Olive Oil Archives

Extra virgin olive oil is one of the few oils that do not require any processing or chemical additions before consuming

Most oils require some sort of processing before being consumed. Practically every vegetable oil is refined using steam or solvents before it is ready for consumption. On the other hand, freshly pressed extra virgin olive oil can be consumed immediately. Extra virgin olive oil retains all the natural flavors, vitamins and healthy attributes of ripe olives.

How important is the color of extra virgin olive oil?

It is often noted that deep green-colored extra virgin olive oils are superior to pale yellow-colored ones. Is this true? Not necessarily since unscrupulous extra virgin olive oil producers have been known to press some of the leaves of the olive trees along with the olives in order to impart a deep green color to their extra virgin olive oils. Truth be known, color really doesn’t play that major a role in the quality of extra virgin olive oils.

Why is estate bottled extra virgin olive superior?

To make extra virgin olive oil it takes a flower - an olive flower

One of the most beautiful things you may not have seen are olive flowers. While I was taking these pictures of my parents’ blossoming olive trees, I rembered an old children’s song by Sergio Endrigo. It really says it all. Here’s a quick translation:

“To make a table it takes some wood; to make the wood it takes a tree; to make the tree it takes a seed; to make the seed it takes a fruit; to make the fruit it takes a flower. To make everything it takes a flower.”

It always comes back to the flower.

Does the Mediterranean Diet really work?

While it would seem at first that the Mediterranean diet is just the next mainstream diet that doesn’t really yield results, the abundance of independent studies and scientific reports that continue to be published on news sites and blogs everywhere seem to say otherwise.

In the past few months, studies have proven that the Mediterranean diet is able to help prevent heart disease, even though the amount of fat intake by Mediterranean dieters is equal to those of normal eaters.

Recently, reports have been published that the Mediterranean diet, which got its name after researchers began noticing that people in Mediterranean countries, like Italy and Greece, usually consume higher amounts of fat and yet have far lower rates of cardiovascular disease than people here in the US, may even be able to help fight stage 2 diabetes.

So what importance does olive oil have in the eating habits of the Mediterranean diet?

Olive oil basically replaces butter or margarine (which is so important in most meals here in the United States) as a person’s main source of fat. Foods that are usually consumed by people who use this diet are foods that are minimally processed. Foods like fish such as salmon, tuna, sardines, and trout. Fresh fruit, nuts such as almonds, fresh vegetables. Mediterranean dieters moderately consume wine and dairy products and have a very low consumption of lean red meat.

While olive oil may be a bit more expensive than butter or margarine, it would be very hard to argue with the results and studies of how important olive oil is in regards to one’s health.

When choosing an olive oil, it is very important to only select “extra virgin” olive oil, as only olive oils with an acidity of .8% or lower can advertise on their label that they are “extra virgin”, making them the finest, tastiest, and healthiest. Also, as much as possible, check the ingredients to make sure that the olives are at least from the same country as the oil. E.g. Made in Greece Olive Oil uses Greek olive oil, Made in Italy  olive oil uses Italian olives and so forth.  Then, there is some reliability of the quality of the oil.

All of Olive Nation’s olive oils are imported directly from Italy, are extra virgin, and extremely affordable when compared to those at the local gourmet food stores. We also authenticate and make sure that the oil is of the highest quality. And with free shipping for any orders over $29, it would make sense to stock up on extra virgin olive oil since it will be the core of your new-found diet.

Beware of cheap Olive Oil

Illegal: In Italy, some manufactures have been recently caught  mixing canola oil and other cheap oils with olive oil to sell it at lower prices. This is dangerous because people who are allergic to some of the other oils could get sick.

Legal: While Spain produces 70% of the world’s olives, Italian sells 70% of the world’s olive oil. How does that work? It is common knowledge that the bigger Italian olive oil manufacturers will import olives from Spain, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Israel and other places so they can  press them and bottle the olive in Italy which allows them to label it as “Made in Italy”. It’s perfectly legal. Personally, I have had great Spanish olive oil, and Moroccan and Tunisian olives. There’s nothing wrong with their olives or their olive oils. But then I’d rather have the oil from those countries directly. Why should I buy something that was trucked over great distances over a two week period just so it can be labeled “Made in Italy”? It’s just not high quality.

So, how do you tell? Well, look at the list of ingredients on the olive oil bottles to see if they tell you where the olives are from. Usually they are required by the FDA to do so. Or see if the olive oil has a DOP icon anywhere. The DOP guarantees two things about Italian olive oil:

1. The olives used were produced locally in the same region where the oil was pressed.

2. The local authority sampled the olive oil to ensure that it meets its high standards.

How long can you store olive oil for?

We get asked this question a lot. A lot of olive oil purists will probably disagree but I say - a long time! Let me explain. Firstly, lets understand that contact with air is what ruins olive oil quickly, followed by sun light. So when you buy olive oil try to pick the bottle that is the most full and has very little air inside. Then store the bottle or can away from direct sunlight and not too near the stove. That way your olive oil could last up to 2 years unopened. Once you open it though, you should probably finish it in 6-9 months.

For our personal use at home, we bring over cans of olive oil from Italy and keep them sealed. When a can is opened, we transfer the olive oil to smaller bottles making sure to top up each oil bottle as much as possible (again to keep the air out). Our olive oil lasts 2 years - no problem.

Honestly, our older olive oils still taste better than anything we get at the store. So its all relative.

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