February 5, 2010
I attended olive oil tasting and a lecture on olive tree history and olive oil production given by an Italian olive oil maker. Apparently ancient olive trees are slowly becoming endangered due to changing landscape. Some trees in Italy and Greece are being uprooted and transported to different countries in order to preserve them. However, the change of soil and climate as of yet has an undetermined influence on the tree and its fruit, the olive. Something must be done to prevent the destruction of this amazing tree. I thought I would put a word out to see if anyone knows of or would be interested in starting an organization with an aim to defend the ancient olive trees in Europe.
On the other note, I learned some interesting facts about quality of extra virgin olive oil.
Olive oil is alive with enzymic activity that pretty quickly decreases as the oil sits. The enzymes and the antioxidants (made up of vitamin E) appear in the highest concentration in the younger (immature) olive . We can detect with taste whether the oil has high antioxidant level. Simply swallow a little of the oil and feel for the burning sensation in your throat. The stronger the burning the healthier the oil is for your body. In Italian standards, olive oil is considered old six months after harvest. Exposure to air, heat, and light accelerate the aging process even faster. It can still be consumed, but the health benefits are much lower at this point. Also, the milder olive oils made from more mature olives, although they may be preferred by some in flavor, are substantially lower in antioxidants. So, when purchasing olive oil looks for not onlythat it is cold pressed, but check out when it was harvested. In United States there are no laws requiring producers to put a harvest date on the bottle; however, the top quality producers would inevitable want us to know that it is a newly pressed oil. Chefshop.com for one offers variety of olio nuovo, with the one pressed in December being currently available. Another tip for purchasing olive oil is to make sure it comes in either a dark glass bottle or in a metal tin. Apparently metal tin, although it may not be associated with high quality oil, does the job of short term oil storage just as well as dark glass bottle, maybe even better, because it completely prevents any light from reaching the oil.