Cork Turns Olive Oil into a Precious Commodity

Of all the goods exported from Italy, olive oil always gets the short end of the stick. People pay big money to go to wine bars and sample expensive Italian wines. Likewise, small plates with Italian cheeses can cost a pretty penny at certain restaurants around town. So naturally when there is free cheese and wine to be sampled, people flock. But olive oil—the golden liquid that is good for your heart and tastes great on everything from fish to pasta—gets no love. It is served with bread as a complimentary appetizer in restaurants and comes in last on ingredient lists, if they even bother to mention it at all.

But on Saturday, olive oil is getting some much-deserved recognition. Cork is having a free olive oil tasting at both locations on Saturday, March 14, from 2 to 5 pm. And really, it's not about the free olive oil. Most Italian restaurants put it on their table and let people go to town for no extra charge. It's more about olive oil's reputation. Having a highly publicized, free olive oil tasting that generates a lot of buzz around town implies that people usually pay big money for the stuff – that it is a special, exclusive treat rather than the Italian equivalent of ketchup packets. So skip the wine tasting this week and go boost olive oil's ego for a change.

Cork has outposts at 2901 NE Alberta St., 281.2675 and 1715 NW Lovejoy St., 501.5028.