is at its best now, and a splash of it will lift an ordinary Tuesday supper.
• Taste as you cook. A spoonful before you start tells you how much you need.

Cook with it generously, store it sensibly, and it will repay you in every meal — from a plate of tomatoes to a slow-roasted shoulder of lamb.