Olive Soap Cooking Nightmare

Imagine spending all day cooking a wonderful Italian dinner for the family, only to discover that the Olive Oil you’re using is actually Olive soap. This actually happened to a family - and Mom didn’t take it well. 

First off, credit to the family for at least trying it. I was going to say “and taking it easy on Mom” - but she did post it on TikTok…so that ship sailed. 

When I was dating my wife Kathi I remember getting a couple of recipe books. Now of course we wanted to cook together right? Spend some quality time and discover what dishes we really loved. 

I remember trying to make a beef wellington (it was okay, too much work - just give me a steak), shepherds pie (love it), and then the fateful night we circled “egg stuffed fish rolls” (I think that’s the proper name…to be honest we tried to block it out). 

We had our wine out and spent the evening following the recipe. Gently cutting and shaping this beautiful dish with scrambled eggs inside the fish, I seem to remember a wonderful looking sauce to pour over the top. 

Sliding it into the oven with a sense of accomplishment - sipping our wine and waiting to bask in the glow of our culinary accomplishment. Then we tasted it.

It was the worst thing I’ve eaten. EVER. Liver and onions are like a wonderful ribeye next to this. But here’s the thing: Neither one of us wanted to admit it was bad. Why? Because when you’re young and in love you’ll do anything - and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings (or admit defeat to some stupid fish with eggs inside it). Eventually we looked at each other and said “this is awful!” and proceeded to put it down the garbage disposal - plus X out the recipe in the cookbook. 

So yeah, the olive soap instead of olive oil was a nightmare meal for mom. But the kids did the right thing by at least trying it. Then try some egg stuffed fish rolls. Trust me. Or get Eric Adjepong to dress it up on the Food Network.