Since starting Simply Boulder Culinary Sauces I’ve learned a lot about food. This includes uncovering quite a few myths. It seems like the most myths that I’ve found out about involve Olive Oil.
Cold Pressed Olive Oil Myth: I’m sure you have seen extra virgin olive oil marketed as cold pressed. In fact I always thought that all EVOO had to be cold pressed. It turns out that “cold pressed” is just a marketing term and there is no regulation with this term. Cold pressed pretty much means that they didn’t use extra heat to extract the olive oil. But, temperatures can vary. For example it doesn’t make a difference the EVOO is processed in a facility that’s 90 degrees or a cool 40 degrees. Either can label their EVOO as “cold pressed.” In fact Olive Oil is defined by acid content. If it’s less than .08% oleic acid then its extra virgin. Usually the lower the acid content the higher the quality of the oil. As a note the acid content will be higher the longer the period of time that goes by between picking the olives and pressing them, so the lower the oleic acid, and the more fresh the oil.
Filtered Olive Oil Myth: A few weeks ago I was talking to Rob Schneider at Portofino Foods, an olive oil importer. Rob pointed out an interesting fact to me. In the United States most (if not all) olive oil is filtered. In Europe most of the olive oil is unfiltered. Before talking to Rob I never realized that there is only filtered olive oil in the United States. I’ve been to Italy before and I remember all of the olive oil I found there was unfiltered. It turns out that most olive oil in the U.S. is filtered since people in the United States are accustomed to that. In fact, unfiltered olive oil is just as good if not better than filtered. I’m not sure if it’s more or less healthy (I would assume about the same), but the flavor is a little better in my opinion due to the olive oil particles.
Italian Olive Oil Myth #1: Italian olive oil has a terrific reputation as being one of the best oils. The truth is there are quite a few counties that produce wonderful olive oils. Not only traditional olive oil countries like Greece and Spain have excellent oils, but the United States and Australia have high quality oils too. Of course with each country there will be good olive oils and bad olive oils. It’s kind of like wine.
Italian Olive Oil Myth #2: As mentioned Italian olive oil has a great reputation. There are quite a few companies that sell olive oil made in other countries, but the package is labeled “packed in Italy.” It’s amazing how many olive oil brands state that it’s “packed in Italy” but the oil is from other countries. If you take a look at the olive oil in a local grocery store, I’m sure you will see this on several bottles. Thanks to Rob Schneider for pointing this out to me!
Pressed myth: In the past oil was extracted by pressing. This isn’t the most efficient method and centrifuges are used today. They work by blending the olives into little pieces and then adding water so the oil separates. After the oil separates from the water, the oil is collected.
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