[CH] Infused and Enthused Extra Virgin
GarryMass@aol.com
Thu, 6 May 1999 16:21:28 EDT
George and Fellow ChD's,
Don't expect me to go isotopicking down the the biosynthetic technique
pathways for the authentication of extra-virgin olive oil. I lead a simpler
life.
Mediterranean Diet (p. 459 paraphrased)
The International Olive Oil Council sets the standards (which are many) for
multiple grades of olive oil. Two of these concern us as consumers:
unrefined Extra Virgin olive oil must be extracted from the best olives by
physical or mechanical means without adding chemicals. It's either crush and
press or centrifugal extraction. But Pure olive oil which is made from
lesser olives (also without chemicals) is refined to make it odorless,
colorless, and tasteless. Some extra virgin or virgin (not usually available
commercially) oil is then blended with the "pure" olive oil to give it some
character.
Second pressings and chemical processes come after these, though Virgin (when
we can get it) might suit some of us better than "Pure," more acidic but more
olive flavor.
Pure is generally the choice for cooking and has a higher smoking point than
EV with its vegetable particles unrefined. Extra Virgin is the choice for
using fresh, on salads, on bruschetta or crostini, for example, and to many
people is a sauce in itself.
Olive oil itself is raw. It is also as complex as fine wines. But, unlike
fine wines olive oil, most decidedly, does not improve with age. The
fresher; the better. French, Italian, Lebanese, and Spanish olive oils
(among others) vie for international favor in color, flavor, and aroma among
professional tasters by cultivating certain of these "organoleptic
characteristics."
No matter where it comes from, extra virgin olive is supposed to have a free
acid content of less than 1 percent and "perfect" color, aroma, flavor.
I am mindful of the warnings on this list about infusions, but I make them
with extra virgin only and in the "standardized olive oil pouring container."
They get used up too fast to spoil.
Heart health note: Best of all, however, in the Seven Countries Study of men
on the island of Crete, they were getting 40% of their daily calories from
fat, but the fat was predominantly olive oil. Their mortality rates from
coronary artery disease and stroke were among the lowest in the world.
Gareth the ChileKnight