Types of Cooking Oil: Olive, Coconut, Avocado and Sesame

Nine oils for frying, roasting and dressing: olive oil, the heart of Mediterranean cooking; canola, a variety of rapeseed bred in Canada; sunflower and safflower oils; peanut oil for deep-frying; sesame oil for Asian dishes; coconut oil, solid at room temperature; and avocado and grapeseed oils, both able to take high heat.

Safflower and sunflower both end in -FLOWER and both read backwards, which makes them easy to mix up. Grapeseed and sesame are the two diagonal words.

Cooking Oils Vocabulary: 9 Words to Find

Words run across, up and down, and diagonally; 5 of the 9 read backwards. The longest words are Grapeseed, Safflower and Sunflower, with 9 letters each.

Avocado: Avocado oil, pressed from the fruit's flesh, which can take very high cooking heat.
Canola: A light cooking oil from a variety of rapeseed developed in Canada.
Coconut: Coconut oil or flour, from the dried white flesh of the coconut.
Grapeseed: A light oil pressed from the seeds left over from winemaking.
Olive: Olive oil, pressed from olives, the main cooking fat of the Mediterranean.
Peanut: Peanut oil, a mild oil good for deep-frying at high temperatures.
Safflower: A light oil pressed from the seeds of the safflower, a thistle-like plant with orange flowers.
Sesame: Sesame oil, pressed from toasted or raw sesame seeds, used in Asian cooking.
Sunflower: A light oil pressed from sunflower seeds.

How to Solve the Cooking Oils Word Search

"Safflower" and "sunflower" both end in -FLOWER and read backwards: look at the first letters to tell them apart. "Grapeseed" has the only G and "sesame" the only M. "Avocado" and "olive" both have a V.

Cooking Oil Lesson Ideas

Ask which part of the plant each oil comes from: seed, nut or fruit.
Put a spoon of coconut oil and one of olive oil in the fridge and see which turns solid.
Match each oil to its best use: frying, baking or salad dressing.