Olive Oil

I don't know where you live - so can only give you my point of view (from the UK)

I usually manage to get locally produced olive oils in Spain, Italy and Greece when I visit there - and try to bring enough home to keep me going for a while. 

I like different oils for different things - I like a peppery olive oil for dipping - a different oil for making salad dressings etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rdubins 

Everyone, I would so appreciate your opinions about which olive oils stand above the rest...  I always buy "extra virgin", "cold pressed" and "hand picked" -  but still at times have been disappointed with the taste.  Is there anything, a type of olive, a region that you have found is better than others? What brands, and can you get them in supermarkets?  Many thanks in advance

Rdubins - the California Olive Oil Council has a website.....

http://www.cooc.com/producers_certified.html 

that lists all the California growers that are certified "Extra Virgin". I have found oil from the same trees to have very notibly different characteristics from one year to the next. I love oil as soon as it is ready. Typically they harvest in November and the oil settles a bit before it is ready. When it is super fresh it is less translucent almost milky and very peppery (if it is a peppery variety). I have had a frontoio one year that was very peppery but the next wasn't. I cant really advise as to which particular oils are the best but ones to avoid for oil are mission and manzanillo - they are bland compared to the Ascolano, Frontoio, Arbequina, Lucca, Lucino and others I have had.

These guys make great oil and will sell to you - the more you buy the less per gallon obviously. I believe they will sell it to you for 18.50 per gallon if you buy 55 gallons.

http://www.corto-olive.com/ 

There is alot of great oil in California - make sure you get it fresh. Typically whats on a shelf is over a year old. Call as many of these guys as you can and talk quality and price. '09 harvest wasn't as good due to too much rain. You should find some in the cooc site willing to sell it for about 20 per gallon. Good luck.