Cook's Illustrated Rates Olive Oils

[SeattleDeb]

Hope this link works:
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/show...296&IBDC=51552

Article and Cook's rating on supermarket olive oils.

[Mezzaluna]

Interesting article. I usually get Colavita. I'd like to try Papa's, but can't find it here.

[Papa]

Dear Mezzaluna:

Send me your address via e-mail (Constantine@OliveTree.cc) and I will be happy to send you a bottle for your evaluation and enjoyment!

Really, it will be a pleasure!

[Papa]

Dear SeattleDeb:

Thank you for the link. I found the article to be very good and the comparison chart accurate.

One mistake though. In describing the olive oils the tasters also included descriptions of their colors. According to the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC) evaluation guidelines, the color of the olive oil has absolutely nothing to do with its quality! The IOOC registered tasters are obligated to use blue colored glasses when they taste an olive oil for quality evaluation to make sure that the color of the oil does not influence their judgement in any way.

The only thing that the color of he oive oil tells us is at what maturity level the olives were when they were pressed.

[SeattleDeb]

Papa...it's wonderful to have someone with your expertise here ....I truly mean it.

[kokopuffs]

An experienced chef once told me that the greener the olive oil, the more chlorophyl it contains. The flavor of chlorophyl can well come across.

[Papa]

Dear kokopufs:

Thank you for this note.

The color green of the olive oil comes from the skin of the unriped olive that was used in producing this olive. Again, I would like to emphasize that the color of the olive oil has nothing to do with its quality.

The maturity level of the olive, which is a fruit, does not influence the chemical structure of the olive oil other than its acidity level. The more riped the olive is when it is pressed, the higher the acidity level of the olive oil. The reason why many olive oil producers press their olives when they are more riped is that the more riped the olive is the higher its percentage of olive oil that it contains. An olive oil producer who uses unriped olives to produce olive oil can expect to yield anywhere between 11% to 14% olive oil. If he lets his olives mature, he can expect a yield between 15% and 20%. This is also why naturally less acidic olive oils are more expensive. Acidity is influenced by other factors as well.

I hope this helps.

[kokopuffs]

Thanks, Papa. I stand corrected.

[ May 18, 2001: Message edited by: kokopuffs ]

[kokopuffs]

Papa:

It was that article that introduced me to an everyday EV olive oil, Pompeian. It's sold at Kmart. It tastes good, better than what I've gotten at some local middle eastern markets. It goes great with warm pita bread dipped in it and sprinkled with a bit of zattar.

Do you have a website describing and offering your oils?

thx

[ May 18, 2001: Message edited by: kokopuffs ]

[Svadhisthana]

I had bread dipped in olive oil at a restaurant for the first time, last year. It was excellent, I don't know why I didn't try it sooner.


Svadhisthana

[Pooh]

Used in oil tastings as well!

Mmmmmm

[Papa]

Dear Friends:

As you already know, apart from my olive oil consulting business, I also import olive oil. In response to your question, my web site address is http://www.OliveTree.cc

Today we received some great news! TEKLA Inc., a distributing company based in Chicago, agreed to represent us and distribute our olive oil in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. This is a very important step for us.

Because we are a small family business, most distributors whom I contacted in the past did not even bother to return my phone calls. TEKLA focused on the quality of our product and they decided to distribute our olive oil.

I have to say that all the credit and our thanks for this development go to Nicko. I had sent Nicko a bottle of my olive oil as a wedding gift and he called Sophia Solomon, President of TEKLA, and shared with her his enthusiastic evaluation of my oil. Sophia contacted me soon after to request that I send her a bottle as well. The rest is history as they say.

I am really excited about this! TEKLA can provide the quality of service to our clients that matches the quality of our olive oil.

Now, hopefully more of you will be able to find my Romeu, certified organic, single estate, stone ground/cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil in a store near you. I would offer to send everyone a sample but with over 1,000 members in our Cafe that would drive me to bankrupcy!

Thank you all for your kind words about my postings.

[Papa]

By the way, I love dipping freshly baked bread in olive oil.

When I taste olive oils I do not use a bread because the taste of the bread influences the taste of the oil. It makes also difficult to get a good feeling of the texture of the oil. This is why I use a cognac glass which captures the aroma and allows me to taste the oil in the best way possible. I use green apple to clear my palate between oils.

[bouland]

An additional aspect of oil pressing I learned on a recent trip to Southern France is that the flavor of the oil pressed from a particular field will change depending on when in the season the olives are pressed. At one end of the season the same tree produces oil that is sweeter and at the other end fruitier. I forget what the actual order is. If you'd like to read about the visit and see some pictures of the mill and presses, click here.

[Kimmie]

Very informative Papa, about using green apple to clear the palate between oils.

epharistoh poli!



[ May 18, 2001: Message edited by: Kimmie ]