The Mystery of Liquid Gold (Part One)
According to Maria Loi, a Greek restaurateur and olive oil producer, “Without olive oil, there would be no Mediterranean diet.” This is the diet revered by many healthy eaters which is heavy on plant-based foods and fish with moderate amounts of dairy, poultry, eggs, wine, and olive oil. While Loi’s claim may be an overstatement, there is no doubt that olive oil is a key element of the diet’s popularity.
A long, on-going history
In the book Sapien, Yuval Harari tells us that olive trees were first domesticated around 5000 BC during the time when our homo sapien relatives were transitioning from a hunter-gather society to an agricultural one. There are multiple theories where the first olive tree grew but more than likely, it was somewhere in the region we now consider the Mediterranean. Some speculate that it first appeared in Syria. However, it was Ancient Greece, through Phoenician merchants, who later brought it to Italy, France, Spain and Portugal.
The resilient nature of olive trees
Olive trees are long-lived. Their expected life ranges from 300 to 600 years although there are some trees more than 1,000 years old! The olive tree is sturdy and can thrive in arid and rocky soils. Even drought and strong winds won’t kill it. Just give it sunshine and it will be around for generations. Normally, it takes three to six years, depending on the variety, before a newly planted olive tree bears fruit.
Frost, however, is an enemy. I recall being in Tuscany in 1985 during an extremely cold winter. That year, no olives were harvested. While 90% of the region’s trees were lost to the “Great Frost,” some farmers cut back their trees to their truck and the following year, new growth appeared.
A new threat for survival
Another enemy is disease. Currently, the region of Apulia—Italy’s most prominent olive oil producer—is being ravaged by the spread of a disease called xylella fastidiosa. This disease is carried from tree to tree by a tiny bug. While the oil produced from an infected tree is still safe to consume, the tree soon dries up, and eventually stops producing fruit.
Since 2013, this tree-killing bacterium has decimated millions of olive trees in Italy and is now threatening those in Spain and Greece. Given the severity of this disease, the local governments are taking extreme measures to eradicate the bugs. Trees are being tested and the infected ones destroyed. Plant scientists are exploring alternative olive varieties to plant which may be more disease resistant.
Alternative sources
Not to diminish Southern Europe’s struggle to find a solution, it is reassuring for olive oil lovers to know that many other countries have planted olive trees. While we tend to think of the “Big Three”—Italy, Spain and Greece—when we say the word “olive oil,” many other sun-drenched countries have entered the scene. California’s olive oil industry, for example, has been growing by leaps and bounds of late. Other old-world countries such as Tunisia, Jordan, Turkey, and Morocco, have been producing olive oil for centuries. Previously, these countries were associate with only lower quality olive oil. However, some of their producers today are having astonishingly good results by observing the same strict production rules as the leading producers.
Forgetting to mention France’s production of quality extra virgin olive oils would be an unforgiveable oversight. Olive oil from southern France, in particular, is highly prized and sought after by Francophiles and finicky French chefs alike.
Setting new standards
Currently, Australia is the new kid on the block of quality producers. While it only accounts for 1% of the olive oil we get in America, it is a standout producer. Why? Because it has the strictest production standards in the world. That means, it out strips what is required by both the Spain-based International Olive Council (IOC) and the EU. Until recently, these two organizations set the industry’s standards for excellence and reliability in the regulations they set forth. Bear in mind, too, that EU countries produce 69% of the world’s olive oil!
The point is that today there are other sources outside of Italy, Spain and Greece where you can find excellent olive oils. If you consider that there are also roughly 139 olive varieties (or cultivars) grown in 23 different countries—each cultivar with its own unique chemical and taste characteristics—the possibilities of choice for olive oil fans are endless.
While this may seem overwhelming, there are a few essential facts which will help guide your exploration through the world of olive oil. In this post we will focus primarily on extra virgin olive oil, or as Rachel Ray coined it “EVOO.” Here is the first half of the ten most frequently asked questions on the topic of quality EVOO. The remaining questions will be tackled in next week’s post.
1. What are the different types of olive oil?
The IOC defines these classifications as follows:
EVOO refers to an oil extracted from fresh olives using either a press or mechanical centrifuge process. Its acidity level cannot exceed .8 percent. Excessive use of heat or any form of additives (meaning refined oils) or solvents is strictly prohibited.
Virgin must have an acidity level of less than 2 percent. The addition of any refined oil is also not allowed.
Pure is a blend (therefore not exactly “pure”) of virgin and refined olive oils but with an acidity level not exceeding 1 percent.
Ordinary/regular is also a blend of virgin with refined olive oil. Its acidity level cannot exceed 3.3 percent.
Refined oil is an oil refined from virgin olive oils which have some defects such as poor flavor, high acidity or unpleasant order. While its health benefits are the same as the better grades of, it is tasteless, odorless, and colorless. It is used for blending in “Pure” and ordinary “Olive oil” as well as in canning such as for packing sardines and smoked oysters.
2. What are the health properties of EVOO?
According to Loi—who starts her day consuming two tablespoons of it—olive oil has a plethora of health benefits. It reduces bad cholesterol and promotes the good one. In so doing, it lowers high blood pressure and risk of heart disease. Virgin and EVOO contain a significant amount of polyphenols which help prevent cancers. It is also rich in vitamins A, B1, B2, C, D, E and K.
If that weren’t enough, additionally it moisturizes the skin. When added in small amounts to shampoo, it tames frizzy, dry hair and adds lots of shine.
Olive oil helps renew skin cells, too. Loi recounts how her grandfather would add honey to olive oil and use it as an ointment to heal her cuts when she was a child.
3. What is the best process for making EVOO? Traditional vs Modern?
Traditionally, olive oil was made by turning olives into a paste using a heavy grindstone. This was replaced with a hydraulic press with the paste layered on stacked fiber mats. With the application of pressure oil is extracted. This slow, artisanal method can still be found among some small producers. However, it is increasingly rare and thus, much coveted by olive oil aficionados. Supply and demand at its best.
Today, large, commercial producers use stainless steel rollers to crush the olives into paste. Next, the paste undergoes a process called “malaxation” where it is slowly mixed or churned which allows smaller droplets of oil to agglomerate into larger ones. This is then put through a modern continuous centrifugal process which separates the oil from everything else left behind after the first press, including pomace.
The pomace is sold to refineries which use steam and solvents to extract residual oil. This is called olive pomace oil. This is used in industrial settings or sometimes by restaurants for frying because of its high smoke point.
My friend Paddy Nichols owns a 1,000-olive tree farm with its own mill in the south of France called Moulin de la Teissonière. She uses the artisanal method to make her olive oil. Here is what she has to say: “The most important criteria for me as a small producer with a hydraulic press, is that the olives are best picked straight from the tree by hand. If I use a mechanical arm, we separate twigs and leaves with a blower. What is critical is pressing as soon as I can after picking.”
As picking by hand is not financially viable for large producers, they use a tree shaking method instead with nets on the ground to collect the fallen fruit. Either way, extreme care must be taken not to bruise the olives as that can trigger oxidation resulting in off-flavors.
4. What does “first cold press” mean?
The term is somewhat redundant because, by legal definition EVOO can only come from the first pressing. While a small amount of heat is necessary to extract the oil, it cannot exceed 80⁰ F. This low temperature allows the oil to preserve its healthy polyphenols, antioxidants, and vitamins as well as maintain its unique texture and flavor.
While a tad risky from a marketing perspective, a few bold commercial brands elect to use “cold-extracted” in lieu of “cold press,” definitely a more accurate description of their centrifuge production method. At the same time, the EU is working to establish the term “cold press” as a way to set apart traditionally produced olive oils from their modern competitors.
5. Should I only use EVVO?
As this is a tricky question, I turned to the experts. Respected Italian food authority and author of many cookbooks, Michele Scicolone, responded that she uses two kinds of olive oil. However, “Both are extra virgin, but one comes in large cans and the other, more expensive and refined in taste, comes in bottles and is harvest-dated. I use the former for cooking and the latter for dressings.”
When asked if she only uses EVOO, Paddy responded “I do, merely because I have my own at hand. But it is a waste of money to use EVOO for cooking.” I would suggest that Michele has struck the perfect balance by not using the more expensive EVOOs for cooking. Instead, she reserves them to finish off dishes where the olive oil’s unique flavors are preserved and not masked by other bolder ingredients.
At home I cook with Whole Food’s cold pressed EVOO. My liter-size bottle is labeled “Mediterranean Blend” as it comes from olive oils produced in Tunisia, Italy, and Greece. While blending does produce a consistent taste and offer some commercial advantages for the big guys, serous olive oil lovers relish the variation in flavor profiles found with artisanal producers. These result from a combination of factors including different terroir (meaning soil, typography, and climatic conditions) and vintage variations. Add to that the producers’ choice of cultivars plus when he/she selects to harvest (early versus late) and you can see the combinations are endless, just as with producing a fine wine.
Next week we will continue the debate on what constitutes a top quality EVOO and how to use it. In the meantime, if you are game, here is an informative and fun homework assignment. Take a few minutes to read the labels of the olive oil bottles on your local supermarket shelf. You will be amazed at how much—or how little—is printed about the product. My rule of thumb is the more detail, the better the olive oil. And, usually more expensive, too. We can debate whether the better quality is commensurate with the higher cost next week in Part 2.
Check out this week’s recipe which is an artichoke risotto made with EVOO. It’s super easy to make as it calls for frozen artichoke hearts.