My Grandmother

For Italians, olive oil is a sign of civilization as much as democracy. It has run through our culture for centuries. My Grandmother used it for cooking and as a dressing. Once, at a restaurant her salad came with a Caesar dressing, she looked at me perplexed “What, are we animals? Where is the olive oil?” Before the arrival of traditional soaps, she used it to make face masks or moisturizer or even soap. It was a medicine: it lined your stomach. She even used it to remove “the evil eye”! The Romans and Greeks used it extensively and not only as a dressing. It was used for lighting and for religious rituals.

Benefits of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

There have been many studies on the benefits of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. In his book, The Blue Zones, Dan Buettler describes how it helps longevity. It is known that Extra Virgin Olive Oil can help prevent cancer, assimilate vitamins, improve digestion and lower your bad cholesterol. It is low in saturated fat and high in omega-3 fatty acids that reduce the risk of heart disease.

What does a great Extra Virgin Olive Oil taste like?

A great Extra Virgin Olive Oil is pungent. A sip from a spoon will give you a a bitter and pungent sensation in the back of your throat. It will make you cough. A great Extra Virgin Olive Oil is not smooth!

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Scam

Back in 2016, the world of olive oil was hit by one of the biggest scams in history. Italy confiscated tons of fake Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which had little of Extra Virgin. The confiscated olive oil was cut with cheap vegetable oils. Once again, financial returns were placed ahead of value and quality. Nowadays, it seems a recurring theme. If my grandmother lived in a city like New York or London she would probably starve herself to death. No one more than her generation and all previous ones, believed in the saying “you are what you eat”. Makes you wonder, what the hell have we become if we constantly stuff ourselves with garbage?

Spotting a good Extra Virgin Olive Oil

London and New York supermarkets are inundated by Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It seems that Italy sells three times more Extra Virgin Olive Oil than it produces. Unless God has had a hand in it – he has a good track record in multiplying food – then the math does not work.

There are some ways to spot a scam. Here is a list:

Do not buy a blend or a light oil.

Is it priced below ten bucks? Then it’s probably a scam

Oil keeps better in dark bottles as it prevents oxidizing

Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Italy will have a “100% Qualità Italiana”. Look for the sticker

Same goes for North American Olive Oil. Look for a “NAOOA Certified Oil” sticker.

Buy Extra Virgin Olive Oil less than on year old, check for “pressed on” or “harvested on”. Ignore “bottled on”, that may just mean the oil was moved from storage to bottle.

Conclusion

The Romans and the Greeks understood the importance of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. They treasured it for its medicinal properties and it added taste to their food. Today, it is still widely used in the Mediterranean. To put things in perspective, Americans’ consumption is one tenth of that of Italians, and one twentieth of the Greeks.

Over time, greed has hindered the production of good Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Unfortunately, in big cities, a lot of it is just a scam. Yet, there are ways to find good Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Once you have tasted great Extra Virgin Olive Oil you will be pleasantly surprised on how much flavor it adds to the taste of food, whether in a salad or a cooked dish

If you want to explore this topic further, try Tom Mueller’s book Extra Virginity.