Learn About Olive Oil

The highest quality olive oil is extra virgin olive oil which must be totally unprocessed and always kept below 23,5 degrees Celsius during the mechanical extraction process. It must also meet strict chemical criteria as defined by the International Olive Oil Council and adopted by the European Union and USDA but must also have perfect flavor and aroma as determined by a certified tasting panel. The first important step is to collect the olives from the tree. The traditional way of harvesting olives is to shake the tree or beat its branches with sticks to make the olives drop to the ground. However, if no net is used to catch the olives before they hit the ground, this process can result in bruised olives the crushing of which produces a lower-quality oil. When to collect the olives: in Italy each olive has its own period. It depends from several factors like the weather, the temperature and also the olive typology. The best olives oil is produced by unripe olives. As much the olive is unripe as low will be the yield of the olive. This is the way to get the highest quality. Carefully picking the olives is necessary to ensure the quality of the end-product. After the olives have been picked, washed, and any leaves and twigs removed, then it’s time for crushing. Crushing was traditionally done using stone wheels but stainless-steel rollers are much more common today. Water is slowly stirred into the resulting paste in order for the oil molecules to concentrate. The mixture is finally centrifuged to remove the water. What is left is olive oil. High-quality extra virgin olive oils are fruity, pleasantly bitter because of the freshness of the olives, and pungent because of the abundance of nutrients. Just like wine, there are hundreds of varieties, each with its own unique taste and character. On top of that, there are thousands of possible variety blends and many naturally infused olive oils to try.