Labels do lie - what's real Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
On a recent trip to Italy with the first stop in Puglia looking for different experience my wife and I decided to do a Olive Oil tasting at the Masseria Maccarone oil mill. (say how old this mill is as it's adds credibility). This is where we met Alessandro Colucci, his excitement about Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) soon became our excitement too. Before we began tasting he took us on a tour explaining the processes of tradition as the top quality olives which are harvested durning the season from October through December. Alessandro took time to outline all the steps of the process - graded, centrifugally cleaned, softened, pressed and filtered without the use of any chemicals.
The real surprise was the way actual oil tasting turned out and how much we learned ...Alessandro showed us the approved oil tasting technique: smell the sample deeply several times in between by rubbing with your palm top of the vessel and between sniffs take a small sip by rolling the oil around with our tongue to coat the inside of the mouth.
With the first oil sample which he was not keen on sampling, he asked what did you taste? It was smooth, mild and not very strong, easily blended with no depth but seamed okay to us. Well Alessandro said, you just drank lamp oil, even though the bottle said Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and Organic not necessarily means quality or beneficial to your health
What I said, lamp oil? He replied let's proceed to other bottles two of which was his EVOO. Wow what a difference it was: bitter, spicy with a fresh earthy flavor. Then he went on explaining, that's what real EVOO should test like, labels and packaging to be aware.
The three positive attributes of real EVOO are:
1. Spicy 2. Bitter 3. Fresh-Green-Fruit or Vegetable scent something from the ground where it grows.
Some Defects:
Heating, Mold - Humidity, Winey - Vinegar, Sludge, Metallic, Rancid
Pay Attention to Packaging
Olive oil does go bad, and it is surprisingly susceptible to damage from exposure to light. Therefore, it is best to choose a bottle that protect the oil from light. Opaque glass bottles (such as the ones we use at our house for our premium olive oil) are the best at blocking out damaging light rays.
Know the Harvest Date — Knowing when your olive oil was made is key to ensuring that you get the best quality, so pay attention to the harvest date listed on the bottle. This date is a key indicator of transparency and quality. Typically, olive oil is best used within a year to 18 months of its harvest date. Oil consumed within this period will be brighter, fresher and more enjoyable.
Alessandro went on telling us the only way to really know is by tasting not what only indicated on the label. I really never liked olive oil with depth and stronger taste overall but as my tasting buds flourished within a couple of days started craving REAL EVOO. Now I have a teaspoon of it every morning.
Scientific studies have confirmed that extra-virgin olive oil is one of nature’s most remarkable superfoods. EVOO lowers bad cholesterol and cuts your risk of heart disease and stroke. It may help protect you against cancer, especially breast cancer, prostate, and colon. It can be a godsend for arthritis sufferers because it can reduce inflammation and ease the joint pain without side effects.
EVOO also lowers blood pressure and reduces your risk of diabetes. It may even help reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. If you want to avoid osteoporosis, it’s outstanding because it enables the calcium in your food to be better absorbed into your bones. Extra virgin olive oil is loaded with antioxidants and polyphenols that help regulate your immune system and aid it in protecting your body against disease. It contains zero carbs, which makes it ideal for those on the popular keto, Paleo, Atkins diets and other low-carb lifestyles. So be careful and avoid the companies that are just out to make the big profits and don’t really care how harmful fake olive oil can be to our health
Then we did another Olive Oil tasting in Tuscany with Yuri Gordiani from Reschio and it was very similar experience. We have tasted six bottles and this time we spotted a lamp oil immediately. As tasting progressed, we have learned about different flavors, but all exceptional with bitter and spicy flavors. It was very similar to wines and the flavors in EVOO are best to pair with foods to extract the flavor. We particularly liked it on top of our gelato dessert, wow.
Best olive oils come only from Tuscany, Puglia, Sicily, some California too, but avoid places like Morocco, Southern Spain, North Africa due to agriculture dificencies: the climate is humid during the summer time and harvest season as well which leads to damaging olives, attracts flies insects to further damage all the potential benefits. Further they leave the larva inside and the acidity is very high. In order to produce quality and achieve excellent results, the makers need to have the refrigeration in the olive mills to stock the olives before the transformation and sometimes the refrigeration in the choppers and centrifiges.
Sadly most producers in origins of concern I have listed above, use many dangerous pesticides to reduce the problem of the flies and you can understand the consequences. Challenged with agricultural and climate deficiencies, the process of extracting good solid olive oil doomed and best to be avoided from these countries.
Here are some suggested EVOO you can source in United States and I will add to list as new production comes out:
Sicilia Monti Iblei DOP Primo Extra Virgin Olive
