Best Olive Oil Buys - a Review

San Rafael - Globe trotting olive oil expert Judy Ridgway has published an oil directory of hand chosen oils from around the world.  Best Olive Oil Buys Round the World is a great aid to purchasing oil and required reading for the olive oil fan who wants to explore some of the globe's newer producing areas.  135 oils from Australia to Uruguay are described in detail.  Judy is one of the judges for the international Leone d'Oro awards for olive oil and travels extensively to lecture and write about olive oil.  She has visited the production facilities and groves of many of the oils listed.

Her book is compact and packed with information in a very readable format.  Each oil description includes product pictures, tasting notes, suggested uses, ranking and essential information such as location, products and tour availability.

The book is divided into novel but useful taste categories: Sweet and Subtle, Good All Round and Strong and Punchy oils.  She has also included a section on branded and supermarket oils. 

Judy has squeezed a wealth of useful tips and information into an introductory section.  She talks about taste and flavor, definitions, cooking with olive oil, nutrition, composition and gives a quick review of each of the world's major growing regions.  The layout is clean and easy to read with nice fonts and some short useful sections on varieties, bottles, how to use olive oil, etc. 

As usual Ms. Ridgway is brutally honest and quickly cuts through the marketing hype, myths and hyperbole of the industry.  She is not afraid to say that organic, unfiltered, cold press, or even low acidity don't always mean an oil is worth tasting.  She blasts meaningless terms such as "special selection" and is not keen about corks and pour spouts but encourages "sell by" dates, "High Standard" designation and peroxide disclosure. 

California oils which made her list include Davero, McEvoy Ranch, Prato Lungo, Stella Cadente, Storm Olive Ranch, V.J. Buck, Wente and Zadez Estate (Frantoio). 

This very useful and informative book can be ordered through Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble

The World of Olive Oil

by Judy Ridgway

The “world of olive oil” is a phrase which is in frequent use these days but not many people appreciate that olive oil really is a world commodity. Europe may still dominate the market but Argentina and Australia are set to become significant players in the next three or four years. Add to this the oils from California, Mexico, South Africa, New Zealand and Chile which are appearing in their home markets and experimental work in China and elsewhere which could produce significant amounts of oil in the future.

Nor are these newer oils set to remain in their home markets. Some of them are already chasing the export markets of the world and more will need to do so as competition at home heats up. The criteria for inclusion in my latest book “Judy Ridgway’s Best Olive Oil Buys Round The World” was that an extra virgin oil must not only come up to exacting taste and flavour standards but must also be on sale in either the US or the UK or be available on the internet.

I carried out all the tastings in 2002 and was able to include eight Californian oils, nine Australian oils, four New Zealand oils, two South African oils and one Uruguayan oil accounting for around 20% of a total of around 125 oils. I have great hopes of increasing this percentage in the next edition.

A very interesting aspect of my researches has been the comparison of the way in which these growing new industries are tackling the international market place. In Australia emphasis is placed on the hope that all the oil will be of premium quality and that they will be able to bottle and sell them in competition not only with “estate oils” from other regions but also with the newer locally bottled brands which are hitting the northern European supermarkets.

Australian producers are also talking to the smaller European packers, mainly in Italy, about supplying oil mid-way through the European season. This could act as a fall-back position if the premium oil strategy fails and has the attraction to the Europeans of new oil at a time when stocks might be starting to fall and or to deteriorate. The 2003 market would have been a great year to illustrate the sense in such a strategy as the European harvest was a particularly bad one in terms of quality.

Argentina seems to be taking a different course. It is difficult to find any olive oil in the European market which is labeled as coming from Argentina. The strategy here seems to depend more on selling into the commodity market to the international olive oil packers or keeping to the home market.

It is, of course, too early to see how the other new producers plan to go, but there are already some South African and New Zealand oils pushing into specialist retailers and foodie websites.

There is a good deal of confidence in the newer producing areas and this is how it should be but complacence should be avoided. Any idea that Europe is somehow resting on its laurels and getting lazy is quite wrong. My recent travels have shown that traditional producers are well aware that innovation is the best way to keep on top.

New ideas range from the introduction by a single producer of a frozen olive oil which is sent out by mail order and marketed as “straight from the press” to the increasing number of producers who are taking up the new system of removing the stones from the olives before pressing the flesh for oil. Others are going even further and following the “Veronelli” system of defining microclimates and keeping varietals separate. (for more information on these two innovations see the section on Tuscany in the Travel Diary on my website at www.oliveoil.org.uk

Olive Oil Culinary Guild Meeting

by Susan Sullivan

Corte Madera - Recently I was a guest at an Olive Oil Culinary Guild meeting in Sonoma.  Their purpose is to sponsor activities that educate food professionals, olive oil producers, and consumers on the flavor components and cooking applications of quality olive oil. 

We tasted five oils and four chocolate brownies made with olive oils.  The oils were all rated favorably by members of the group.  I was surprised that one of our favorites was an oil that had been pressed in 2000 and was a year past the “best used by” date stamped on the bottle.  It was obviously not yet past its prime!

 
Of the brownies, the favorite by far was the one made with Orange Olive Oil produced by Nick Sciabica & Sons.  The least favorite turned out to be the one made with real butter!  So for a healthier and tastier brownie, substitute olive oil for butter.  I have included the recipe and a conversion chart below.
 
The guild currently has seven different regional tasting groups with no more than 20 members per regional guild.  Members include chefs, oil makers, food writers, winemakers, and consumers.  For further information contact Gabrielle Leonhard, project coordinator and author of The Ultimate Guide to American Olive Oil at Gabrielle@winecountryliving.com.

CONVERSION CHART OF BUTTER TO OLIVE OIL

EXTRA RICH BROWNIES

Adapted from The Art du Chocolat by Robert Linxe
 
Makes: 20 small brownies Preparation: 20 minutes   Cooking time: 25-30 minutes
 

1.   Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x10-inch rectangular baking pan.
2.   Coarsely chop the walnuts. Break the chocolate into pieces and place in the top of a double boiler to melt. Add the butter or olive oil and stir to blend. Remove from the heat. Set aside.
3.   In another bowl, combine the eggs, ground almonds, and sugar. Add to the melted chocolate and stir to blend.
4.   In another bowl, combine the baking soda and flour. Sift into the chocolate mixture. Stir to blend. Add the walnuts and stir again.
5.   Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove pan from the oven. Let stand for 5 minutes, then un-mold onto a cooling rack and cool completely. Cut into 3” squares for serving.
 
Tip:      These are best served cold.

Susan Sullivan specializes in co-packing, private labeling and brand development at the Olive Oil Source and can be reached at

Planting Olive Trees Seminar

The Planting Olive Trees/Olive Oil appreciation class at Napa Valley College-Upper Valley Campus in St. Helena last month attended by a sold out crowd. Dennis Black, Vice President of Novavine Grapevine Nursery and the facilitator of the day long class welcomed the group, which included several students representing wineries that were featured in the June 15 edition of Wine Spectator, highlighting “California’s New Olive Oils”. The history of the olive tree was described as well as how the olive oil industry has made a full circle in California, with the success of many olive oil brands in Napa and Sonoma counties.

Bill Wolf, Board of Directors, California Olive Oil Council (COOC) discussed the olive fruit fly and the latest methods to help olive tree growers. He also answered questions concerning the reinstatement of Section 18 for GF-120 (Spinosad), and made himself available to help any of the group in attendance with their future concerns.

The afternoon got off to a great start with Marvin Martin, author, lecturer, and chef to several wineries in the Napa Valley. Marvin discussed the different uses of olive oil in cooking, to include his recipe for olive oil ice cream (Wine Country Living April 2003). Marvin’s own olive oil (Oliodessa Olive Oil) recently won a gold in the Los Angeles County Fair. He shared the experience of making olive oil with the students in the class.

The final part of the afternoon was with Dr. Roberto Zecca, past president of the California Olive Oil Council and current tasting panel leader, who explained the terminology and the olive oil assessment profile sheet used by the International Olive Oil Council and adopted by the COOC. Dr. Zecca’s Frantoio-Zedez, Estate, Green Label also won a gold medal at the L.A. County Fair. Six different types of olive oil were poured into blue glasses for the students to learn how to differentiate the different characteristics of the oil (both perceptions of defects and positive attributes). Dr. Zecca explained how to taste olive oil as well as covering “why is sensory analysis of virgin olive oil necessary”. The class was able to follow along with the initial first tasting and then everyone started to participate with their own sensory evaluation, using the assessment profile sheet made available to them to pick out the character of olive oils.

The day ended on a happy note, with everyone agreeing that the California Olive Oil industry is here to stay and that the opportunities for marketing of good extra virgin olive oil is very important.  Check the Events section of the newsletter for upcoming seminars.

In the Competitive World of Olive Oil, The Tasting Field is not Level - It is Round

--At Carmel Valley, CA's 12th Annual TomatoFest ® there will be no level tasting field as olive oils from down under, back over , around the corner, to the left, to the right, underneath, overhead and wherever, all line up with the usual suspects for a truly 'round the world tasting twirl.--

Carmel Valley, CA (Aug 20) -- It will be a global gastronomic experience at this years International Olive Oil Pavilion during the September 14 TomatoFest® at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, CA.

Under the direction of Strictly Olive Oil's™ Betty Pustarfi, the third annual International Olive Oil Pavilion will have some two dozen premium oils from around the world for tasting and comparison.

Extra Virgin olive oils from Croatia, Chile, Israel, Turkey, Tunisia, New Zealand, Australia, Morocco, Portugal, South Africa, Argentine…all face off with the celebrated Med Fab Four -- Spain, Italy, France and Greece -- who have a few secret regional reserves of their own to bring into play. According to Pustarfi, who has been presenting national seminars and tastings since 1984 and who has traveled widely to olive oil producing countries, this is the first time to her knowledge that such a comprehensive offering has been assembled for the consumer, much less the food service and specialty food industry.

Discussion of the oils and their origins will be encouraged, says Pustarfi, and although there will be no on-site sales (or sales pitches!), descriptive literature and handouts listing sources will be available.

Gary Ibsen's Carmel TomatoFest® started out as a small get together for family and friends to celebrate the season's tomato harvest. Now in its 12th year it has become an annual food/wine celebration and fund raising event that attracts lovers of fine cuisine and full-flavored heirloom tomatoes also from around the world.

The olive oil pavilion is a tasty addition to the TomatoFest 's offering of more than 300 tomato varieties, a country BBQ, a selection of tomato dishes created by 50 of Central California's best restaurants, a wine tasting of more than 60 Monterey County premium wines, a tomato salsa showcase and other gastronomic pavilions.