The crowd facing olive oil sommelier Nicola Di Noia was well-behaved but not always attentive.

Some began to tune out when he started talking about the importance of buying extra virgin olive oil at a specialty shop and not to skimp by buying any old €3 bottle at the supermarket.

Others were already busy with the colouring books and pencils laid out on the long tables in the conference room of the luxurious Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria. But Di Noia was unfazed.

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“Extra virgin olive oil is a fruit juice. It should be a little bitter. Don’t be afraid if it’s bitter,” he said.

An hour in, some restlessness was understandable. They were just children. Forty of them, aged four to nine, who had been brought by their parents – about a third of whom were also trained sommeliers, some of olive oil and some of wine – to a seminar to teach children about extra virgin olive oil.



The event was not a typical rite of passage for Italian youth. But it did point to the importance many Italians place on maintaining the country’s cultural and culinary heritage, a subject Di Noia said is often studied and appreciated more by tourists from Germany, Japan, and France than Italians.

Italy’s much-admired food heritage is so intricate that a dish typical in one part of the country, like a recipe with Genoa pesto, would never be served in a typical Roman restaurant. Experts in food – especially oil, cheese, and cured meat – take pride in explaining regional specialities, and place high value on the quality of the products.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Leonardo Politi, photographed by his mum, Stephanie Kirchgaessner, at the olive oil tasting. Photograph: Stephanie Kirchgaessner/The Guardian

“I think children are very important for the future. If they know how to use their senses, they can choose the correct food, and high quality food is important for our health,” said Di Noia, who is also responsible for oil and industrial crops at the Italian farming lobby group Coldiretti. “Children have a better sense of taste than adults and they haven’t been conditioned yet on the names of brands.”

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The seminar kicked off with the children sitting at long tables with white table cloths. They were given cups filled with fresh grass, basil, tomato, and a quarter of a raw artichoke, for smelling. They were also given half of a shiny green apple to clean their palate after each tasting. Good-quality oil ought to smell fresh, look cloudy and have a bitter taste, Di Noia explained.

He started the seminar with a talk on how oil is made, using a slideshow to show children how half-rotten olives found on the ground can be used to make cheap blends, instead of green olives still on the trees. The discussion soon moved on to oil’s health benefits and dire warnings of the consequences of poor eating.

At times, the lecture seemed to invite future family disagreements , such as Di Noia’s plea to children to force their parents to try oil before buying it. There were also practical tips: don’t keep oil next to the stove and store it in a dark place.

Once the lecture was over, a waiter began doling out the first of five samples of oil in little plastic cups, which Di Noia urged the children to warm in their hands, smell, and sip.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The different oils arranged on a tasting sheet. Photograph: Stephanie Kirchgaessner/The Guardian

Samples two and three, which were really bitter, made the whole room break out in coughs. “It’s ok, take a little sip. Drink some water,” Di Noia said. When he asked the room what they were smelling, one girl said she could smell grass.

Then came the fifth and last sample of the light-coloured oil. “And how is this one?” Di Noia said. “What does it smell like?”

A few kids shouted out “grass” and “artichoke”. This oil was of the worst blend. The smell was slightly acidic, almost like vinegar, Di Noia said, and the taste resembled fat.

The class ended on a high note. The students were offered three slices of bread, one with olive oil, one with pistachio olive oil spread and one with hazelnut and chocolate spread made with olive oil – rather than palm oil, as Nutella is.

Choosing quality, Di Noia said, was not just a matter of health, but also of caring about the environment and avoiding the use of palm oil. One child tugged on his mother’s sleeve. “Can I eat the Nutella bread now?”