Olive Oil

[alan h]

I'm reading "Eating up Italy" by Matthew Fort [Guardian food writer].

In it, he travels by Vespa up Italy, stopping along the way to describe meals that he has eaten etc etc [not the greatest book I've read - a bit like a parody of a Poor Man's Year in Provence on a Scooter]

However, in it he tells of an organic olive oil grower who states - "Italians use the cheapest, worst oil. All the best goes to other countries"

Having seen the 20 litre tins of oil in many kitchens, I'm inclined to accept the statement - but is it true?


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[Noma]

Originally Posted by alan h

However, in it he tells of an organic olive oil grower who states - "Italians use the cheapest, worst oil. All the best goes to other countries"

Having seen the 20 litre tins of oil in many kitchens, I'm inclined to accept the statement - but is it true?

Don't know, but my wife's nonna always used the big 20 litre tins. She was just trying to save money to feed her herd of children and grandchildren.

[Angie and Robert]

May be true of the cities Al, but in olive growing areas, most people know of someone who produces their own oil, and buy this direct from them, and our local restuarants also use this for the table. But I wonder how much longer this tradition will last,? most of the people at the local presses are elderly, their children not interested in the farming way of life,its too hard.Hope its not going to become a dying art, apart from the large commercial growers.
A

[Gala Placidia]

As it is the case with many other products, quality can vary from producer to producer. You can get excellent olive oils in Italy if you know a producer or you go to one of the specialised shops where they will also advise you which would be the right oil to buy according to your personal taste. What is sold at those shops will be very expensive, two or three times the price you pay in supermarkets for same size bottles. And it is true that they export some excellent oils. I purchased a bottle in San Francisco in the Little Italy area that was the best I have ever tasted. It came from a small producer who sold exclusively to that agent in San Francisco, where there is a large percentage of population with Italian ancestry and they keep on going to the same few shops to get products from their country of origin.

[Sally Donaldson]

Now that’s interesting Alan. One of my friends in Italy is a Lawyer and a few months ago he was involved in setting up a contract between a large olive oil producer there and a large supermarket here in the UK. The oil has been relabelled and is sold in bottles.

When I said I will have to try it, he replied "Don’t. The oil is dreadful”!!! (I have the name of the producer somewhere on the computer.)

[Noble]

If you are on the superstrada going in the Perugia to Firenze direction turn off by the lake at Toricella and you can buy as much genuino olive oil as you can carry from Hotel il Gabbiano. All grown and produced by them. The oil is served to customers and used for cooking. They refuse to cut corners where food is concerned and as a consequence have not had the coach parties they used to have staying there. They also grow as much as they can to serve in the restaurant and pizzeria.

We bought quite nice tasting oil in Calabria but still not as good as the oil we can buy here or indeed at local Umbria mills.

[Marc]

I think that every sensible Italian kitchen will keep 2 olive oils; a cheap, mass-produced one for frying (though we prefer to use sunflower oil) and a good one for salads and drizzling over soup and bruschetta. Its wrong to judge people for buying cheap oil when they may be using it for commonplace tasks. Our neighbour even polishes his terracotta floor tiles with it!

[rosie A]

Originally Posted by Noma

Don't know, but my wife's nonna always used the big 20 litre tins. She was just trying to save money to feed her herd of children and grandchildren.

In Puglia there are still a lot of people who take along their own olives for pressing (both young and old people!).

[sueflauto]

My local wine bar does stuzzichini which includes bread and olive oil which they also sell. A good way of trying new oils out, even if expensive. I've got cheapo oil, a supermarket Umbrian and the last, from the wine bar, from La Planeta in Sicily. Gorgeously grassy and full of flavour.

[Oneto15]

Marc.

If you're going to delete my post in this thread, the one where I suggested that a particular post might be actionable, you might at least do me the courtesy of telling me why, or don't I deserve such simple consideration?