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!
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! I want fresh olive oil from the mill too!!!
i want extra virgin olive oil with good quality
Amazing information about Italian and Spanish olive oil!! I did not know all these things…now I am more informed when I go to the supermarket.
THANKSSSSSS!!!!!!
I just bought a bottle of Spanish and a bottle of Greek Olive oil and the both have a distinct taste of their own. Both are very good. Yum:)
Hi Barbara,
thanks for sharing! Did you buy it from the supermarket? Of course different olive oils can have different tastes, especially if the olive oil is fresh or high quality. Given that you look like an olive oil lover (!!) what about writing a post to share how you use olive oil in your diet and what you think about the olive oil benefits?
How safe is olive oil when used as a moisturizer? and for health benefits ..can you take them as a vitamin supplement?
Olive oil is safe if used properly as suggested in my post about the 7 main benefits of olive oil. However, your comment has inspired me to write a post about how to use olive oil as moisturiser in a safe way. I will soon!
it is interesting : a person who knows the truth about the MITH of Italian Olive Oil !!!!. All what you say in your article is correct and I, who have an Olive Mill in which we produce , if not the best, one of the bests Olive Oils in the whole world, finally am happy to see that there are people who knows the truth.
For decades the italians have been coming to our region (Montes de Toledo, SPAIN) for purchasing in BULK, our Oil for mixing it with theirs (ours can last , with the right conditions for 10 years while theirs can stand the pass of time for just one year).
They have been paying us a bulk price that multiplies by 10 when it arrives at the stores.
Now, we are starting our own commercial network for delivering the ORIGINAL product, directly from the MILL to the customer. NO CHEMICAL or CONSERVANT added. It is the original First press Olive Oil -Extra Virgin.
We would like to share this wonder of the nature with as much as possible people around the globe.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
http://www.tradserv.net
While in Brasil I fell in love with the steak sandwiches they serve across the street from Ipanema beach. It is pronounced Shoo-haash-keenya. Simple thin steak sandwich on a seeded bun with about 3 tablespoons of what they call barbeque sauce. It is more of a maninade of Olive oil, vinegar with chopped onions, green bell pepper and tomatoes. What makes all the difference is the taste of the olive oil. Brasilians import oil from Portugal. But Portugal unable to produce enough olive oil for their own needs imports oil from Spain. It would be hard to tell the difference.
Spain has at least 24 different culivars of olive trees and most of them produce a different tasting oil than the others. Italy has different trees as well. I prefer a stronger more fruity taste which is what they put on the sandwich. I have ordered at least six different brands of oils from Spain and most of them were rather mild or bland tasting like Italian oils.
Considering there are thousands of different producers both large and small that process olives along with blending different oils, my search will last longer than my life. I’ll check out Ricardo shown above to see if he has something better. Any oil producer says theirs is the best but it all comes down to taste and I’m still looking.
Ricardo’s tradeserv link is in Spanish. Clicked around and found some photos of pretty girls in nice bathing suits but nothing on olive oil.
Didn’t I tell you the search for the perfect olive oil is tedious and difficult?
Tom,
I’m back from my summer vacation.
Sorry for the unaccurate link .Here is the right one to the web page : http://www.tradserv.net/olive.htm
In any case, I must precise that I agree, so far, 100% withh what you say. Even the same trees, depending on the wheather, on the hours of sun they receive eaver season, can produce different quality olives from harvest to harvest.
I have to apologise for considering (better to say, declaring) our olive oil the best in the world.It is true, but not all the harvest.lol
As you said, there are quite a few thousand of good olive oil producers in Spain.
And 99% are excellent.
I will forward you a test report from an independent laboratory in which you can se the proporties of ours.
And then, if you like so, you can taste it and feel it for yourself.
Thanks for being an Olive Oil pasionated and feel free to share your thoughts with me.
Spain uses the same deplorable “marketing”, why look down on Italians? A .75 L bottle of Valderrama Grand Cru costs EUR 24.00 (about 34 US dollars) at the Gourmet
Department of El Corte Inglés in Madrid (www.elcorteingles.es). The same item costs in the United States at Valderrama’s webstore USD 59.00 (ValderramaUSA.com). Freight and customs do not, even remotly, justify the price difference.
turkish olive oil is the most virgin olive oil in the world.(search,look and see..)
WoW! As an export of olive oil, I thought you would have included the acidity in olive oils and how much difference it makes in the taste of it. Depending on how you use it, like eating the oil raw (salads, bread) or cooking with it. Kalamata, Greek oil is superior to that of most Italian oils. Cooking with olive oils is less important as to which oil you cook with.
I produce Extravirgin Olive Oil in Arezzo (Tuscany) in an old mill and it’s characterized by fruity notes of artichoke, cardoon, cut grass and hints of bitter almond mixed with spicy.
Mouth watering Alessio….write me your full recipe if you want to share it with the rest of this growing community!
Ciao Bill, why don’t you write something about this topic and share it with the test of the community? I am sure many people would love to hear your view on it. All-About-Olive-Oil is growing a lot lately and you can expect more than 100 people per day to read your article!
This article is ill-informed. First of all in NEVER mentions that much olive oil labeled Italian, Greek, AND SPanish is not even made from olives from any of those countries. In fact a large portion of the olives that they use are from Tunisia, Turkey, and Syria. It is no surprise then that the BEST olive oil I have ever tasted, straight out of the press and into my glass bottle was in a regular neighborhood street in Tunis. The second best I have ever had is the ‘average’ virgin olive oil from Turkey. The hearty green oils of the Middle East and North Africa make the very, very best of the european meds look like chinese imitations! In the region of modern day Turkey, Syria and Lebanon, olives were cultivated for nearly 4000-four thousand!!! years before the Greeks began cultivating them in Crete! The earliest evidence of olive domestic cultivation is in Jordan. The Phoenicians-from modern Lebanon-brought the olive tree to Carthage-in modern Tunisia. Don’t forget your bible too- the Mt of Olives, Noah confirmed the drying of land when the dove brought back and olive branch and landed in an area in what is probably eastern turkey today. The very names for oil and olive, and olive oil in Spanish are in fact ARabic words-still clearly distinguishable as such
As mentioned in the article, the Italians are just good at marketing. The same can be said for European olive oil and western civ production in general. But better publicity does not make better quality and mass production numbers does not also make for better quality.
The same can be said for Saffron. Spain is quite famous for it but the saffron produced in Spain is anywhere from 3 to 5 degrees inferior in quality from the world’s best, which comes from Iran. Both best olive oil and best Saffron from the middle east can be more expensive per weight than gold and petrol. That’s not even touching on Caviar, again Iranian caviar is rated nearly 2 degrees above the best Russian. Also, if you venture to Tunisia, got the fine pastry shops. The delicacy, fineness, beauty and delectable variety of the marzipan and other nut paste pastries, outshine those of Iberia. After all it was the Moors who brought almonds, oranges, roses and a significant portion of vocabulary to them. In fact, almond, pistachio and other nut meat pastries can be found all the way to Indian, brought in by the Persians and the Moghuls. Same for Baklava-sorry Greeks. In Istanbul in the medium class baklava shops you will find such a dizzying array of “baklavas” that you will understand that baklava is class of pastry, not just one dessert.
In this day and age with the internet and world communication, it is totally unacceptable for western societies to continue practicing their ethnocentrism or plain ignorance. If you have the finest, fine, but if your product owns something to other nations and cultures, then be open about it, or inform yourself.
If you think about the fact that the only true rival to Rome were the Carthaginians and that the Greeks had continuous clashes with the Phoenicians and especially the Persians, and in modern times western civilizations finds itself afeared of Islamic civilization, it is no wonder that the propaganda has been so effective that people take certain things for truths and facts. But we should not forget the cradle of western civilization was the fertile crescent-stretching from Palestine to Iraq, and the Nile valley. Not to mention, if you are ‘Caucasian” that means you are an Aryan from the northern part of Iran in the Caucus mountains.
Olive oil producers around Meditteranean know that the olive varieties of Greece and Italy produce superior quality olive oil than the olive varieties in Spain and other Med countries. It is also a fact that the Spanish struggle to cope with their high acidity. Producing extra virgin olive oil (<0,8% of acidity) is more difficult for Spanish producers than Italian and Greek producers. However Spain has vast areas where Olive oil production can be industrialised. No wonder why is no.1 country in the world in virgin olive oil. In order to compete with Italy and Greece, Spain has produced and planted hybrids "dwarf" varieties coming from the above mentioned countries, using an industrialised way for cropping and harvesting. In the seek for money, we tend to forget that Olive oil is a noble product and not the golden egg as many companies think. In this volatile environment we should also consider the upcoming production of Turkey, Tynisia, Maroco that try to take a piece of the cake with their local varieties. Being a olive oil producer for many years I can assure you that there is a distinct difference between the olive oil from all those countries. I stronlgy believe that the Italian and the Greek olive oil are on their own league. A new category, Extrissimo (Extra virgin olive oil of <0,3% acidity) for the time being seems to be the only solution, so Greece and Italy can bring forward their unique olive oil to the world.
First, Olive oil from Middle Eastern and Northern African countries is most probably the WORST olive oil in the world! That is because of the lack of professionalism in production and outdated production techniques of the 60′s. Furthermore it is well known that the Greeks where the biggest producers of olive oil (and whine) in antiquity and that most of the olive groves in northern Africa, Spain and the Middle East where originally planted by Greeks that traded in those regions.
Now on the most interesting matter, which one is the best?
Well there is a Latin proverb that goes “de gustibus et de coloribus non disputandum est”, which basically means you can’t argue about taste and colour.
however I do not trust Italian olive oil because of the numerous cases of fraud (labelling sunflower oil as extra virgin olive oil etc…) and would only recommend it if you can get it directly from the producer.
I dislike Spanish olive oil because of its overpriced production of extra virgin olive oil due to their problem with acidity as well as the famous toxic oil syndrome (TOS) scandal in which more than 1.000 people died in the 80’s.
Olive oil produced in other countries is not even worth trying (Australia maybe the only exception)
So that leaves the Greek extra virgin olive oil which I highly recommend as it is the best quality/ price product you will find! Furthermore Greece is the country that holds the most varieties of olive trees in the world so there is much more to discover. And contrary to Industrial Spain and Italy Olives are still hand piked from the trees in Greece.
It is sad to see how prejudiced some of the opinions are in this thread, and how many myths are kept alive by ignorant people. We produce olive oil in the Molise Region (we sell it online at http://www.oliomolisano.com).
It is DOP certified and I can assure you that 1. we do not import our olives from any other country, 2. the olive we grow is the Gentile di Larino kind, 3. it is not diluted by any means with anything and 4. it is done with love and passion by local people in our small village of Montorio nei Frentani (www.montorioneifrentani.com) and we have won prizes at the national level.
This can be said of many small producers. The “italians are good are marketing” is true for large corporations. It’s not for small producers like us. Our oil is ten times superior than anything you could ever taste in a supermarket in the US, Canada, or even Italy, because what’s sold in mass quantities is *always* diluted or of lesser quality. These people are in this business to make as much profits as possible. We’ve been into that business for generations and we produce for the local market. Only recently my husband who is Canadian and in the Web business decided to build an e-commerce site for us so we could sell it online, but before that, we were only producing for the region so we are really not good at marketing…it’s not our strength!
cheers
Elena
my uncle’s wife is from Greek. I always used to love the Greek olive oil and olive too, for the past 30 years of my life. I used to consider the Greek variety as the best between the Italian and Spanish until the day I visited Lebanon and tried the Lebanese olive oil. WOW. It’s totally different species by itself. It’s hard to describe the flavor, the aroma, the texture of this oil. If you can get a chance to try it, then do not miss the opportunity. Be aware that the Lebanese olive oil you find in the store is very bad for taste and even harmful and I will explain why. The Olive oil in Lebanon is hardly enough for the local population, so they keep it for themselves (no export at all). Now comes the big company who buy a third degree oil (and probably 100th degree), they mix it with whatever garbage they want and sell it as Lebanese olive oil. Some Lebanese told me that these companies even mix their oil with a harmful chemical to just give it the flavor and taste they’re aiming for.
The olive oil I tried, was cultivated and milled by someone who owns the olive trees and did the whole process by himself.
Lebanese olive oil (the good one) is not know to the outside world because there is not enough to export. Later on I tried the Israeli olive oil, the Syrian olive oil and the Tunisian one. I can say that all 3 of them are almost similar in taste(I still prefer the Lebanese one). my conclusion is that olive oil that comes from the Mediterranean is great but there are not the same. I would classify them as:(from high to low):
- Lebanese
- Syrian
- Tunisian
- Greek
- Italian
I enjoy eating plain bread dipped in oil. Since I move to the UK I’ve tried other olive oils other than Spanish. In my opinion, they are tasteless.
Dear Madam/sir
I want to order 1000 liter Extra Virgin Olive oil. Please send me the export Price.
Thank you very much and looking forward.
Best regards
David Emel
Wow. How informative. Lest’s recap, the best olive oil is the one that taste best. Go to a mill in southern Italy to do the Pepsi challenge. Take your oliver and use to lubricate your arse because your are a bummer. A first class bummer. What’s wrong with lard or bit of dripping soft lad? Ponce!
Dear All,
Dear Mr Emel David,
Could you please provide me your email adress to send your prices
my mobile number is +216 25 111 192
Tunisia
The comments writen by Mr J Neel is All the truth,
Im localised in Tunisia and we export 70 per cent of Tunisian olive oil in Bulk to Italia and Spain …
The best olive oil does come from Greece, it is very well known and documented, the Greeks just dont advertise it enough. The 3 best olive oil groves are found in Crete, Kalamata and Peloppinese.
The Italians AND the Spanish both take the Greek oil and label it as their own, this is very well known in the industry.
I would say Crete has some of the best oil oils and other produce in the world, and this comes down to Crete being the only European are that wasnt affected by the ice age. When the ice age hit thousands of years ago, it wiped out all the crops, plants, etc and the soil. The soil in Crete is the same now as it was millions of years ago, therefore the produce is richer in taste and quality.
The supermarket oils are a joke, please do not buy these expecting that this is the real thing. In any european country, you will find the genuine oil in the local restaurant, taverna and in any home. Many families in Greece grow their own olives, and have the best olive oil served on their family table. It is therefore not for export. Exported Oils contain preservatives and chemicals, so what you are buying from the supermarket is at best, as joke….shame but true.
Dear all,
There are many different opinions here.Most of them sound very reasonable and some, too topic /ignorant and generalistic.
I agree in one thing already said here : Do NOT judge on taste and preferences.
In Spain, as in Italy or Greece, we do have large corporations importing olives from other countries.We also do have a bunch of traders (coming from different parts of the planet) who import non-virgin olive oil, bottleled as Extra Virgin Olive Oil and sell it as is.
BUT, I can assure you all that, MOST of the Spanish small and medium size Producers (and I am sure the Italian and Greek) are just extracting the JUICE from the Olive fruit as it comes and offering their most valuable produce to the world.
We all love our job and try to do it as best as we can.
About which one is the best : that is up to the consumer.
ENJOY!
My best regards to all.
Ricardo
TradServ.net
I’m one of the founders of Oliving, an online shop for Italian high quality extra virgin olive oil (http://www.oliving.it)
I’m a professional olive oil taster and I tasted several Spanish and Greek olive oils.
Spanish ones are improving their quality and as a matter of fact, this summer, during a trip to Sevilia I had the opportunity to taste some very very good extra virgin olive oils.
Greek ones, IMHO, are not the same level of quality as the Italian and Spanish ones. Of course I’m talking about an average level, meaning that for sure in Greece you may find excellent olive oils but it seems to me that’s an exception and not the rule…
In Italy we have great olive oils as well as bad oils…! And yes, there are several food frauds concerning Italian olive oils sold as totaly produced in Italy even though they contain olives or oils from abroad (by European law that is a crime…)
That said, I travelled all around Italy and I find hundreds of great olive oil producers able to get an extraordinary olive oil with great passion for their job!
And when it comes to judge whether Italian or Spanish or Greek is the best one…well, I think Ricardo is right, that is up to the customer’s taste!
Ciao
Paolo
Spain produces most of the olive oil coming out of Italy. People are right when they say Italy leads in marketing in the USA largely because of the immigration in the early 1900′s to NYC. Not to many Spaniards in the USA compared to the guidos. Spain will catch up and pass eventually. Just take a ride through The southern region of Spain called Andalucia. You will see millions of olive tress and eat delicious olives. Viva Espana
If you want to know the truth, its what Mary said. In Greece we dont advertise Olive Oil enough and most importantly we DONT export our top olive oil. This is distributed locally and you will find it only in Greece.
Another Grand Myth is the term “Extra Virgin”. Dont be stupid there is no such thing. There are 2 types of Olive oil. The one that is Green (fresh) that just came out of the producer and the one that is more than 8 months old and has a gold color. The second one is the crap the rest of the world is getting on the super markets.
The first one on the other hand is “the fountain of life” for us Greeks, a product that has defined our nation for more than 3 thousand years. Its simply put, the healthiest thing you will ever eat.