Tuscany in Your Kitchen Cupboard
The World's Best Olive Oil?
Although fellow olive oil aficionados from Sicily, Umbria and other parts of Italy would beg to differ, Tuscans boast that their olive oil is the world's finest. An argument this subjective has no hope of being settled, of course. In defense of the Tuscans, one can point out that Tuscany produces olive oil in such quantity and of such quality that it bears its own differentiating label and is arguably the most popular among consumers and restaurants. Olive trees grow in abundance in the area surrounding Florence. They are robust, capable of producing fruit for hundreds of years. Though native to Asia Minor, the mild climate of the Mediterranean basin agrees with them, and olive trees have flourished there for thousands of years. The production of olive oil is an easy, but labor-intensive, process. Every spring, the olive trees on terraced Tuscan hills began to blossom. Though olives can be picked for eating when green, to create olive oil they must remain on the tree until late fall, when the olives are black and fully ripened. After hand picking, the olives are washed, crushed and then the pulp is separated from the oil. Olive oil is graded for its quality – that is, its acidity, fragrance and flavor. Extra-virgin olive oil is top quality with excellent fragrance and flavor and an acidity level of less than 1 percent. Virgin olive oil has good fragrance and flavor and an acidity level of up to 3 percent. "Light" and "extra light" olive oils are not lower in calories; they are lighter in color and contain other oils such as canola or hazelnut in addition to some olive oil. Connoisseurs advise that you stick to extra-virgin or at the very least, virgin olive oils for that true Tuscan taste. |
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