Olive Oil

Olive oil has become one of the most popular and used oil among many this past decade; but are they all created equal? I have provided a simple guide on how to select the best olive oil. Full disclosure, high quality olive oil does come at a price. This is why I brought back many bottles when I was in Italy. You can definitely get them for half the price there.

— First look at the origin—

Good extra virgin olive oil (this is the best type) should be grown, pressed and bottled in a single country. “Product of Italy” does not necessarily indicate that the olives are grown or pressed in Italy, only that it was packaged there.  Read the label and all the information will be provided there. Make sure that it states specifically where the olives were grown and pressed. 

The bottle should also indicate that it was "cold-pressed" . This means that no heat was used to extract the oil from the olives. Adding heat to the olives allows producers to extract more oil from the olives, but can also destroy the antioxidant's that we so badly want in our olive oil. It also alters the taste. You get better tasting olive oil when it is cold-pressed.

Authenticity is also crucial.  Extra virgin oil must pass many tests. One of the most important test is the organoleptic test. One factor to this test is to check that the oleic acidity is below 0.8% at press. This information can also be found on the bottle. If it is 0.8% or less you are getting high quality extra virgin oil. 

These are ways to ensure that you are getting the highest level of antioxidants in your olive oil without compromising taste.