This guest post is from Niki Tsourounakis, one of the reader of this blog who is also an olive oil lover and expert. Their company, Amphora, is a leading company which produces, imports & supplies high quality specialty foods.

I am very happy to host on my blog some good information on how to select the right extra virgin olive oil given that, as you know from my previous posts, not all the olive oil you buy is what you think it is!
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Educate Yourself!
You have probably heard that olive oil is extremely good for you, and not only great-tasting, but rich with nutrients. Do you REALLY know why or which ones? And do you know how to distinguish the good from the bad?
True Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the only kind of olive oil you should be consuming. That is, if you care about your health! Olive oil ranges from ‘extra virgin’ all the way down to ‘pomace’ oil, which is overly refined olive oil with minimal, if any nutritional qualities. It should really only be used in your oil lamp! Virgin Olive oil is also somewhat refined too, and is not as nutritious as extra virgin olive oil.
So now, we are somewhere. We have narrowed it down to extra virgin olive oil. There is so much fraud in the olive oil industry that it is hard to be certain when reading product labels to know if you are actually reading the truth. Most of the time, the “extra virgin olive oil” you are ingesting is actually a lower grade of olive oil, or a mix of olive oil blended with another type of oil. There have been numerous cases of fraud by adding sunflower oil and/or hazelnut oil to olive oil. Up to an astonishing 30% is undetectable to the palate! It has also been reported that a certain company was caught coloring their oil with banana peels to emulate the greenish look of olive oil and selling it as such. Unfortunately, companies such as these only get a minimal fine and a slap on the wrist. Shortly after, they are at it again. In the end, it is very difficult to track a product that is produced in one country and sold in another. This increases the odds of tampering with the finished product.
It is a fact that extra virgin olive oil accounts for less than 10% of oil in many producing countries….so it doesn’t take a genius to know that most of what you are buying at the grocery store is not really extra virgin! These days, anyone can print a label that says anything on it.
Online articles can educate us in an instant, but the internet is also notorious for posting un-truths with no responsibility or traceability to the author. So here it is: I am the author. Niki Tsourounakis. Hold me accountable if you like. I am responsible for Vlatos Premium Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I can guarantee you this olive oil is everything that the label states. Know what goes into your mouth!

www.vlatos.com

I know that many of my readers love good cooking! Actually I would say that half of my readers are interested to the benefits of olive oils and the other half to olive oil products and in particular to olive oil to use in their diet! I wrote in a post about using olive oil in the kitchen and in particular about the good and bad ways to use it. However, a certainly good way to use it is to cook great dishes! I haven’t published any recipe on my blog about how to use olive oil to cook some very tasty dish and maybe one day I will share some of my recipes and certainly invite my readers to share their experiences!

In the meantime, one of my readers has suggested me a cooking school directory which I am sure some of my readers may find interesting therefore I decided to write this quick post about it!

Extra Virgin Olive Oil brings more benefits than any other vegetable oil because the way it is produced. In fact, traditionally produced extra virgin olive oil is produced by just pressing olives using special presses. There are different ways to produce olive oil and these are summarised in the article cold pressed olive oil

However, it is well know as well that with time the olive oil benefits will decrease. Moreover, its taste will change and, for those who haven’t tried novel olive oil, the difference is massive. Therefore the best olive oil is fresh olive oil! Try to taste it on a slice of bread (ideally freshly backed and Italian bread!) and you will have tried one of the most fantastic and simple foods ever…Have a look to the picture on the right hand side…can you imagine how it will taste? If you haven’t tried it you cannot fugure out, pure olive juice.

Fresh olive oil is the best olive oil to drink

In Italy there is a famous saying which says: “Old wine and fresh oil” which reinforces what I have just told you. The best olive oil is the one consumed within one year from production and it is better to consume it within 18 months. To best preserve olive oil, it should be kept away from direct sunlight, heath sources and in a bottle with no or very little air inside.

In this article I am going to ask to one of my Italian friends (olive oil producer of course!) about why you should consume new olive oil (or “Olio di Oliva Novello” as Italians would call it).

Here it is a photo of an Italian Frantoio (oil mill) and below the questions I am going to ask him about fresh olive oil!

Find out more about this olive oil producer on:

Flickr photos abot Italian olive oil

Website of Frantoio Sant’Anna

Italian Olive oil production: Frantoio Sant'Anna

Tell to our readers something about your olive oil mill (Frantoio)

Why people should drink fresh olive oil?

What is the difference between fresh olive oil and olive oil you can buy at the supermarket?

What’s special about your olive oil

Which olive oil to choose? Which oil provides the best olive oil benefits? A question even olive oil lovers (like me, of course!) must have asked themselves several times. Imagine you are in the supermarket staring at the olive oil shelf with more than 20-30 varieties of oil, in different bottles, names, origins, colours. Which one is the healthier and tastier, should I spend that extra amount to get that bottle instead of this more affordable one?

In this article I do not want to cover all the possible dimensions that can help you choose the best olive oil for your needs (everybody may have different needs after all!), but I want to help you understand more about the three main Mediterranean countries producing and exporting olive oil.

First of all, is there a difference between Italian, Spanish and Greek olive oil?

Yes, for sure there is a taste difference. First, olive trees in these countries belong to different species. Second, taste is often based on soil conditions and climate.

However, if you are not a professional olive oil taster, the difference may be subtle and you may not be able to distinguish different varieties of olive oil based on country of origin. For many people the difference is more evident when it comes to other dimensions such as the preparation process, how fresh the oil is, acidity, etc.

Another important aspect is that consumer surveys have shown that different people prefer different types of olive oil, in other words which olive oil to choose may depend on you particular taste! But let’s briefly cover the differences between these different types of olive oil.

What is the true about Greek Olive Oil vs. Italian Olive Oil vs. Spanish Olive oil

To answer this question I want to make two points that are not new to olive oil experts. First, it is known that Italy as a country consumes more olive oil of what they actually product. This means that Italian olive oil producers often have to import oil from Spain and Greece! They are then the best (amongst these countries) on marketing it, meaning that it can happen the Italian olive oil that people find in supermarkets may actually come or be mixed with olive oils from other countries.

To explain the second point I want to tell about the olive oil awakening that has happened to a few friends of mine (from USA, Australia, UK) when they visited me in my home region in Southern Italy. What happened? Simple, I took them to a local oil mill and made them test olive oil just coming out from the olive press. It was an amazing experience for them, they told me that even if they usually buy Italian olive oil from the supermarket, they never though olive oil could have such a taste.

Basically, the true is that the question which country products the best olive oil is the wrong one! Olive oil from Italy may be as good as olive oil from Spain or olive oil from Greece. It all depends on the fresheness, quality of olive oil and your taste!