“Mama” is the nickname I’ve given to our host’s mother, Angelica,—the 73-year-old who can spin circles around me in the olive grove climbing trees, plucking olives, sawing branches, and popping up above the crest of the highest tree in a moment’s notice.
Here are a few delicious details about olives:
1. Don’t fall for “Light” or “Lite” olive oil. That’s the fancy American marketing term for low quality. The flavorless oil isn’t any lighter in calories or fat and there’s no official definitional of “light” or “lite” by any regulating agencies including the International Olive Council (IOC). If you see “lite” olive oil, keep on shopping for the good stuff.
2. “First press” is a century old term no one uses any more. Years ago, oil was created through hydraulic presses, today the vast majority of oil is made through a continuous centrifugal presses like what we’ve seen here in Croatia. The leftovers—a brownish, green muddy mix of leaves, pits, and skins—are sometimes re-processed to squeeze out the last drops of oil, but again, you don’t want this kind of oil.
3. Extra Virgin Olive Oils vary widely in taste, appearance, and color, and have no taste defects. They have a free acidity rate of no more than .8 gramps per 100 grams (.8%) and account for less than 10% of oil in many countries. If you’re going to spring for the good stuff, go extra virgin olive oil.
4. Virgin Olive Oil is a slightly lower quality than extra virgin olive oil—with more free acidity. Ordinary virgin oil has even higher acidity with notable defects. The classification may soon become “Lapante Virgin Oil” which is not fit for consumption as is—and comes from bad fruit or careless processing.
5. Olive oils range in flavor from mild to strong, vary widely in aromas, leave differing impressions in the throat, and offer a range in bitterness and flavor. When tasting olive oil, drink from a blue glass to hide the oil’s color and decrease visual bias in your assessment.
*Photo courtesy of here
