Introducing our own brand of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I have to share a joke with you which I first heard the other week:

A Tuscan kitchen chef asks his eager students at a cooking class: "tell me what does extra virgin olive oil really mean"? There is a bit of embarrassing shuffling around as no one wants to say the wrong thing... The chef continues to answer by himself and exclaims: "It's logical! It's the oil that comes from the ugliest olives!!!" 

Of course, the reality is completely the opposite and many a joke has been cracked about the word Virgin in the olive oil context. In my classes and on my tours I often ask the question "what is extra virgin olive oil?" and I'm baffled that, in fact, not a lot of people realize what exactly it is and what the differences could be between the different qualities of oil - in fact, I myself believe it is quite ambiguous all together because there are a wide range of olive oils that can classify as extra virgin and there is just as huge a range of qualities between great and mediocre ones in that same classification.

What I’m trying to say is, maybe there's something wrong with the classification system?!

So, let’s see…to be an extra virgin olive oil there are 3 requirements that have to be met: 

1) mechanical press (as opposed to chemical) 

2) oleic acidity content less than 0,8% (0,1% being excellent quality and 0,8% quite scarce), and 

3) Taste: no defects should be present and it should be fruity

So all in all the requirements are quite average and suit the big industries very well. 

But what about the small producers of really excellent olive oils, who take extra care of taking their olives down from the trees un-bruised, who take the olives to the mill within a few days of picking (the fresher the better), and who get a "cold pressing" done as opposed to a more economically interesting warm press?

There is just no official commercial category in which these olive oil makers can make themselves noted, if not because of passionate consumers who go and seek them out and try to spread the word (which is what I’m trying to do here). These oils are not just super-delicious but they are also extra healthy because of the vitamins and antioxidants that they still contain. But they are hard to get because made only by the smaller producers and in limited quantities (for the few lucky who know about them), so not exported in large quantities to other countries nor availble on larger supermarket shelves....

In Tuscany we like to claim our fame to the World's best olive oil. Maybe a bit pretentious…but there's something about it... The climate is just right for a late harvest in November when it is cooler and because of our long growing season the varietals of olives are small and lean - but the flavor that we get is fresh and spicy. 

So now you may ask yourselves, why am I so passionate about this argument (wasn't I supposed to be a wino)?! Well, to tell you the truth I had no clue what olive oil really was before I settled here. Since then, a World of flavors have revealed themselves, and the most choking difference to me was the one that I find in olive oils. And once the understanding for this wonderful product comes across, there is just no going back. My food deserves the very best olive oil!

Ok, this little write-up got a bit longer than I intended it to. The point of it all, I have searched out my favorite olive oil and it will be available not just here but you can order it online on the site www.olivoglio.com that I’m slowly writing for it. By the end of October we’ll be ready for Xmas orders – so you can start planning who to give this unique present to.


If I've opened up your curiosity about the olive oil stuff, read on in this very interesting article from the New Yorker in 2007: Slippery Business.