Olive Oils Information

Where Can I Use Olive Oils?

From the olive tree, native to Mediterranean areas comes one of the oldest foods known in the world. In the Bible, the olive tree is mentioned very often, also in the Garden of Gethsemane and famous in the Jewish custom, where the oil miraculously burned for eight days. Olive oils retain a major place today, a subject of gastronomic delights, winning admiration from nutritionists as a healthy way to prevent cholesterol problems.

Many countries where olive trees thrive declare that the olive oils they produce locally is superior. There exist many grades, with various uses suitable to a given cooking purpose. To the common cook, the issue of olive oils may get unclear. When do you use extra virgin, cold-pressed oil? To dress your salad perfectly, which kind of oils is suitable? And what is best for regular cooking? Spanish or Italian? Let's try to sort out some of the mystery by taking a quick look at what's available.

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 what about country of origin? Italy, Spain, Greece and France all have fertile olive producing regions, and vie with one another for the top position in purity and quality.

The truth is that each olive growing region has soil and climate conditions, producing 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. Climate and soil makeup procure a unique flavor, amounting to plain preference or affinity of particular oils to foods within the same locale.

Olive Oils Grading is Important

The grading of olive oils is something else. 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. This designation prescribes a maximum of 0.8% acidity, appropriate for the best salad dressing, where the superior flavor of the cold pressing is recognised.

Oils named "virgin" are considered a lower category, but still a satisfactory salad dressing quality. Virgin oliveoils may not contain more than 2% acidity, and must contain no refined oil. Virgin oils should not be used in cooking, as the subtle flavour will be lost in cooking.

Products just labelled "olive oil" do not aspire to strong or refined taste and are best suited to cooking. Also, a label that says "100% pure" or "Imported from Italy" can be misleading, implying a degree of quality that is not justified. Such stickers designate the lower end of quality, composites of oils from several countries, appropriate to frying without the fine distinctive flavours and low acidity of virgin olive oils.

Among chefs, olive oil is a cult thing. It's important to comprehend the different class if you want to succeed in your cooking. Anyhow, remember that these oils contain no cholesterol and it will do your heart good to understand the fine points. So there you are, 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.