Culture, Cuisine & Colorful Chaos: Culinary Tour of Tuscany 2015

Believe it or not, there is a correct way to use and eat olive oil. There is also a proper way to produce it so that its structure and taste is not compromised. Heat in the production and use changes the structure, the flavor is lost, and it becomes a heavy tasting oil.
Leda, a kind of Sommelier of olive oil, said there’s two things to know if you know nothing else at all about olive oil. If it smells of the earth it is good. If it smells man made and pungent, it is not good to eat. Good olive oil is found in dark bottles with only natural color. If it’s in a clear or see through bottle, is dyed green, and smells “not of the earth”, it’s not real olive oil.
Let’s start from the beginning. The groves and other fields are planted in even rows with grass growing all around. The grass, just as it does in grape vineyards, gives nutrients back to the ground that the fruits need in order to produce a better product. The olives are harvested from October through Late November. The first harvest gives a spicier, bitter fruit. The second yield is a darker fruit which is more mature and delicate tasting. When the harvest is good, one kind of olive can be used in the making of the oil. When the harvest yield is low, the oil is a mixture of the olives.
Out of 100 kilo of first green olives, approximately 10ℓ of oil will be produced. A harvest of 100 kilo of the darker, slightly black olives can yield 20ℓ of oil. One bad rain can change the yield and flavor of a harvest. In 2014 a larvae that could not be controlled somehow infiltrated the olives all over the region and after the harvest and pressing, a rancid olive oil was born. It should not be used and could not be sold. Most producers trashed it.
Cold pressed olive oil is the most pure. It generally has not been altered by heat in any part of the process. One mill visited, used large mill stones to flatten and squeeze the oil from the fruit, leaving behind a paste of skin and seed. The olives need to be milled within twenty four hours of picking, so the once the harvest begins, there are workers around the clock until the production is completed. Another producer used a spiral blade that cut the olives into a mash and then the oil was squeezed out, but the blades can cause friction and therefore heat so the taste is slightly altered. This is still counted as cold pressed because the olives are pressed and there is no added heat.
The oil is bottled in dark containers so that no light will penetrate and heat the oil, which again, changes the structure and flavor. Olive oil should be tightly sealed and stored away from light. The popular containers with flip over lids are not ideal storage for oil that will kept in it for more than a week. The Italians do not cook with olive oil in general, as it changes the flavor of the oil and doesn’t have as high of a heat point. Like us they use Canola or vegetable oil.
The best olive oil has an acidity of less than 0.8%. Its best uses include a drizzle over bread with herbs or cheese, as an emulsifier in dressings and pesto’s, drizzled over foods with cheese and spices to enhance flavor and lend moisture, or drizzled over pasta with fresh cheese and pepper. It’s used as an addition to most dishes. It’s a topping, a spice, and main ingredient. The cold pressed olive oil tasted so light and fresh that just drizzled over a green salad with a little salt was enough to satisfy this girl who loves some ranch style dressing!

Historical view of harvesting and producing