For our latest episode of Fabric Fanatic, we visited Charles Carey, founder of The Oil Merchant, at his headquarters on Goldhawk Mews. In 1984, after giving up sheep farming in Cornwall, Charles drove to Tuscany to buy a consignment of olive oil. He became one of the first merchants to bring estate-bottled extra virgin olive oil to Britain. A loyal Original Fibres customer with a distinctive personal style, Charles joined us to talk about olive oil, the people behind it and a life shaped by good taste.
Today, good olive oil is a kitchen staple, but in 1984, setting yourself up as a specialist olive oil merchant was far from an obvious career choice. What sparked the idea—and did it feel like a leap into the unknown at the time?
Your introduction above mentioned that I was a sheep farmer. True, and I loved that time of my life, but what I wasn’t, was a good businessman, and you needed to be even then, not just a romantic living a dream. Changing family circumstances were the catalyst for selling the farm, so there I was wondering what to do next. Into the hat went slips of paper with what I was good at, what I was interested in, and what, most importantly, I would have fun doing. Travel, food, agriculture, making a bit of money all came out. A wine merchant? No, too many of them, so why not olive oil? My then girlfriend, now wife and mother to our two girls, used to bring me down bottles of oil to the farm from the shop she was managing, and I became interested in them, as well as her. Why did this one taste different to that one? Oh! There are different varieties of olives, different harvesting methods, different soil types. Of course it was a leap into the unknown, but there are often turning points in one’s life, and it’s better to make a wrong decision and learn from it than tread a boring path.
You’ve worked with some of your producers for decades. Is there one person or place you particularly look forward to returning to?
I am often asked what my favourite oil is, and I won’t answer that directly. The answer depends on what I am cooking. Likewise, I won’t answer this directly. I have been very lucky with my relationships with our suppliers, launching the first Lemon Oil in this country with Marina Colonna (see Simon Hopkinson’s Roast Chicken and Other Stories, thank you Simon), being taken to Morgenster’s owner’s private game reserve in South Africa, riding with the Marques de Valdueza’s cattle in the Transhumance in Spain, signing the visitors’ book at the Frescobaldi’s Castello Nipozzano in Tuscany just below our future King’s signature. All our suppliers have been very hospitable and welcoming and have certainly indicated that a lunch or dinner and a bed for the night would be available if we were in the area in the future.
When you taste an olive oil for the first time, what are you looking for? For someone buying a good bottle at home, what should they look for, and what’s your favourite way to use it?
If we are tasting an oil to possibly add it to our range, we pour some into a coloured glass receptacle, like a wine glass without a stem. We should not be influenced by the colour of the oil. We warm the bowl in our hands and give it a good sniff. We put some words to that aroma and then take a slurp, suck some air into the mouth to spread the oil around. More notes on the taste. Swallow. Is it spicy, peppery, or flat and thin? Overall, to answer the question: Balance and character. Balance between the strength and complexity of the aromas, flavours and finish. It might be light and delicate, or strong and vibrant. It should never be boring. Issy, our daughter, has taken over The Oil Merchant and her retail website, Grove & Muse has lots of tasting notes. I use a good quality everyday oil from Greece or Spain for cooking, and an estate bottled oil to finish cooked dishes and for dressing salads.
Where did your interest in food and wine begin? Was there someone who helped shape your taste?
I was born in Sri Lanka, when it was still Ceylon. My mother had gone out there in 1940 to marry a third-generation tea-planter, and growing up in England she had never learnt to cook, and on the tea estate she was not expected to. So, on returning to England, she learnt from scratch, and was brilliant at it! Then at university, cooking became a bit of a competition with my two housemates. They were both good cooks, but I had one small advantage; my father used to send me up a couple of cases of wine from Berry Bros. I learnt from them, and we all enjoyed the wine. I still have the details of what they were, and they were much better than what I usually drink now!
How would you describe your approach to getting dressed? Are there particular clothes you’ve returned to for years?
My father was a dresser of his time, not often to be seen without a tie, and, apparently, in his dinner jacket at his dining table in Ceylon even if he was on his own. I think my dress sense was a bit of a reaction to that. I might have worn a suit from time to time, but it would be a Daks chalk stripe from Simpsons of Piccadilly with a bright silk pocket handkerchief. And of course, my clothes shopping started in the late sixties, so Debora and Claire in Beauchamp Place, the Chelsea Anique Market (for flared jeans) and Harrod’s Way In were places to visit. That’s when I was living in the country. Now, living in London, it’s all more rustic; Old Town, La Laboureur, Niwaki jeans and of course lots of Original Fibres. And rarely a tie.
Quick Fire Five
Favourite restaurant:
I’m just back from three nights in Athens. Brilliant food in Pharaoh, Manari and Akra (and wine at Heteroclito).
Favourite holiday destination:
Greece because it’s the most recent; Sri Lanka with Sika and the girls to visit the tea estate where I was born, but it might all change if a planned trip to Egypt lives up to expectations.
Favourite musician:
Bob Dylan or David Bowie
Prize possession:
Family are obviously not possessions; are dogs? I think not. We have a house overflowing with possessions I am fond of, but if I really have to choose one - a kitchen knife, very artisanal, easy to keep very sharp, made and bought in Norfolk.
Biggest indulgence:
Handmade shoes from Roberto Ugolini in Florence.
