Extra Virgin Suicide

[alden]

I wonder what happens with the mechanical shakers after the plant reaches maturity.

It's the trunk of the tree that become too large for the mechanical shakers to have sufficient effect. It will take many decades before the trunk reaches such dimensions. All of the trees on my farm are over a hundred years old, some nearing a thousand. The trunks and supporting branches of these trees are massive. The mechanical shaker would have no effect on them.

Handheld mechanical harvesters can be used to shake thinner branches on mature trees. These can very effective and do not damage fruit as much as the big tractor like machines. But the highest quality olive oil is obtained by early harvesting, when the olives are still very green and hard. At this stage they are also attached very tightly and shaking a branch is not enough to make them fall into the nets. The olives have to be removed by hand. The shakers work best for mature, softer olives that are past their prime but render a greater volume of oil.

So how do you tell the difference as a consumer? First by the color, a real early harvest oil will be a bright and vivid green. A lesser oil will be yellow. You can also distinguish the difference by smell. A green early harvest oil will fill your senses with a strong aroma. And finally by taste, an early harvest oil, especially one that has been recently pressed, will have a strong peppery after taste. It can be very strong, so if you are tasting the oil, only allow a bit into your mouth, then spit it out and wash your oral cavity with water. If it burns a bit, you know you have good stuff if combined with the good color and aroma described above. This peppery quality will diminish over time, normally between 1-3 mos after pressing.

A good early harvest oil is abundant with flavor, and aromas. It maintains these qualities longer than a mediocre oil will. The catch? Harvesting olives early, when they are hard, requires all work be done by hand, and these hard olives render less oil. So? Its more expensive to produce...and buy! There are no free lunches in life my friends!

Cheers

[robert_n]

The only free cheese I know of sits on the mousetrap.

Thanks for the olive primer. I've just been inspired to buy 30 litres of prime, locally produced product.

[Gido]

Wow. I go through 2 or 3 liters a year. And, as with good green Chinese tea, after a year I want to celebrate the fresh crop.

[robert_n]

Part is gifted, the rest is consumed among family.☺

[alden]

Robert

Gido is right. Olive oil is not like wine with respect to longevity. Depending on the cultivar of olive, it will be only good for cooking or soap, in about a year's time. There are cultivars of olive that can maintain their flavors and aroma two years, but they are very rare. So buy only what you will use and gift.

I keep about 30 litres of my production each year for my own use. About 12 is consumed at home and the rest is gifted.

Cheers

Michael

[Gido]

Part is gifted, the rest is consumed among family.☺

I have to agree with that! A bottle of good extra virgin olive oil makes a great gift.

[Aristide]

This just in:

Olive Oil Market
US olive oil pushing gov’t to test imported oils
Posted: 18 Feb 2014 01:37 AM PST

It’s a pressing matter for the tiny U.S. olive oil industry: American shoppers more often are going for European imports, which are cheaper and viewed as more authentic.

And that’s pitting U.S. producers against importers of the European oil, with some likening the battle to the California wine industry’s struggles to gain acceptance decades ago.

The tiny California olive industry says European olive oil filling U.S. shelves often is mislabeled and lower-grade oil, and they’re pushing the federal government to give more scrutiny to imported varieties. One congressman-farmer even goes so far as suggesting labels on imported oil say “extra rancid” rather than “extra virgin.”

Imposing stricter standards might help American producers grab more market share from the Europeans, who produce in bulk and now have 97 percent of the U.S. market.

Olive oil production is growing steadily. The domestic industry, with mostly high-end specialty brands, has gone from 1 percent of the national olive oil market five years ago to 3 percent today. Most of the production is in California, although there are smaller operations in Texas, Georgia and a few other states.

Seeking to build on that, the domestic industry has mounted an aggressive push in Washington, holding olive oil tastings for members of Congress and lobbying them to put stricter standards on imports. The strategy almost worked last year when industry-proposed language became part of a massive farm bill passed out of the House Agriculture Committee.

[Aristide]

And on the UK front:


New European Union olive oil regulations oversee in UK
Posted: 13 Feb 2014 07:58 AM PST
The Rural Payments Agency’s (RPA) Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate has been chosen In the UK to oversee the New European Union olive oil regulations.

The RPA is confident about enforcing the new regulations, on the back of its claimed success with the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) performance. Here, the RPA paid £1.61billion ($2.62billion) in subsidies to more than 100,650 English farmers.

New European Union olive oil regulations have been introduced in a bid to protect and reassure consumers. The move aims to help ensure all products bought by those residing in an EU state are both authentic and labelled correctly.

The regulations involve frequent checks at bottlers and in the retail sector. Samples will be taken for chemical laboratory testing, while specialists will be brought in to analyze oils for taste.

Product labels will be examined to ensure they meet EU standards, which apply across all member states. Olive oil bottling establishments will face inspection, and samples of records, storage and production facilities can be checked by regulators on demand.

The new rules, set in the Commission Implementing Regulation and the Commission Regulation, came into force on January 1 this year. They are the latest indication from the EU of its concern for the quality of olive oil being sold across its 28 member states. Read more at OliveOilTimes

[Gido]

One more thing about storage, don't think that those very dark bottles will protect your precious oil effectively from the destruction caused by direct sunlight. It is deceptive and it does not help that much. Never ever leave your good oil in the kitchens' windowsill.

[robert_n]

I like the stainless steel, watering-can dispenser for serving oil.

[lxlloyd]

I've heard of very similar scams going on with Honey, in particular Manuka.

[schmayck]

My love for the liquid gold started when I lived in Spain. The problem with the pricing of oil is the massive intervention of the EU common agricultural policy that distorts the market (usually benefiting the large agro-industrial corps, at the expense of the little guy). The consumers are now used to ridiculously low prices and will very reluctantly accept to pay the real value. Just my 2c.

[cathach]

My love for the liquid gold started when I lived in Spain. The problem with the pricing of oil is the massive intervention of the EU common agricultural policy that distorts the market (usually benefiting the large agro-industrial corps, at the expense of the little guy). The consumers are now used to ridiculously low prices and will very reluctantly accept to pay the real value. Just my 2c.

The CAP subsidises farmers and landowners, and as you say contributes to high prices on the shop shelf. Not to the extent you might think as vast amounts of profit are swallowed by the multiples. Beef is sold at E1/kg on the hoof and sold at E10-E20/kg.

[Aristide]

And on the Sicilian front:

"The boss of Sicilian Mafia group Cosa Nostra, Matteo Messina Denaro, has been dedicating his time to olive oil production, apparently producing extra virgin olive oil in a corrupt business that goes by the name “Fontane D’Oro” of Trapani, Sicily, Italian police said."

Is nothing sacred??

http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil- ... oss/44979

[Concordia]

Extra virgin-- a distinction that only an Italian would think to make.