Olive Oils Information

Where Can I Use Olive Oils?

One of the oldest foods known to mankind comes from the olive tree, native to Mediterranean regions. The olive tree is mentioned frequently in the Bible, also in the Garden of Gethsemane and famous in the Jewish custom, where the oil burned miraculously for eight days. Olive oils occupy a prominent role these days, a subject of culinary delights, winning praises from nutritionists as a healthy way to prevent cholesterol problems.

Many countries where olive trees thrive claim superiority in their locally produced olive oils. There are various categories, with different uses suitable to a given gastronomic purpose. To the average cook, the subject of olive oils can get unclear. When do you use cold-pressed, extra virgin oil? Which types of oils are suitable to dress your salad to perfection? And what is best for regular cooking? Spanish or Italian? Let's take a quick look at what's available and try to clarify some of the mystery.

All olive oils don't have one constituent you can find in almost every other type of oil - cholesterol. So, when you choose olive oils, you know you're making a healthy diet choice.

Now let's talk about country of origin? Italy, Spain, Greece and France all have prolific olive producing areas, and compete with each other for the top position in quality and purity.

The truth is that each olive growing region has climate and soil conditions, giving a different character to the oliveoils produced and doesn't have much to do with an inherent level of quality that can be identified as superior or inferior. Soil makeup and climate provide a distinctive essence, amounting to plain preference or affinity of special oils to foods within the same locale.

Olive Oils Grading is Important

The grading of olive oils is another story. Grading defines the refinement of the product, mostly apparent in the acidity.

The "extra virgin" label is designated to the first "cold" pressing of the olives. A maximum of 0.8% acidity is prescribed by this designation, suitable for the best salad dressing, where the top flavor of the cold pressing stand out.

Oils called "virgin" are known to be a lower category, but still a satisfactory salad dressing quality. Virgin oliveoils must not contain more than 2% acidity, and must contain no refined oil. As the delicate flavor will be lost in cooking, virgin oils should not be wasted in cooking.

Products plainly branded "olive oil" do not aspire to strong or refined taste and are best suited to cooking. Likewise, a label saying "Imported from Italy" or "100% pure" can be confusing, implying a degree of quality that is not warranted. Such labels point out the lower end of quality, composites of oils from several countries, suitable to frying without the fine distinctive essence and low acidity of virgin olive oils.

Olive oil is a cult thing among cooks. It's important to understand the different class if you want to succeed in your cooking. Anyhow, don't forget that these oils contain no cholesterol and it will do your heart good to understand the fine points. So here you go, I hope you will look at olive oils in a different way from now on. Your health is important and using olive oil is one way to help it.