Why finish a dish with raw olive oil?

In plenty of Italian kitchens the bottle comes to the table with the food. A soup arrives, someone draws a slow circle of oil over it, and the room smells different. That last gesture is not decoration. It is the moment the dish gets its top notes.

What heat does to oil

Fry garlic in good olive oil and the kitchen smells wonderful, but taste that oil afterwards and much of its character has gone into the air. The fresh-cut-grass and green-tomato smells, the tickle at the back of the throat: those are what a good extra virgin oil is for, and they are the first things to go when the pan is hot.

So we often use two oils. A sensible everyday one to cook with, and a better bottle, used raw, at the end. You get the cooking fat you need and the aroma you paid for.

Dishes that love it

• Bean and lentil dishes. Earthy, soft food wakes up under a peppery oil. Tinned or slow-cooked, it makes no difference.
• Soups. Minestrone, ribollita, chickpea soup, tomato and bread soup. A spoonful in each bowl, not in the pot.
• Grilled and roasted vegetables. Courgettes, aubergine, peppers, potatoes. Oil, flaky salt, a few torn herbs.
• Simple pasta. Tomato sauce, aglio e olio, pasta with beans. A small thread just before serving.
• Raw things. Tomatoes in summer, mozzarella, thinly sliced fennel, a slice of toasted bread rubbed with garlic.
• Eggs. Fried, scrambled, or a wedge of frittata.

Which oil

Use an extra virgin oil you would happily dip bread in. If you would not eat it plain, it will not improve your soup. Beyond that, match the oil to the food:

• Peppery, green, bitter-edged oils stand up to beans, greens, bitter leaves and hearty soups.
• Softer, fruitier oils suit fish, mozzarella, delicate vegetables and anything where a strong oil would shout over the food.

You do not need a cellar. One good finishing oil covers most of it. Keep it in a cool cupboard with the cap on, and use it rather than saving it for a better occasion that never quite arrives.

How much and when

Right before serving, off the heat, in a thin stream, so it pools a little in places rather than coating everything evenly. On soup, on each bowl. On a platter, at the table. Start with less than you think, because you can always pass the bottle.

Pair it with salt. Flaky salt plus a raw oil finish is one of the simplest upgrades in cooking, and it is the reason a plate of tomatoes in a Ligurian trattoria tastes so suspiciously better than yours did at home.

When to leave it out

Not every dish wants it.

• Delicate, buttery sauces and risottos finished with butter and cheese already have their richness; more oil can make them greasy.
• Fried food is already glossy with fat.
• Desserts are mostly a no, though olive oil over a scoop of good vanilla gelato with a pinch of salt has its devotees, and they are not wrong.
• Spicy dishes with a lot of chilli: a peppery oil can pile heat on heat. A fruity one is safer.