Olive Oil: Choosing

 

In recent years the interest and demand for olive oil has increased enormously. Subsequently, a wider selection of oils is available in stores. Being presented with shelves of different oils of varying quality from numerous countries is enough to send many of us running for cover, but with a small amount of knowledge (and confidence), it is easy to make a sensible choice.

 

 

Supermarket brands are probably the first olive oils that many people buy, and branded extra-virgin olive oil is sold at very reasonable prices. Unfortunately, these oils are often of mediocre quality and are typical of oils from different countries blended together to produce a cheaper oil. On the other hand, although single-estate oils are expensive, they are the best quality and it is money well spent. For anyone who is interested in cooking and enjoys good food, a superior bottle of single-estate extra-virgin olive oil is essential.

 

 

There are plenty of olive oils that are neither the supermarket variety nor from single estates. The only way to decide which oils you particularly like is to begin tasting. Some specialty stores and delicatessens hold tastings from time to time. Anyone interested in experimenting with olive oil should seek out these tastings. Start with oil from a particular country, become familiar with the flavors, then go on to experiment with oils from different regions and growers.

 

 

 

Olive Oil: Cooking

 

Unlike many culinary oils that are designed to have little or no flavor, olive oil is specifically produced with a pronounced olive flavor. Therefore, using an extra-virgin olive oil would be impractical and pointless at times. Oils break down at high cooking temperatures, and even at lower temperatures there is a certain amount of flavor loss.

 

 

Keep two or three different oils in your kitchen cupboard. Use a single-estate extra-virgin olive oil to drizzle over salads and vegetable dishes, a good-quality extra-virgin olive oil for low-temperature cooking, and a good-quality olive oil for cooking at higher temperatures, for baking, and for making mayonnaise and herb infusions.

 

 

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: This expensive oil has a rich, deep flavor. It is best used as a flavoring in its own right. The Italians use it as a sauce to pour over grilled, broiled, or poached fish and meat. It is excellent for salad dressings and is added to soups and stews as a condiment.

 

 

Virgin Olive Oil: Called either pure olive oil or, more commonly, olive oil, it is best used for cooking if the temperature is not too high. It is ideal for braising meat, fish, and vegetables, and should be used when a recipe calls for olive oil. Its lack of astringency makes it the preferred olive oil for baking cakes and cookies. French olive oil is particularly good for making mayonnaise, as it does not overpower the other ingredients.

 

 

Olive Oil: Flavored

 

Flavored oils have been infused with either herbs, garlic, chilies, or citrus peels.  Some types are infused at the pressing stage, for instance where lemons are actually pressed with the olives.  Other types of flavoring are added at a later stage.  Most commonly this is done with a chemically produced essence added when the olive oil is bottled.

 

 

Olive Oil: History

 

Although the exact date and origin of the first olive tree is unknown, it is generally accepted to have been first cultivated in the Middle East and Crete as far back as the year 3000 BC, and possibly even earlier.

 

 

Olive oil is produced from the fruit of the olive tree, Olea europea. Not only valuable in culinary terms, the oil was used in ancient times as an ointment for the body and hair, as a healing ointment, in both the making of terra-cotta lamps and as the fuel to light them. With such prolific qualities, the tree and its subsequent oil became an important source of income. Trade saw widespread growth of the trees throughout the Mediterranean.

 

 

 

Polyunsaturated fats have long been considered healthier than saturated fats, but recent research has found that monounsaturated fats, such as oleic acid, to be healthier still. Olive oil contains 80% oleic acid and a lower percentage of linoleic acid, a polyunsaturate. Research indicates that oleic acid is effective in reducing the amount of plasma cholesterol, responsible for the high level of heart disease.

 

 

Olive oil is beneficial for maintaining a low cholesterol level, and the rate of heart disease is lower in countries where olive oil is consumed daily. Research has also suggested that olive oil has further benefits. It contains Vitamin A and this, along with the high percentage of oleic acid, stimulates bone growth. Olive oil is believed to be calming on the stomach, reducing acid and the risk of stomach ulcers. It also reduces the chance of constipation by aiding the passage of foods through the intestine and bowel. Olive oil stimulates the secretion of bile in the gall bladder, which can help prevent gallstones. When olive oil is used as the main source of dietary fat, it appears to be healthier than saturated fats.

 

 

Olive Oil: Production

 

As yet, no machine has been invented to perfect the harvesting process of olive oil, and it is still mostly done by hand. Methods of harvesting vary from country to country. The olives can be left to ripen until they fall from the trees, but more usually they are shaken off. Nets are often set a little above the ground to catch them and to prevent the heat in the soil causing the olives to ferment. Once gathered, the olives are taken to the mills for pressing. Firstly they are stored for up to three days, which aids the release of the oil. Knowing how short or long a time to store the olives is crucial; if left in the heat for too long they will start to ferment and spoil. The method of production varies both regionally and nationally. Today the majority of olive mills use machinery for pressing the olives, but in some parts of the Mediterranean more traditional methods prevail.

 

 

Once the grower has determined that the olives are fit to press, they are washed and then crushed. The crushing extracts the oil. Traditionally, this was done by large stone wells; today, stainless-steel crushers are used to simultaneously crush, shear, and rub the olives. They are then ground to form a paste, which is spread out on fiber mats. The mats are piled one on top of the other and placed in a vertical press. A small amount of pressure is then exerted to extract the oil.

 

 

This extraction method is called "cold pressing" or the first pressing of the oil. Modern equipment is increasingly being used to extract the oil, where olives are placed in a revolving machine that forces the oil from the crushed fruit.

 

 

Water is separated from the oil, and the still-cloudy oil is transferred to large containers, or amphorae, where it is kept until spring. As the temperature starts to rise, the oil thins, leaving the cloudy sediment at the bottom. The clear, premium oil, extra-virgin olive oil, can then be filtered off. The quality of an oil is determined by the level of acidity; the higher the acidity the lower the quality. Extra-virgin olive oil must have an acidity level of less than 1%. About 90% of oil extracted in the "cold pressing" is extra-virgin.

 

 

The average worldwide production of olive oil is approximately 2 million tons, with about 90% of that produced by Mediterranean countries. Spain and Italy are the largest producers, followed by Greece, Tunisia, Turkey, Portugal, Morocco, Syria, and France. The rest comes from the Middle East and the Americas.

 

 

Olive Oil: Types

 

Olive varieties differ both from country to country and regionally. The label on a bottle of olive oil will state the grade of the oil, the level of acidity, country of origin, volume, and producer's name. "First pressing" or "cold pressing" can be seen on some bottles of extra-virgin olive oil, and if the bottle comes from a single estate, the grower's name will also be listed. This is only the case with oil produced by a small grower.

 

 

Italian Olive Oil: Italy, especially Tuscany, produces some of the finest oils in the world. The main olive varieties are Corantina, Cerasolo, Frantoio, Leccino, and Moriolo. Italian oil is deep green with a peppery aftertaste. Many of the best oils come from single estates, although cooperatives also produce fine oils.

 

 

Spanish Olive Oil: The main Spanish varieties are Cornicabra, Hojiblanca, Manzanilla, Picual, and Picudo. Spanish oil tends to be a pale golden-yellow with a heavy taste of the sun, and many are also slightly peppery. Spanish oils are more readily acceptable to a palate used to vegetable oil, because their taste is less pronounced than many Italian oils.

 

 

Greek Olive Oil: Unlike in other countries, many small growers in Greece send their annual olive crop to large cooperatives to be milled. Greek oils tend to be green and are generally of good quality, although they frequently lack the superior flavor of their Italian and Spanish counterparts.

 

 

French Olive Oil: A relatively small producer of olive oil, France, southern France in particular, produces some fine oils. Far paler in color and lighter in flavor, French oils are subtler than oils from more southerly countries.

 

 

 

Olive Trees

 

Olive trees were first introduced to France and Italy by the ancient Greeks. The trees spread through the Roman Empire as it expanded. The Greeks also took them into Spain, and in the 16thentury, the Spanish, on their own travels westward, were responsible for introducing this native Mediterranean tree to the countries of North and South America and the West Indies. Today the olive tree can be found in almost any country where the growing conditions suit it. It thrives in the Mediterranean and countries of similar climate: mild winters, a brief wet spring and fall, with hot, dry summers. Although it can survive long droughts, it does not tolerate extreme cold or wet. It is able to thrive in poor, rocky soil where other crops cannot. The mountainous regions of Greece and Italy are ideal growing areas; as the trees require little attention, limited access is not a problem.

 

 

Thomas Jefferson introduced the olive tree to his estate in Virginia in the 1770s, but the trees did not survive. When the Spanish brought the trees to California in the mid-1800s the conditions were more suitable and the crops flourished. Consequently, the small amount of olive oil produced in the United States comes from California.

 

 

The olive tree is an evergreen, characterized by its rather gnarled trunk and unruly branches. The thin, spiky leaves are dark green on top with a silver scaly underside, and they live for about three years before being replaced by new leaves. The tree bears fruit from five years but does not mature until twenty and can live for more than one hundred years. Even when the tree dies, shoots sprout up from the base, replacing the old trunk, eventually becoming new trees themselves.

 

 

Groups of white blossoms appear early in the year. About one in twenty actually produces an olive. A prolonged wet spell at this time can be disastrous. Fruition commences in June and continues until early October, when the pit turns hard, the pulp fills out, and it becomes the flesh of the pear- or drop-shaped fruit: the olive. Olives are harvested in late autumn and winter, depending on both the variety of the tree and whether the olive is for eating or for oil production. Green olives are harvested from October and black olives from November to February.

 

 

 

Olives

 

The olive is a pit fruit and in terms of ripening, there is no difference between the many green and black varieties. Olives are always green when unripe and turn black as they ripen, with varying degrees of red, purple, and brown in between.

 

 

Some varieties produce good eating olives, for example, the black Greek Kalamata or the green Spanish Manzanilla. Others are grown specifically for their oil, such as the Italian Frantoio and the Spanish Cornicaba.

 

 

Different varieties of olive ripen at different times, and although the percentage of oil increases as the fruit ripens, the color of the oil is determined by the variety, not necessarily the ripeness, of the fruit. Some produce a very green oil even when the fruit is fully ripe, others are only green when the olive is just ripe. The quality of the oil depends on the method of cultivation, harvesting, milling, climate, and soil conditions, as well as the variety of olive. A good variety of olive will not produce a high-quality oil without the other determining factors.