10 Apr

Port Lincoln, South Australia: Record olive harvest expected

The region’s olive trees are bursting with fruit this year, after a low yield in 2007 due to drought.
The olive industry is looking up for Eyre Peninsula, with a record amount of olives, according to olive press operator and olive grower Peter Green.
Mr Green started harvesting his olives with the mechanical harvester he part-owns [...]

08 Mar

what does ‘extra-virgin’ really mean?

Bee Wilson looks into the murky world of olive oil.
‘Extra-virgin’ suggests great purity. It sounds even better in Italy, land of superlatives and Madonnas: extravergine. It rolls off the tongue like a prayer. So it’s a shame that much Italian extra-virgin olive oil - perfect oil from the first pressing of olives - is anything [...]

31 Aug

Dipping bread into olive oil with red pepper flakes and thyme is a great tradition in Turkish culinary culture

It is said that there are two trees in Paradise: The fig and olive. The olive is the “Tree of Life.” The olive is no doubt an “immortal tree” that is eternalized in symbols, myths, legends, poems, novels and paintings. It is a symbol of holiness, plenty, justice, health, pride, victory, prosperity, wisdom, intelligence, purity [...]

23 Aug

What to look for in olive oil

Olive oil is different from other cooking oils in many ways. The most important differences to consumers and cooks are its heart-healthy properties and its taste. Unlike vegetable oils, it has one.
It can be evaluated like wine, especially extra-virgin olive oil that comes from the first pressing of olives grown in one grove or region. [...]

07 Aug

Olive oil facts

All olive oils have 14 grams of fat per tablespoon.
Spain is the world’s largest producer of olive oil.
Extra-virgin olive oil, the highest class of olive oils, is from the first pressing of the olive. It never comes into contact with chemicals or heat and is less than 1 percent acid. It has the fruitiest, most [...]

30 Jul

Linda Stafford demystifies extra-virgin olive oil

It’s not always the label on the wine bottle that attracts admiring attention at dinner parties.
Sometimes it’s on the one containing green-gold extra-virgin olive oil.
In the past 7 years there has been a small revolution in the winelands that has nothing to do with grapes. It gathered momentum when Italy’s Giulio Bertrand bought Somerset West’s [...]

24 Jul

UK: Extra virgin is the essential oil and sales hit new high as taste rules

By Martyn McLaughlin,
It is revered by chefs as the finest olive oil money can buy, and now Britain’s consumers are choosing to drizzle with the extra virgin variety in record numbers.
Sales of the oil reached an all-time high £71 million in the UK last year as Britons adopted a healthier Mediterranean diet.
Despite its high price, [...]

22 Jul

All you wanted to know about Olives and Olive Oil

Here is a very complete article by Peggy Trowbridge Filippone, on Olives and Olive Oil which includes history, information on olive varieties, and usage tips.
Part 1: The only difference between green olives and black olives is ripeness
Long a symbol of peace, the olive branch brings us a marvelous, healthy fruit. Get up to date on [...]

01 Jul

Pilot plant to treat olive vegetable water

The Environment Ministry will establish a pilot plant by the end of this year to treat the liquid residue of the olive-pressing process, as it pollutes the soil and water resources.
The JD500,000 EU-funded plant, to be built either at the Ikeider holding area or the Jordan University of Science and Technology, will start operating within [...]