Discover Valuable And Nutritional Infos About Olive Oils

By Author: Paul Zayer
Total Articles: 63
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Should I begin to use olive oils at home? Read more and many questions regarding olive oils will be answered here.

One of the oldest foods known to mankind comes from the olive tree, native to Mediterranean regions. In the Bible, the olive tree is mentioned very often, also in the Garden of Gethsemane and famous in the Jewish custom, where the oil miraculously burned for eight days. Olive oils occupy a major role these days, a subject of culinary delights, winning praises from nutritionists as a healthy way to avoid cholesterol problems.

A lot of countries where olive trees thrive claim superiority in their locally produced olive oils. There are many grades, with different uses appropriate for a given culinary application. To the common cook, the issue of olive oils can get unclear. When do you use cold-pressed, extra virgin oil? Which types of oils are suitable to dress your salad to perfection? What's best for regular cooking? Italian or Spanish? Let's try to sort out some of the mystery by taking a quick look at what's available.

All olive oils are missing cholesterol, which is a component found in almost ...
... every other kind of oil. As a starting point, you know you're making a healthy diet choice when you opt for olive oils.

Now what about country of origin? Greece, France, Spain and Italy all have fertile olive producing regions, and vie with each other for the top rank in purity and quality.

The truth is that each olive growing region has soil and climate conditions, producing a special character to the oils produced and doesn't have much to do with an inherent level of quality that can be identified as inferior or superior. Soil makeup and climate provide a unique flavor, amounting to plain preference or affinity of particular oils to foods within the same locale.

The grading of olive oils is something else. The refinement of the product is defined by grading, mainly apparent in the acidity.

The "extra virgin" label is designated to the first "cold" pressing of the olives. This designation prescribes a maximum of 0.8% acidity, suitable for the best salad dressing, where the top flavor of the cold pressing shines.

Oils called "virgin" are considered a lower class, but still an acceptable salad dressing quality. Virgin olive oils must not contain more than 2% acidity, and must contain no refined oil. Virgin oils should not be wasted in cooking, as the delicate flavour will be lost in cooking.

Products just labelled "olive oil" do not aspire to strong or refined flavours and are best suited to cooking. Also, a label saying "Imported from Italy" or "100% pure" could be confusing, implying a degree of quality that is not justified. Such labels point out the lower end of quality, composites of oils from many countries, suitable to frying without the fine distinctive flavours and low acidity of virgin olive oils.

Among chefs, olive oil is a cult thing. It's important to comprehend the grades if you want to succeed in your cooking. Anyhow, don't forget that these oils contain no cholesterol and it will do your heart good to understand the fine points. So here you go, I hope you will look at olive oils in a different way from now on. Take care of your health now, do not wait.