Italians seek to reclaim olive oil
A related posts here.
ROME, Italy (Reuters) — When you buy a bottle of olive oil, the rolling Tuscan hills on the label and the “made in Italy” stamp should reassure you the product is as Italian as Chianti or Armani. In fact, there is no guarantee the oil is from Italy.
That would change under a bill that forces manufacturers to declare where their oil comes from, meaning many famous brands would have to reveal, for the first time, that most of their “Italian” oil is actually from places like Spain and Tunisia.
“It’s a con, pure and simple, like selling Gucci which isn’t Gucci, or a Rolex which isn’t a Rolex,” said Massimo Gargano, head of Unaprol, the Italian olive producers’ association.
Italy’s olive farmers have convinced the government to change the current rules which allow oil to be labeled as Italian as long as it is blended in Italy even if, as is often the case, it has been trucked in from overseas.
Italy is both the biggest exporter and importer of olive oil, but its annual production, of around 650,000 tonnes is not enough to satisfy even domestic demand for the ingredient at the heart of the Mediterranean diet.
Unaprol estimates that only around 20 percent of “Italian” olive oil is from olives grown in Italy.
Posted in Europe | U.K, Olive Oil by: Olives101
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Have You Ever Wondered How Bitter Olives From A Tree Become Edible?
Pick an olive off any olive tree and pop it nto your mouth. Now chew it… Did it taste good? No – It didn’t taste too good the time I tried it either! Olives, with few exceptions, that are found on trees are hard, bitter and not at all like the succulent things you find in supermarkets.
The secret is in the curing…
And once they have been cured they can be stored with any number of flavoring to give your cured olives a very distinctive taste of its own. The procedure is as follows:
For green olives, crack the olive meat with a mallet or similar object, then steep it in cold water, in a pan for several days. You should change the water several times during this time. You are removing the bitterness, so check by tasting an olive or two until the bitterness is gone.
When the olives have lost their bitterness they are ready for the next stage. Prepare a large pan with a 1 to 10 ratio of sea water (preferably) to ordinary water: that is, one part sea water to ten parts ordinary water.
It will take several days, perhaps three or four, before the olives can be eaten. That’s it! That’s all it takes to cure your own olives.
For black olives the procedure is slightly different. Slice through the meat of the olives from top to bottom with a sharp knife, but not cutting the pips, then steep the olives in a brine solution – 1 part sea water to ten parts ordinary water – for three weeks. During this time you will need to change the water three or four times and shake up the olive / brine solution vigorously at least once a day.
If, after three weeks they taste horrible, then leave them for another week and check again. Keep doing this until they are ready. When they are ready you need to store them in such a way that they will retain their good flavour. Prepare a jar, or jars, of solution with one parts sea water to ten parts ordinary water. Add four or five tablespoons of vinegar – red vinegar works well – and seal the top with a stopper of olive oil – a thin layer to keep the flavour in.
There are other ways to improve the flavour of olives, but the foregoing works well. Experiment a little and see if you can improve on it. I’ll bet you can!
Posted in Recipes by: Olive101
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Beyond Extra Virgin: Italo-Californian Olive Oil Conference
May 22-23, Tuesday and Wednesday — “Beyond Extra Virgin: Italo-Californian Olive Oil Conference” will bring together olive growers; olive oil producers, processors and marketers; food service providers and restaurateurs; and researchers and educators to discuss current practices and potential new innovations in producing and marketing consistently high-quality olive oils.
Experts and scientists will make recommendations for new standards in branding and promoting high-quality olive oils. A new organization, Association TREE, which promotes ethics, excellence and effectiveness in olive oil production, will be introduced. Talks, tasting, displays, posters and other opportunities for networking will be offered.
The conference, hosted by UC Davis’ California Institute of Food and Agricultural Research, will be held in Freeborn Hall. It is open to the public, with a registration fee of $125 for general admission and $25 for students. More information and registration is available online here
Posted in California, Olive Oil by: Olives101
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SMA-Medfood 2007 pour la promotion de l’huile d’olive
Ameur nous fait part sur le forum de la dernière édition du SMA-Med Food qui est un salon agroalimentaire Tunisien pour la promotion de l’agriculture et l’huile d’olive tunisienne dans le bassin méditerranéen.
Pour nos lecteurs Tunisiens, le salon est ouvert jusqu’au 19 mai.
plus d’info ici
Posted in en Français, Huile d'Olive, Tunisie by: Olives101
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Olive Oil – The Green Gold of Spain
Some 95% of the world’s production of olive oil comes from the Mediterranean region. Many countries, notably France, Italy, Spain and Greece produce an amazing amount of olive oil. These countries has few reserves of black oil, but plenty of green oil!
Extra virgin is the type of olive oil that is most prized. The oil must have an acidity of less than 1% in order to meet the standard. A panel of expert tasters must also pass the oil as extra virgin before it is unleashed on the waiting world.
Olive oil has been described as the world’s healthiest food, and quite rightly too! In all parts of the Mediterranean you will find olive oil as a central part of every main meal. People simply look puzzled if you ask them why – they can’t imagine eating without it.
Of course, it’s not just the fine taste and its excellent cooking qualities that make olive oil so special. It has properties that help protect the heart and can help reduce excess cholesterol. It is also thought to possibly help to fight off breast and colon cancer. You don’t need a good reason to consume olive oil, but those reasons do make it a little bit more compelling. The Mediterranean people, of course, just eat it because they love it!
Posted in Health, Olive Oil by: Olive101
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