Walnut Oil - Salad perfection. It follows that having reviewed and in fact learnt a good deal about the quality of Australian Walnuts from Otway Walnuts - refer recent BLOG posting - we should follow with a review of another Otway product. Otway Walnut Oil.

And another revelation ! Walnut Oil has long been accepted as an essential part of many salad dressings, especially those based around apples - read Waldorf Salad. And just like our impression of many supermarket Walnuts, we just assumed the sometimes tannic flavour notes were part of the deal.

Not so. We tried the Otway Walnut Oil along with a French imported Walnut Oil and both were excellent having lovely crisp, clean and nutty flavour notes

For this review and given that our MANY MAKERS page focuses from an Australian perspective, we will concentrate on the Otway Walnut Oil.

Made from cold pressing - in this case a 300 year hydraulic pressing method that does not require additives and importantly, totally preserves the flavour and the health benefits - Omega 3 and 6.

The result is a lovely clean nutty taste. Perfect for salads and especially good when drizzled over a Risotto or Stir Fry.

Our tasting panel Chef added that Walnut Oil is terrific when tossed in Pasta. Makes sense of course. The rich nutty flavour of the Walnut Oil is a perfect mate to the buttery, wheatie texture of pasta, giving a wonderful bright flavour note.

And from our Chef, further advice. Do not use Walnut Oil for frying. The heat will give the Walnut Oil and therefore your food, a slightly bitter taste.

Remember, It is important that when tossing the Pasta in Walnut Oil, you should season the pasta before adding the Walnut Oil.

Taking this one stage further, try adding sharp, salty Pecorino Romano cheese to your black pepper seasoning before adding the walnut oil. Simple Pasta perfection.

For our tasting we mixed a salad dressing with 1/2 cup x Olive Oil ( we used Grampians, Toscana ) 2 x tablespoons Otway Walnut Oil, 3 x tablespoons Cider Vinegar and a dash of Dijon mustard. Salad perfection !

We found the Otway Walnut Oil an excellent product, perfect for your health, salad dressings and to drizzle over your risotto or stir fry.

To order direct from Otway Walnuts On Line : www.otwaywalnuts.com.au