Joy by Debbie Travis

Author:Debbie Travis [Travis, Debbie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House of Canada
Published: 2021-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

OLIVE OIL IN ALL ITS VARIETIES

Read the Label Carefully!

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL : Within hours after being picked by hand, the olives are taken to the mill to be pressed. Extra virgin olive oil is the result of this first pressing. Containing nothing but olives and sunshine, the oil’s colour can range from golden to forest green. The flavour is the stuff of legend—spicy and aromatic, evoking romantic visions of an unspoiled landscape. Each batch varies in taste depending on what grows in the earth around the trees. Olive oil from our farm can have hints of wild garlic, asparagus and oregano. (Commercial olive oil is usually an industrialized blend with a consistent flavour.) Make sure the label on the bottle says where the oil is produced. Even better, look for one that names the actual estate.

VIRGIN OLIVE OIL : The mulch from the first press is scooped up into containers and taken to a commercial outlet, where the remaining juice is extracted by chemical process. Virgin olive oil is a lower grade than extra virgin, and the nutritional benefits are lessened, as are the taste, aroma and quality.

REGULAR REFINED OLIVE OIL : Low-end olive oils are blended and heat-refined to remove any unwanted flavours or odours. The oil becomes bland and insipid, and there is a further decline in the health benefits of the product.

PURE OLIVE OIL : Don’t be fooled by that tender word pure. After being refined by chemical processes, less than 10 percent extra virgin olive oil remains in this product. It is flavourless and has little of the goodness left.

LIGHT OLIVE OIL : Now my blood really begins to boil. There is no one on the planet who reads the word light and does not decode it as meaning that a product has fewer calories than one without that designation. But the fat content and calories are the same here: oil is oil. There are approximately 120 calories per tablespoon in whatever edible oil you choose, including light olive oil. The word just means that the refining process makes this oil pale in colour and that the olive flavour is reduced to almost nil.

Bakers often tell me they don’t like the pronounced flavour of quality olive oil in their goods, which is why they opt to use light olive oil. In that case, as a healthier alternative, I suggest they should try almond, avocado or coconut oil.

COLD-PRESSED OLIVE OIL : Cold-pressing is a process used to extract the juice from the fruit, similar to squeezing an orange. In the old days, the olives were put on a circular stone plate and a second plate was placed on top to laboriously crush the olives and wring out their nectar. In the modern world, extra virgin olive oil is obtained by cold-pressing the olives with steel plates, using minimal heat, a process that retains the oil’s rich scent and flavour, and all of its nutritional goodness.

Refined oils are made by extracting the juice in a process involving high heat and chemicals, reducing the wonderful benefits gained from cold-pressed oil.

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