Off the heat, at the plate

Best Finishing Olive Oil

A finishing oil is one you never cook with. It goes on at the plate — over soup, grilled fish, beans, burrata, roasted vegetables, even ice cream — where its aroma and phenolic bite survive intact. Because you use small amounts, this is where spending more makes the most sense: a $38 bottle used a teaspoon at a time costs pennies per plate. Buy 250 or 500 ml, keep it away from the stove, and replace it every few months rather than nursing one bottle through a year.