Olive oil is one of the oldest known natural ingredient with an 8000 year history traced back to the Syrian/Iranian region of the Mediterranean. It comes in a wide range of flavors, colors and aromas; the differences depend on the soil and climate where cultivated and olives used.

The flavors range from mild (delicate, light and almost buttery tasting) to semi-fruity, fruity, pizzico (oil with a peppery accent) and rustic (hearty and robust). Traditional Mediterranean oils are strong flavored almost bitter; sometimes referred to as 1 or 2 cough oils; when the oil hits the back of the throat, the bitterness will force a cough or two. To some degree, bitter is often considered a desirable trait.

Colors range from sweet straw hues to emerald green. In past years, darker oils signified a fruity flavor where light often signified a more nutty taste. Today, blended oils render this distinction moot as many brands mix higher and lower quality oils as a sales aid.

Genuine extra-virgin oil has the richest, deepest flavor but it isn’t appropriate for every dish. Extra-virgin is best used in salads & cold dishes or on hot dishes just before serving; foods where the flavor is the featured ingredient. Virgin labeled oils are less pure and are best used for marinades and grilling. Light oils which are mainly tasteless and high smoking temperatures are best for sautéing and frying.

Picking a good olive oil is simple - Taste some and pick the one you like. Olive Oil tastings are very much like wine tastings with many categories of flavor, color and fragrance evaluated – called organoleptic comparisons. The evaluation of Olive oils are often determined on a Sensory Wheel or Scoring Sheet. Terms used to describe good oils are almond, buttery, fresh, fruity, harmonious, pungent, and sweet; terms used to describe bad oils are brine, burnt, coarse, dirt, dreggish, earthy, esparto, fiscolo, rough, and winey

Lifespan of Olive Oils can be as little as 3 months for an unfiltered late harvest olive bottled in clear glass and sold off a supermarket shelf above a hot deli food shelf which is then stored by the consumer in bright light on a hot stovetop with the cap unscrewed. It can be as much as 3-4 years for an early harvest, high polyphenol containing olive variety which has been properly filtered then packaged in a well sealed tin or dark bottle and stored in a cool dark place by the grocer and consumer. For most consumers, it is best to buy small quantities that can be used within 6 months.

Olive Oil Designations:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: “Extra” equals the highest grade for olive oil. It must have less than 1% free oleic acid and exhibit superior taste, color and aroma. It is said that you do not make extra virgin olive oil, you find it. It is best described as essentially “fresh squeezed” from the fruit of the olive tree.

Virgin Olive Oil is an oil with a good flavor but with a slightly subdued fruitiness; its free acidity may not exceed 1.5%. Sometimes you will find the word “Fine” on the label of this oil.

Olive Oil is a blended oil product that is refined using mechanical, thermal and/or chemical processes. It is largely colorless and tasteless. The refined product must be blended with a small amount of quality virgin olive oil before it is sold for consumption.

Light or Mild Olive Oil is also a refined olive oil with and even smaller amount of virgin oil blended in. The only thing “light” about light olive oil is the taste and color; it has the same caloric and fat content as other oils and should never be used in salads or with cold foods.

Olive Oil Blends are a more economical substitute for olive oil containing a base of a less expensive vegetable oil such as canola oil to which a percentage (e.g. 25%) of virgin olive oil is added.

How is olive oil produced?

Standard production is the same today as it has been for thousands of years. Olives are harvested by hand and collected in nets at the bottom of the trees. After a few days of drying, the olives are taken to the mill where giant stones weighing several tons are used to crush the olives and pits into mash. This mash is spread onto thin mats which are placed into a machine “press” which separates the oils from the pulp. Genuine oils are made with no heat applied. The oil is allowed to settle and the vegetable water is removed either by centrifuge or decantation. Oil extracted from the mechanical pressing of the olive is described as “virgin” olive oil, because it is pure, unrefined and unprocessed.

Are all extra virgin olive oils the same?

No - extra virgin olive oils can vary dramatically in taste depending on the type and quality of the fruit, the time of harvest, the growing season weather, and the region where the grapes are grown. Tuscany and Southern Italy oils have a peppery finish that many appreciate and are often considered the best of the oils.

What makes olive oil a superior product to other oils?

Taste, Nutrition, and Integrity are what makes olive oil stand out from the crowd. Taste is the most obvious difference. Corn, soybean and canola oils are tasteless fats. When you cook with olive oil you get the most flavor and texture. It is a suitable substitute for butter and margarine in almost any recipe. Olive oil adds a flavor and textural dimension lacking in other oils.

Nutrition is an important factor in the benefits of this oil. Olive oil contains more monounsaturated fat than any of the popular vegetable oils and its antioxidant component allow olive oil to keep longer than all other vegetable oils.

Integrity of the product is unmatched. Vegetable oils are industrial, processed foods extracted by means of petroleum-based chemical solvents and then highly refined to remove impurities. Olive oil is produced without alteration of the color, taste, and nutrients or vitamins.

How does olive oil compare with butter or margarine?

Butter and margarine are essentially fats like cooking oils. A tablespoon of butter contains 12 grams of fat, of which 8 grams (66%) are saturated fat. In addition, a serving of butter contains 33 mgs of cholesterol. Saturated fat and cholesterol have been linked to increased levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), the “bad cholesterol.”

Margarine nutritional values vary by manufacturer and ingredient. Margarine typically contains approximately 10 grams of fat per tablespoon. However, to solidify the vegetable oils used to make margarine, the oils have to be hydrogenized. In the hydrogenization process, trans-fatty acids are created. Trans-fatty acids have a double whammy effect of increasing LDLs and lowering the high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), the “good cholesterol”.

A serving of olive oil contains much less saturated fat (only 2 grams) and no cholesterol.

Can olive oil be used to replace butter and margarine in recipes?

Maybe not on toast – but in place of butter or margarine on vegetables, rice, potatoes, and yes, even corn on the cob it is the choice of millions around the world.

How do you store olive oil?

Olive oil should be stored in a cool, dark place. Properly stored, olive oil can keep for at least two years. It is, however, at its peak within a year of production, and is most flavorful for the first two months. Olive oil should not be stored in the refrigerator. If chilled, olive oil will become cloudy and eventually solidify or crystallize. Should this happen, the oil is perfectly fine; just leave the oil at room temperature for a time to restore it to its natural state.

Can olive oil be used in baking recipes that call for butter, margarine, vegetable oil or shortening?

Yes! Try olive oil in your muffin and cake and cornbread recipes (but not in recipes in which butter is the principal flavor like butter cookies or pound cake).

Can olive oil be used to “grease” a pan in place of butter or vegetable oil?

Yes! It is the most healthy alternative to butter and or vegetable oil. Its high smoke temperature makes it the ideal oil when used to grease pans.

List of terms used to describe olive oils:

Apple

Almond - nutty

Artichoke: a flavor which reminds one of artichoke.

Astringent: A puckering sensation in the mouth created by tannins

Banana

Bitter: Many new to olive oil are surprised to find that this is a preferred characteristic of olive oils; usually obtained from green olives or olives turning color.

Buttery

Fresh: Good aroma, fruity, not oxidixed

Fruity: an oil is fruity when its flavor and aroma are similar to that of a mature olive. If you have stood over the olive grinder or press, fruity is what you smell. Many oils initially seem fruity. This characteristic may disappear in a few months in some oils, a truly fruity oil maintains this characteristic aroma through time.

Grass: the taste of grass - seen often in green olives or those crushed with leaves and twigs

Green: A young, fresh, fruity oil. Often mixed with bitter. Spicy-bitter cough sensation at the back of the throat.

Green leaf: a sensation obtained when in the press a small quantity of fresh olive leaves are added. This is a trick which is done to approximate the genuine green taste of green olives

Harmonious: all the qualities of the oil blend and work well with each other

Hay: Dried grass flavor

Melon, perfumy (ethyl acetate)

Musky, nutty, woody: trace characteristics which are very pleasing when not overpowering.

Peppery A peppery bite in the back of the throat which can force a cough

Pungent: A rough, burning or biting sensation in the throat - peppery

Soave: mature olives can produce this characteristic. Sweet, palatable aftertaste.

Rotund: is said of an oil with a pasty body to it which fills and satisfies without aromatic character - always from mature olives.

Sweet: The opposite to bitter, stringent or pungent. Found in mellow oils.

Almond: Associated with sweet oils with a flat scent.

Bitter: a good trait in moderation but bad if overpowering. Produced by olives that are unripe and with little meat.

Brine salty taste - oil made from brined olives

Burnt: prolonged heating during processing

Coarse

Cucumber: off flavor from prolonged storage, particularly in tin

Dirty: oils which have absorbed the unpleasant odors and flavors of the vegetable water after pressing which they have remained in contact for too long.

Dreggish: odor of warm lubricating oil and is caused by the poor or lacking execution of the decanting process.

Earthy This term is used when oil has acquired a musty humid odor because it has been pressed from unwashed, muddy olives.

Esparto Hemp-like flavor acquired when olive paste has been spread on Esparto mats. Flavors may differ according to whether the mates are green or dried.

Fiscolo: caused by the use of filtering panels which are not perfectly cleaned, and brings to mind hemp

Flat Oils which have lost their characteristic aroma and have no taste.

Frozen: due to olives which have been exposed to freezing temperatures. When cooked, this oil gives off very unpleasant odors.

Fusty: due to olives fermenting in piles while in storage waiting for pressing

Greasy - a diesel, gasoline or bearing grease flavor

Grubby: flavor imparted by grubs of the olive fly

Hay-wood - dried olive taste

Heated: prolonged heating during processing, burnt taste

Impersonal: a serious defect for virgin oil, because it means it has neither character nor personality. It is a trait common in all manipulated oils.

Lampantino: oil which should be sent to a refinery. When it does not present awful organic characteristics, it can be edible.

Muddy Sediment:

Musty: moldy flavor from being stored too long before pressing

Metallic Oils processed or stored with extended contact to metal surfaces.

Moldy: from unhealthy or fermented olives due to excessive storage in warehouses

Olearic Fly: oil from fruit stricken by this insect: the flavor is both rotten and putrid at the same time.

Phenic acid: pertaining to poorly kept very old oils.

Poor conservation: the oil absorbs the odors and flavors of everything surrounding it even if not in direct contact. A very common defect.

Rancid Old oils which have started oxidizing due to exposure to light or air.

Rough: Pasty, thick greasy mouth feel

Vegetable water: Stored in contact with the juice from the olive

Warmth: due to the fermentation of olives kept too long in bags.

Winey High acidic taste