A persistent myth says extra virgin olive oil is 'too delicate to cook with' and that you must use refined oils for heat. The science says otherwise: EVOO is one of the more stable cooking fats, and its smoke point is comfortably above normal home-cooking temperatures.
Extra virgin olive oil smokes somewhere around 190–210°C (375–410°F) — above sautéing, roasting and even most shallow frying. More importantly, smoke point is a poor measure of how a fat behaves when heated. Oxidative stability matters more, and here EVOO does well: its high monounsaturated fat and its antioxidant polyphenols make it resist breaking down better than many refined seed oils with higher smoke points.
Use plain 'olive oil' or other refined oils for deep-frying and very high-heat work, where you'd waste the flavour of extra virgin anyway. Use a mid-range extra virgin for everyday sautéing, roasting and baking — it handles the heat fine. And save your best, most aromatic, peppery extra virgin for finishing raw: drizzled over the finished dish, where its flavour and polyphenols survive intact.
Heat mutes aromatics and degrades polyphenols, so the highest-value way to use a fine oil is uncooked: over soups, grilled vegetables, fish, beans, bread, even ice cream and citrus. A robust oil finishing a plain dish does more for flavour than any amount of it cooked into the background.