How to cook gourmet oils

More expensive and hard-to-find oils that are also used in cooking or for flavoring include the following:

Pumpkin seed oil – As its name suggests, this oil is pressed from pumpkin seeds. Its distinctive flavor and expense mean that it is typically used sparingly as a condiment.

Mustard seed oil – This oil is popular in Indian cooking and often used as a substitute for ghee, an Indian form of clarified butter.

Poppy seed oil – In France, where it is a staple in cooking, poppy seed oil is referred to as “huile blanche”, or “white oil”.

Wheat germ oil – Made from the heart of the wheat seed, wheat germ oil is rich in vitamin E and low in saturated fat. It has a pleasing, nutty flavor, and is used by itself or mixed with other oils as a condiment.