No. 3590 — Provençal Olive Oil
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 3590 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
The author considers pale 'huile vierge' Provençal oil the finest oil for fasting-season dishes. She describes it as pressed from olives that are not overripe, grown on islands of the Greek archipelago and coasts of the Adriatic and Mediterranean seas, in Greece, Dalmatia and southern France.
Oil from very ripe olives is described as inferior and yellower, and greenish oil as worse still. These are period judgements about oil quality.
The author uses Provençal oil for beefsteak, salads, mustard sauces, serving with herring and frying fish. The price is given as about 60 kopecks per pound.
A later Russian editorial note identifies Provençal oil as olive oil.