Liquid Gold Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: the affordable luxury that you can't afford to be without. By Nancy Ross Ryan Photo Courtesy of Castello Banfi

Sooner or later every food lover has an olive oil epiphany -- the moment when the epicure within awakens to the divine nature of extra-virgin olive oil. Mine came two and one-half years ago while lunching with Faith Willinger, the American food writer and contributing editor to Gourmet magazine, who has made her home in Florence for the past 23 years. Her cookbook Red, White & Greens (Harper Collins, 1996) had just been published and she was on a book tour. We were seated at one of the finest Italian restaurants in Chicago, and I was floored when Faith -- after tasting the house extra-virgin olive oil from the bottle on the table ("No, no, this won't do!") -- reached down into her Italian leather designer tote and pulled out a full-size, 750 ml., bottle of Castello di Ama extra-virgin olive oil from Tuscany. She asked the waiter to bring her a couple cloves of garlic, a pepper mill and some lightly toasted Italian country bread. That being done, she rubbed a clove of garlic briskly over the bread's toasted surface, opened her bottle and drizzled a generous amount of the olive oil on the toast. Then she sprinkled it lightly with salt and finished it off with a grind of black pepper. "Here," she said, "Fettunta!" Fettunta, or Tuscan-style garlic bread, turned out to be one of the recipes in her book and the most glorious morsel of food to cross my lips during the entire lunch. And it was all because of the olive oil. Yes, I had extra-virgin olive oil at home, a popular, moderately priced brand. But there was no comparison to the bottled liquid gold that she poured. Hers was to mine as day is to night, foie gras is to liverwurst, porcini to canned button mushrooms, and Camembert to cream cheese. I had unwittingly been buying the cream cheese of extra-virgin olive oils, simply because I thought all "extra virgin" olive oils were alike. Since that day of awakening, my kitchen and my palate have been revolutionized by the world's truly great extra virgin olive oils. I use them to cook with (a little goes a long, long way), and as an instant condiment that can lift any dish -- soup, sauce, salad and vegetables -- from mundane to extraordinary. And along the way I learned to distinguish marvelous from mediocre and the differences in taste among the best olive oils. The difference depends somewhat on the variety of olives used, but mostly on the method of harvest and extraction, and even the time of harvest. For example, my current two favorite extra-virgin olive oils are made, respectively, from four and from a single olive. The first is from Tuscany: Castello Banfi Extra-Virgin olive oil made from Moraioli, Frantoio, Olivastra di Montalcino and Rosciola varieties. It is fruity, fresh, pepppery -- as Tuscan oils tend to be -- lively and intense without being overpowering. The second is from California: Stutz Mission Reserve California Unfiltered Extra Virgin Olive Oil. As the label suggests, it is made from 100% mission olives. It is a late harvest oil, sweet and buttery, golden in color and slightly cloudy. There are two schools of thought when it comes to filtered vs. unfiltered oils. Ezio Rivella, Managing Director and Chief Enologist at Castello Banfi, Montalcino, Italy, says: "The advantages to an unfiltered olive oil are mainly esthetic -- initial color, natural appearance and intense flavor -- but short-lived. The advantages to a filtered, clean olive oil are much greater -- purity of flavor, clean taste and longer duration." However, Ken Stutz, olive oil producer and negociant (he sells quality oils of other growers in California, Italy and Spain), and presdient of the California Olive Oil Council, isn't so sure. "I'm not so sure they are short-lived, and I am a proponent of us getting used to a natural thing, which is oil in its unfilitered state. But as yet, there's no scientific proof, one way or the other." Both Stutz and Rivella agree on what it takes to produce a great olive oil: Careful attention to all phases of production starting with the careful pruning of the tree in late Spring, and attention to the trees which could be susceptible to attacks by insects and mold. Says Rivella, "Harvest in mid-November assures a good (low) acidity, though it is a sacrifice for quality over quantity as the total amount of oil produced would increase toward December and into January." The best way to harvest olives is by hand picking or raking, not by mechanical means.The last step is cold, soft pressing of the olives with a day of harvest, because the longer the olives sit after harvest the sooner they start to ferment -- which can ruin flavor. Olive oils do taste different, and everyone has favorites. Faith Willinger, of course, prefers the oils of Tuscany, because they are "peppery and intense." Stutz likes oils from all over the world, and in addition to his own Mission Reserve and Ascolano Reserve, favors the oils of Liguria, "because they're lighter, more delicate and great with seafood." Nancy Barocci, proprietor of Convito Italiano restaurant and market in Wilmette, Ill., one of the Midwest's pioneers in authentic Italian food and drink, has a hard time choosing among the constantly changing huge selection she stocks. But pressed to the wall, she says, "From Sicily, Olio Verde -- dark, green, unfiltered with an intense taste of the olive; from Tuscany, Castello di Ama and Cappezana; from Umbria, Mancianti Affiorato -- not as peppery as Tuscan oils and you can only get it certain times of the year; and from Liguria Ceppo Antico -- very golden and buttery. But," she adds, "that's today. Ask me tomorrow." Is there really a "best" olive oil? And are the extra-virgin olive oils of California as good as those from Italy? Says Barocci, "I think the best -- the very best -- of California oils are getting better and better." Says Stutz, "They have the same latitude, but use different olives. Their years of experience with blending allow them to narrow it down to almost a field mix -- they plant a mix of olives that will produce complex oils at the highest level. But in California, we tend to deal with varietal wines and varietal olive oils. We have a brusque forward 'here I am' flavor. We're a bold, New World country and our flavors to some degree are like that too." Olive Oil: From Syria to San Diego Vintage virgin: About 6,000 years ago, Semetic peoples in ancient Syria grew olives, made oil and exported it to Egypt where it was first used to anoint heads -- and not heads of lettuce. Egyptian worshippers of the goddess Isis used olive oil to anoint celebrants in religious ceremonies. Historians theorize that it was also a part of the diet of that time. Syria or Crete? Some sources insist the olive tree (olea europaea) was native not to Syria but to Crete, where it was called, Elaia, a Greek word. (The logic being that if the olive tree was introduced to Crete from Syria where the language was Hebrew, a Hebrew name for the tree would have been used.) Those noble Greeks: By 2500 B.C. the Minoans on Crete produced and traded olive oil, most importantly to Greece. And the Greeks spread the use of olives and olive oil throughout the Mediterranean, where it was used not only in cooking but as a lamp oil, a medicine, a lubricant and a salve. Masseurs in public baths rubbed customers with olive oil. Greek law forbade damaging an olive tree, and the olive branch and olive oil came to symbolize permanence and perseverance and nobility of character. Holy oil: Biblical references to olive oil abound. In the book of Exodus, the Lord gives Moses a recipe for a holy annointing oil using olive oil and spices. And olive oil is mentioned in the Koran. The Romans and Arabs continued to spread olive tree cultivation and oil production throughout the Mediterranean and northern Africa. And even the royalty of Europe adopted the ritual of annointing newly crowned heads with olive oil. New World oil: Spanish Jesuits brought olives to the New World, first to Mexico. And then, in 1769, Franciscan fathers from Mexico founded the first California mission: San Diego de Alcala. Two decades later, California-grown olives were pickled for eating and pressed into oil there. In 1871 the first commercially produced olive oil came from the Camulos mill in Ventura, and by 1885 California olive growers were producing some very fine olive oil. But just a few years later -- under pressure of lower prices from imported olive oils and the American public's growing taste for bland, neutral-tasting oils -- California olive oil production dropped sharply, and most California olives were canned. (Those ubiquitous canned mild-flavored pitted black olives are picked green and chemically ripened, then canned.) Then in the '60s and '70s, the health food movement turned Americans' attention to olive oil; Americans began to travel abroad; and along came the Mediterranean Diet of the '80s. Soon America was importing 22 million gallons of olive oil yearly. California resumed production of olive oil -- about 300,000 gallons a year -- but much of it was chemically refined and a far cry from extra-virgin olive oil. But less than a decade ago, in California wine country, extra-virgin olive oil was reborn, this time as a boutique industry, pioneered by individuals who either revived neglected orchards (olive trees seldom die), or imported olive trees from Italy to start orchards. (Some producers -- such as the Sciabica family in Modesto, California, have been producing extra virgin olive oils along with commercial grade oils since 1936.) Although, California now boasts more than 50 labels of extra-vrigin olive oil -- some selling for $50 per 17-ounce bottle -- theirs is still a fledgling industry, much like the wine industry was in the 1960s. And like Caifornia's wine industry, it is destined for growth. International olive oil: Olive oil is produced in many countries, but the largest producers of olive oil, in order, are Spain, Italy and Greece, producing 80% of the world's olive oil. The United States, i.e., California, produces less than 1 percent -- but we consume 3 to 4 percent. Very little, if any, is used for anointing. Reading the Label Refined olive oil: virgin olive oil that has been refined chemically to correct flavor, color and odor. Pure Olive Oil: cold-pressed without chemicals or heat from 100 percent olives, this is a blend (to insure consistent color and flavor batch after batch) of extra-virgin and refined oil. It must have an acidity level of less than 1.5 percent. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: must be cold-pressed, by mechanical means only, solely from olives, have an acidity level of less than 1 percent and have a perfect taste according to taste standards established by the International Olive Oil Council. Product of Italy or Bottled in Italy: Even on extra virgin oil either of these terms may simply mean that the oil was made in Italy from olives grown there or olives imported from another country, or else bottled in Italy from oil imported from elsewhere. Prodotto e imbottigliato: Means the oil has been produced from olives grown on and also bottled on a single estate -- a better guarantee of quality. Certified Extra Virgin by the California Olive Oil Council: The California Olive Oil Council was formed by producers to set standards, and this seal on California olive oil is their guarantee of quality in production and taste. Vintage date: Because olive oil, unlike most wines, should be consumed within the first year after bottling, a vintage date insures freshness. In the case of a very late harvest -- January or February. Ken Stutz favors labeling these oils as such, for example, an oil harvested and bottled in January or February, 1999, he feels should be labeled 1998/99. Tasting Notes To conduct an olive oil tasting, assemble four or five different extra-virgin olive oils. You may choose oils from the same region (say California or Tuscany), from different regions (Tuscany, Liguria, Calabria, Abbruzzi, etc.), or from different countries (France, Spain, Italy, United States, and Greece). One of the oils might well be a moderately priced commercial oil. Pour a little of each oil into a small clean wine glass. Cup the glass in your palm to warm it and cover the top. Warm and swirl. Uncover the top and sniff the aroma. Sip a small amount, about one-half teaspoon. Judge the mouthfeel (smooth and light, not greasy and heavy). Then suck in air through teeth to discover the flavors. Cleanse the palate with fresh apple before proceeding to the next oil. You will be tasting as much for defects and for positive attributes. Defects: Any flavor(s) that could be described as musty, winey-vinegary-acid-sour; muddy (sediment), metallic, rancid. Positive attributes: Any flavor(s) that could be described as: fruity, pleasantly bitter, pungent. Stutz says, "Don't look for color. It has nothing to do with quality. Green oil is not better than golden. The olive or the harvest date produces the color." And, he adds, "When you fall in love with an oil, consider the kinds of foods it would complement."

GOURMET ISSUE - May 1999

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