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Villalonga Olives — illustration

Villalonga Olives

L’olive à huile valencienne, souvent assemblée à la Blanqueta — une huile fruitée et aromatique.

The Villalonga is a Valencian oil olive of Spain’s eastern Levant coast, grown around the province of Valencia. It gives a fruity, aromatic oil with a fresh green character and a gentle bitterness, and it is classically blended with the local Blanqueta to build the region’s protected oils. A regional, less-famous Spaniard worth knowing.

Origin
Valencia · Spain
Type
Oil olive
Colour
Green to black
Flavour (oil)
Fruity, aromatic, gently bitter
Role
Blended with Blanqueta
Region
Spanish Levant coast
Best for
Aromatic regional oil

Valencia’s oil olive

Beyond the Andalusian oceans of Picual lies a patchwork of regional Spanish olives, and the Villalonga is Valencia’s. Its oil is fruity and aromatic, fresh and green with a moderate bitterness — pleasant on its own and a natural partner for the small, pale Blanqueta in the protected oils of the Valencian Community.

Worth knowing

Like many regional Spanish varieties, Villalonga is more often part of a named local blend than a solo star. A protected Valencian oil — Villalonga and Blanqueta together — is a good way to taste a corner of Spain the export shelves rarely show.

Substitutes

BlanquetaIts Valencian blending partner.
ArbequinaA soft, fruity Catalan oil olive.
FrantoioA similarly aromatic, balanced oil.
In the kitchen: an aromatic, fresh oil for salads, rice dishes and vegetables — from the Valencian coast that gave the world paella.