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Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

theguardian.com

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Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#41

Post by r0s »

hack_edu wrote: post #5
colanderman wrote: post #4

Does anyone have any tips for finding quality olive oil? The only way I've had success is to buy inexpensive single-source stuff, even if it's inexpensive and non-Italian. Best olive oils I've had were single-sourced from Spain; $2 from a discount store. Maybe no-one wants to fake non-Italian oil?

The article implies that you should find something that tastes good for you, not fetishize the origin/process.

The article makes plain that fetishizing origin is the only way to see past the disinformation.

Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#43

Post by thiswave »

rustynails wrote: post #18
jff wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I don't understand why they make such a big deal out of being sourced from Italy. Olives grown elsewhere should make fine oil, and you could probably use the honest advertisement of non-Italian origin as a gauge for the honesty of the company.

The Italians have been caught selling rancid and impure olive oil in Australia about once per year (ie. just about every time it's checked). It applied to cheaper and expensive oils, so cost wasn't a judge. I don't buy Italian olive oils any more because of the wide-spread deception. To be fair to the Italians, they were as dishonest as the Greeks and the Spanish. The list of brands was very long and the levels of ra…

You might be thinking of Cobram Estate[1] Olive Oil? My mate actually works in their factory in Lara, Victoria. Apparently the family who owns it are very generous, and he comes home with a box of olive oil every other month (with one or two bottles then finding their way into my hands).

Cobram Estate, as well as many other Australian olive oil brands are certified by the Australian Olive Association[2]. For some reason they have a separate website[3] for listing certified brands.

[1]http://cobramestate.com.au/ [2]http://www.australianolives.com.au/ [3]http://australianextravirginoliveoil.com/brands/

Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#45

Post by bobf »

pyrocat wrote: post #44

I use lemon pressed olive oil on almost all my cooking now and it's delicious.

Round Pond Estate has some wonderful olive oil with citrus aromatics, including one with Meyer lemon that you would probably love. If you're in the SF area, they also do tours of their winery + olive oil press/facilities.

Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#46

Post by colanderman »

seliopou wrote: post #15
colanderman wrote: post #4

Does anyone have any tips for finding quality olive oil? The only way I've had success is to buy inexpensive single-source stuff, even if it's inexpensive and non-Italian. Best olive oils I've had were single-sourced from Spain; $2 from a discount store. Maybe no-one wants to fake non-Italian oil?

Here's what you do. Make friends with immigrants that still have connections to their olive oil producing motherland. They either get shipments from their family, know somebody else in their community that gets shipments, or know somebody back home that may be willing to ship some. Ask them if you can buy some from them. Or, be nice to them and they may offer you some as a gift. I've done this on many occasions, and…

Yes, I got a bottle of good Greek stuff from an in-law who got it from her dentist who imports it in small batches from Greece. "St. John's Iapetra" or something like that.

Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#47

Post by andrewcooke »

colanderman wrote: post #4

Does anyone have any tips for finding quality olive oil? The only way I've had success is to buy inexpensive single-source stuff, even if it's inexpensive and non-Italian. Best olive oils I've had were single-sourced from Spain; $2 from a discount store. Maybe no-one wants to fake non-Italian oil?

my limited experience fits your theory - we just noticed that one particular make smelt awesome when we opened it. turns out it was locally produced (i was living in the north of chile at the time; i suspect i bought it because it was cheap!). we've now found someone who sells it down here in santiago (not so cheap, but no more expensive than the imported stuff).

Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#48

Post by Florin_Andrei »

omegant wrote: post #29
gpjt wrote: post #10

My parents retired to Italy a number of years ago, to a place with a hundred or so olive trees in the garden, and each November some of us head over to pick the olives (much to the amusement of the locals, who think we're crazy to do agricultural work in our spare time) and take them to a nearby pressing plant (where you can wander around and see the process to make sure your harvest isn't being mixed up with other,…

Once a year I get some 5 liters of cold pressed virgin organic olive oil. I know it´s origin for sure because it comes from a private guy doing his own stuff on a small cold press (he is not for quantity just for the best quality for his family, it´s a hobby for him). I agree with you that you won´t find anithing similar in a store: It´s more acid, spicier, deep green, clowdy (it´s unfiltered) and very very tasty (it…

It baffles me how people are not puzzled how the "extra virgin" olive oil they use doesn't taste anything like olives. I mean, c'mon people, have you never tasted olives? How do you expect the "unadulterated" extract to have none of that flavor at all?

Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#49

Post by Florin_Andrei »

_delirium wrote: post #37
elorant wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Best olive oil is Greek. Italian or Spanish ones are nowhere near the quality of Greek. In Greece more than 80% of total production is extra virgin while in Italy the percentage is less than 40% and in Spain 20%. Italians buy bulk olive oil from Greece and they mix it with their own oils to raise the quality. There are small brands that offer high quality extra virgin oil and I guess you could look some of them at yo…

Seconding this. It also tastes somewhat different, which is a matter of preference admittedly. I personally love the typical flavor of oil from Kalamata olives, which makes up a large part of the Greek-labeled production (i.e. bottled as Greek olive oil, rather than exported for blending). Greek marketing and distribution has been poor, however, and very slowly improving. The traditional place to buy it in the U.S. h…

> Trader Joe's now has a house brand of 100% Greek Kalamata olive oil, which they buy in bulk and bottle, and is very good for the price.

Does it taste at all like olives, or is it the same bland test-tube oil?

> The traditional place to buy it in the U.S. has been in 5-liter tins at Mediterranean grocery stores catering to immigrants (depending on the region, these might be "Greek", "Lebanese", "Turkish", or "Arab" supermarkets). These are a great deal, especially if you cook with it, but off the radar of most regular shoppers.

This is an excellent tip, thank you.

Re: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (2012)

#50

Post by riquito »

elorant wrote: post #23
colanderman wrote: post #4

Does anyone have any tips for finding quality olive oil? The only way I've had success is to buy inexpensive single-source stuff, even if it's inexpensive and non-Italian. Best olive oils I've had were single-sourced from Spain; $2 from a discount store. Maybe no-one wants to fake non-Italian oil?

Best olive oil is Greek. Italian or Spanish ones are nowhere near the quality of Greek. In Greece more than 80% of total production is extra virgin while in Italy the percentage is less than 40% and in Spain 20%. Italians buy bulk olive oil from Greece and they mix it with their own oils to raise the quality. There are small brands that offer high quality extra virgin oil and I guess you could look some of them at yo…

I'm italian and when you buy extra-vergin olive oil (btw I think I never buyed in my lifetime non extra-vergin olive oil) you can read where the olives come from (either 100% italian, mixed with european olives, extraeuropean). It's not difficult to make a choice. I'll try greek oil if I can find it and compare
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