I’ve been asked the question, “What exactly is a drizzle of olive oil?” Our friends in the culinary world have offered up a variety of responses. I’ve since come across another intriguing measurement for olive oil: a “glug.” The term seems to owe its use to British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who uses it in his recipes.

At 34, Oliver has climbed to the top of the cooking world. He’s a TV star, operates restaurants, has his own magazine, and has penned a number of cookbooks. His recipes contain amusing directions, being at times detailed and other times vague.

“Trim and wash a large leek, remove the outer leaves, then slice it into 0.5cm/¼ inch pieces,” he writes for his roasted chicken breast with pancetta, leeks and thyme.

“Add these to the bowl with the leaves of a few sprigs of fresh thyme, a good glug of olive oil, small knob of butter, a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and a small swig of white wine and toss together.”

More examples:

• His recipe for oven-baked rigatoni with wild boar salami calls for “a good glug of olive oil.”
• The grilled or roasted monkfish with black olive sauce and lemon mash specifies “a couple of glugs of extra virgin olive oil.”
• And the crispy tortillas with guacamole says “3 glugs of extra virgin olive oil.”

So how much is a glug? “A glug is, um, a glug,” replied Oliver’s spokesman Peter Berry. “There’s no real ‘definition,’ as such but everyone knows what a glug is.”

Uh, okay.

We did, however, find a explanation of sorts on the forums section at Oliver’s web site.

“When you pour olive oil from the bottle it will usually come with little interruptions when air goes back into the bottle. The result is a sort of  glug, glug, glug … sound,” wrote a fan identifying herself by the moniker SusanneH. “One of those is as much as you need” for a glug.

SusanneH went on to explain “the exact amount is not so important and may depend a bit on your personal taste. So if you use roughly 1-2 tablespoons you should be fine.”

We tried to define a glug ourselves the other night while making a variation of garlicky spaghetti with Olio Nuovo (we substituted Arbosana for the Olio Nuovo.) The recipe called for about three-eighths of a cup of olive oil, providing us with the opportunity to measure how many glugs went into it. We lost count after about 20 of them.

We turned our attention to twirling and slurping the pasta.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

A friend recently asked: “Claude, you work for an extra virgin olive oil company. What exactly does it mean when a recipe calls for ‘a drizzle of olive oil?’” Being the salesman that I am, I wanted to say it’s about equal to one of our five-gallon containers. But unless you want to take a bath in EVOO (and you might), that’s probably a bit excessive.

So how much olive oil is in a “drizzle?”

I plugged the phrase into Internet search engines. Here’s what I got back: images of glass cruets dubbed olive oil “drizzlers,” recipes using the term, and an amusing newspaper article about a couple who like to bring a “flask” of olive oil to restaurants so they can drizzle it covertly on food they order.

I turned to friends in the food world – namely chefs and cookbook authors – and asked them what a drizzle involved.

“I think of it as a very fine stream applied from a bottle that is passed quickly over the finished dish. If the bottle doesn’t have a pouring spout, covering half of the bottle opening with a thumb will allow the correct amount to flow.” Fran Gage, author of “The New American Olive Oil: Profiles of Artisan Producers and 75 Recipes.” Her recipes have been featured here.

“A drizzle changes depending on what I’m drizzling on. Fish needs just a light finishing. Tomatoes need a good splash. Here’s what to consider: Is the olive oil filling a supporting role, or is it an equal player?” Trey Foshee, chef at Georges at the Cove in La Jolla, Calif. His recipes have been featured here.

“It’s the finishing touch that dresses up a dish at the last minute. It usually consists of a teaspoon or two, and goes together with a sprinkling of some fresh chopped herbs, and possibly a squeeze of lemon or lime juice (or a wedge of one or the other placed on the plate).” Steve Johnson, chef-owner of the Rendezvous in Central Square in Cambridge, Mass. His halibut recipe has been featured here.

OK, so not everyone agrees on an exact definition. What’s yours?

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch