Advertisement for Olive Harvester machine

This is one of the directions olive oil production is taking. I find it hard to believe the claim of the advertisement that no harm to the fruit occurs.

Australian Olive Association: News

Australian Olive Association: News

History of growing olives in New Zealand

History of growing olives in New Zealand

Chocolate oligopoly in USA wants to change chocolate's definition to not include cocoa butter

From Oligopolywatch

According to a Bloomberg article ("Hershey Battles Chocolate Connoisseurs Over Selling `Mockolate'". April 24):

The Chocolate Manufacturers Association, whose members include Hershey, Nestle SA and Archer Daniels Midland Co., has a petition before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to redefine what constitutes chocolate. They want to make it without the required ingredients of cocoa butter and cocoa solids, using instead artificial sweeteners, milk substitutes and vegetable fats such as hydrogenated and trans fats.

The reason for the requested change is the great expense of cocoa butter, a required ingredient. Big Candy would like to substitute cheaper stuff, included the dread tarns-fats.
There's been little public reaction to the little-publicized proposal, and that's just fine with the chocolate-makers. They'd like to "help" the overtaxed Food and Drug Administration to draft new rules, especially while there is still time in a big business-loving Bush administration.

Mixed news for sensory panels seeking IOOC accreditation

Every year, the IOOC releases a list of the panels allowed to give sensory evaluation for the council for the next year.

Bad news for California, mixed news for Australia, good news for New Zealand:
The International Olive Oil Council (IOOC) has released the list of accredited organoleptic panels qualified to classify olive oil for the year 2006/2007. A notable absence is the Australian Olive Association Panel which has been leading the development of the taste element of Australian olive oils for almost a decade. The panel has had a major impact on the organoleptic development of Australian olive oils through the participation of its members in most of the recognised national olive oil competitions. A new panel, administered by Peter Olsen of the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries in Wagga Wagga, has been added to the list for the first time. In New Zealand the panel supervised by Margaret Edwards for Olives New Zealand has been accredited while the United States will be without a panel for another year, the California Olive Oil Council panel not achieving recognition.

Here's the list of panels from the UN agency, the International Olive Oil Council

Here's a preview of the next two weeks -- non-mediterranean olive oils

Explore the continent of Australia

Explore the country of New Zealand

Explore South America

Explore North America

Explore South Africa

Explore vinegars of the non-Mediterranean

Facts about olive oil labeling: the truth about extra virgin, best used by, and more

23 of the 24 countries of the world that are the major producers of olive oil belong to a non-governmental regulating body called the International Olive Oil Council. The 24th country has antiquated laws and regulations about olive oil and has not signed on to the Council. In 23 of those countries, an olive oil sold as "Extra Virgin" meets quite a stringent set of rules that dictate what's being sold to you is good, quality olive juice... not the cooking oil that refined olive oil is, barely tasting separate from its crude colleagues, canola oil, vegetable oil, corn oil; "Extra Virgin Olive Oil" is more on par with hazelnut oil, pinenut oil, almond oil, but really a league above them as well. Olive Oil has more variations of taste than butter--and butter tastes damn good. The highest quality olive oils have as much variation as the highest quality honeys, or the variations in cheese. They are beautiful expressions of the diversity of the olive and its connection to the land on which it grows.

The 24th country is the United States, which, save for a ribald band of olive oil producers in California that have formed the California Olive Oil Council, has no meaningful regulations on what can be called "Extra Virgin" olive oil. The minimal requirements set by U.S. laws allow the most indistinct, bland, and flavorless oils to still call themselves "Extra Virgin." It's meaning as a label has been severely diminished. So,

FACT #1 - "Extra Virgin" on a label of an olive oil bottle means absolutely nothing in regard to the taste of the oil in that bottle.

Once the physical means of extracting olive juice have been exhausted, the resulting oil is stored in huge stainless steel vats. Many olive oils are labeled "best used by" with a date stamped two years after the bottling date. That's the minimal requirements if an olive oil producer puts a "best used by" on their bottle. But here's the catch for the consumer: olive oil starts degrading the moment it's crushed out of that olive--it no longer has nature to protect it and in about two years, give or take quite a few months, that oil will go rancid. It's degrading while it's in that stainless steel vat. We can slow it down, but not WAY down--not without using chemistry and high temperatures to remove all impurities from the oil. It's that purity that U.S. laws regulate (and don't get me started on the fact that these are self-regulating laws, with no meaningful inspections)--which means that U.S. laws don't help people recognize fresh, tasty olive juice.

FACT #2 - "Best Used By" means absolutely nothing if not accompanied by a "Harvested In" date as well. The average time one has to use a high-quality extra virgin olive oil is about two years, some varieties giving nearly three years or even more, other varieties giving only a year.

FACT #3 - Not all "extra virgin" olive oils are as high quality as others, even when following the rules of the I.O.O.C. Look for the initials A.O.C. or D.O.P. (sometimes D.P.O.) as the easiest sign to see of a high-quality olive oil.

Frying with extra virgin olive oil - smoke point myths

It's a myth that you can't fry with extra virgin olive oil. The smoke point of extra virgin olive oil is variable, but rarely falls below 375F for high end, high quality extra virgin olive oil. The smoke point is going to vary because it's effected by the free fatty acid content of the oil. The higher the free fatty acid content, the lower the smoke point. With refined olive oils (which is different than "virgin" vs. "extra virgin"), the fatty acids have been lowered by chemically stripping them out. With really high end olive oils, the fatty acid content is low because the olive was treated really well in its harvest and production.

The best temperature to fry foods (in a deep-fryer even) is 350 to 375 degrees F (several sources say this, including Joy of Cooking), which is below a nice high end olive oil's smoke point.

Free Fatty Acid % - Smoke Point Temp (degrees F)
0.04 - 425
0.06 - 410
0.08 - 400
0.10 - 390
0.20 - 375
0.40 - 350
0.60 - 340
0.80 - 330
1.00 - 320

That's a chart that shows how the smoke point of oil will change as the free fatty acid content changes. Notice that at the minimum acceptable level of free fatty acids in extra virgin olive oil (.8%) the smoke point is 330 degrees F, but much higher at a really high end olive oil's free acid content (Pasolivo's harvest this year is .15% so you could reach 380 degrees F). The California Olive Oil Council (COOC) seal means that the oil has a minimum of .5%, which would be at the lowest 345 degrees, and with a high end COOC oil fine for frying.

If you're using unfiltered or undecanted olive oil, smoke will occur (but the oil isn't smoking) because little olive solids are smoking.

So, my recommendation is to only use a high end extra virgin olive oil that has the free fatty acid content printed on the label below .2% if you're going to fry. And honestly, in this day and age, if an olive oil manufacturer isn't printing the acid content on the bottle, I would wonder why not and insist on tasting the oil before I buy it. Use one that doesn't have a lot of visible solids in it (or let the bottle sit for a day so the solids can settle) since burnt olive solids may have a negative effect on the taste of your food. Or use a refined olive oil. What I wouldn't use is something that calls itself "extra virgin" and sells for less than $30 a liter.

The other myth I want to dispel is that one is wasting their money by putting good olive oil in a skillet, but I'll do that later. You can find out yourself it's a myth by frying an egg in a good Tuscan-style olive oil and frying one in Colavita.

Experts may have found what's bugging the bees - Los Angeles Times

Experts may have found what's bugging the bees - Los Angeles Times

A fungus that caused widespread loss of bee colonies in Europe and Asia may be playing a crucial role in the mysterious phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder that is wiping out bees across the United States, UC San Francisco researchers said Wednesday.

Researchers have been struggling for months to explain the disorder, and the new findings provide the first solid evidence pointing to a potential cause.

But the results are "highly preliminary" and are from only a few hives from Le Grand in Merced County, UCSF biochemist Joe DeRisi said. "We don't want to give anybody the impression that this thing has been solved."

Other researchers said Wednesday that they too had found the fungus, a single-celled parasite called Nosema ceranae, in affected hives from around the country — as well as in some hives where bees had survived. Those researchers have also found two other fungi and half a dozen viruses in the dead bees.
...
Historically, bee losses are not unusual. Weather, pesticide exposures and infestations by pests, such as the Varroa mite, have wiped out significant numbers of colonies in the past, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s.

But the current loss appears unprecedented. Beekeepers in 28 states, Canada and Britain have reported large losses. About a quarter of the estimated 2.4 million commercial colonies across the United States have been lost since fall, said Jerry Hayes of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in Gainesville.

I won't even get into the proposed theory that cell phones are causing this (as if cell phone networks just came into existence in the last couple of years?)

Crop pollination and honeybees

This article ran a year ago:

Time for a new approach to crop pollination: "The parasitic mite that devastated honey bee colonies across the United States this spring served notice that we are overly reliant upon the honey bee for crop pollination. Beekeepers report the mite infested 40 to 60 percent of managed beehives. Unless we find alternate pollinators to cart around, or another means to pollinate our fields, we risk periodic crop failures due to lack of pollination. And not just of almonds (whose February bloom faced severe honey bee shortages), but of any of the more than 100 insect-pollinated crops grown in the United States as well."

Now, this year a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder is occurring with honeybees.

From 1971 to 2006 approximately half of the U.S. honey bee colonies have vanished, but this decline includes the cumulative losses from all factors such as urbanization, pesticide use, tracheal and Varroa mites and commercial beekeepers retiring and going out of business, and has been fairly gradual. Late in the year 2006 and in early 2007, however, the rate of attrition was alleged to have reached new proportions, and the term "Colony Collapse Disorder" was proposed to describe this sudden rash of disappearances.^[1]

This could have a devastating effect on many crops, 1/3 of U.S. crops possibly, but probably not olives since wind is the main pollinator of olive trees.

Thanks to my co-worker, Vanessa, for reminding me about this.

Abandoned olive groves breeding ground for olive fruit fly

Invasive Species Weblog: "The Chico Enterprise Record has an article, written by the Deputy Agricultural Commissioner of Butte County, California, about invasive olive trees - true olives (Olea spp.), not Russian or autumn olives (Elaeagnus spp.). The Deputy Ag Commissioner notes that abandoned olive groves in California have become vectors for crop pests, like the Olive fruit fly (Bactrocera oleae), and these pests are threatening active olive orchards. The fruits of the abandoned trees are also being dispersed by birds, and some trees have been found in wild areas."

My next tasting is on April 18 -- The World of Olive Oil

Following is the description of my next tasting from my co-worker, Jess. I'll talk about the tasting myself more later, but the basic theme is old world vs. new world.

World of Olive Oil with Solomon
Wednesday, April 18th, 7:00-9:00pm, $20 per person
Zingerman’s Deli-Next Door
Call 734-663-3400 to reserve your spot(s)

Even though it comes in a sealed bottle, our olive oil is the rawest, least processed food we sell. We've traveled the world to see first hand the production of this green nectar and want to share with you what we found. A famous blind taste test in 1976 resulted in a stunning victory for California wines over their French counterparts. Next on the chopping block might well be olive oil. Join us as we sample New World olive oils from California, Argentina and New Zealand against Old World powerhouses from France, Italy and Spain.

The State of Olive Oil Today

U.S. domestic sales of olive oil have grown by 20% every year for the last five years (168% increase over the last six).

U.S. regulations regarding olive oil were established in 1948 and have not been revised since.

California's olive oil production is predicted to surpass France by 2010, with production doubling in the next five years as newly planted orchards start giving fruit.

In 2004, the California Olive Oil Council (COOC) began petitioning the USDA to establish new trade standards for grades of olive oil, which could be accepted with a friendly administration in power (especially with the Speaker of the House being from California)

"The most important element of the new standards is that it will inform the consumer as to the true quality and character of the olive oil. To qualify as extra virgin, an oil must pass strict chemical analysis, as well as an objective sensory evaluation designed to ferret out defective flavors acquired during harvesting and processing." - COOC

This change will have a dramatic effect on olive oil retailers. No longer will they have most of the olive oils on their shelf displaying the words "Extra Virgin" on their label. No longer will Extra Virgin have the same ease of access for a producer as "natural," "homemade," "tastes great!" No longer will producers in other countries be able to relabel their product for United States sale using language they can't get away with in any other olive oil producing country of the world. These retailers will see the majority of their olive oils, if not all of them, changing their labels to less attractive but more accurate descriptions of the product inside.

Customers of those retailers who are already only buying an oil that says "Extra Virgin" will walk away from retailers who aren't prepared for this change and no longer have $8 extra virgin olive oils on the shelf.

Everything I'm reading about olive oil nowadays says that olive oil is poised in the position that wine was 30 years ago in the United States. Much of that change that happened in the 1970s was because of the focus that the University of California at Davis had on viniculture, reporting on which varieties grew best in which regions of California. The U of C at Davis is doing the same thing, with the same fervent push, regarding olive oil in the last few years--going so far as to bottle their own olive oil from their own trees and sell it to their students.

Retailers who take action now to educate their community about extra virgin olive oil will be able to build a base of customers who trust them and understand the cost of extra virgin olive oil and the differences among them.

I'm having a baby girl!

 

Physiology and molecular biology of taste and smell

I am now seriously gathering information for my intended new focus on every (EVERY) aspect of olive oil from dirt to mouth to brain. Do I want it to culminate in a book? Sure. Will there be many rewards among the way in the form of tastings, classes, articles, etc. Absolutely.

Three more pieces I need to explore:

The physiology of taste
The physiology of smell
Current theories of taste perception, from physiology into molecular biology

And if I really want to explore something I find I can search through this abstract summary database.

Almost all major taste theories that seem to exist have been laid forth after I graduated from college (1991). If one doesn't keep keeping up with science after leaving school, it's so easy to be left with antiquated beliefs.

Alphabetical list of 100s of people in the California Olive Oil Industry

I don't quite know what I'm going to do with this resource yet, but I have to remember it.

Alphabetical list of 100s of people in the California Olive Oil Industry

Best chemical explanation of olive oil I've seen

Chemical and Nutritional Properties of Olive Oil

The following is merely a soupçon of what exists on that page:

A Great discussion of olive oil chemistry by Guido Costa in simple terms

Herewith my contribution on FATTY ACIDS AND ACIDITY: Olive oil is composed mainly of triacylglycerols (triglycerides). Chemically speaking, these are molecules derived from the natural esterification of three fatty acid molecules with a glycerol molecule. The glycerol molecule can simplistically be seen as an "E-shaped" molecule, with the fatty acids in turn resembling longish hydrocarbon chains, varying (in the case of olive oil) from about 14 to 24 carbons atoms in length. Thus the triacylglycerols can, for our purpose, be visualized as elongated E-shaped molecules, each with three long extensions, being the three fatty acid chains "attached to each horizontal bar of the E".

Please note that we are dealing here with fatty acids forming part of the triacylglycerols molecule. They are distinct from FREE FATTY ACIDS, which we'll talk about later!

Various fatty acids are found in nature. They differ in length (number of carbon atoms in the chain) as well as in the type of chemical bonds found within the chain. Mostly these carbon-carbon bonds in the chain are "single" bonds, comprising 2 electrons shared between adjacent carbon atoms. However, in certain of the fatty acids, some of the bonds are "double bonds", where 4 electrons are shared between adjacent carbon atoms. The fatty acids that have no double bonds in their chains are called "saturated" fatty acids (all the carbons in their carbon chain are "saturated" by hydrogen atoms). Examples of saturated fatty acids are Palmitic Acid (16 carbons long), Stearic Acid (18 carbons long) and Arachidic Acid (20 carbons long). The fatty acids that have one carbon-carbon double bond somewhere along their length are called monounsaturated fatty acids (one carbon-carbon bond which is not fully saturated with hydrogens), i.e. one of the bonds available at each of 2 adjacent carbons is now used to form a double bond between themselves instead of being used to bond externally to hydrogen atoms. Examples of monounsaturated fatty acids are Palmitoleic Acid (16 carbons long) and our famous Oleic Acid (18 carbons long). Oleic acid is the most abundant fatty acid found in nature. The double bond in Oleic acid occurs in the mid position of the molecule, between carbon 9 and carbon 10.

I don't want to make this sound too complicated, but as soon as one brings a double bond into the picture, one must bear in mind that...

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey vs. Michael Pollan

The debate I was anxiously waiting for occurred, and this is from the post on The Ethicurean:

"After much angsting, my epic recap of the event just went up on the UC Berkeley NewsCenter, the highlights of which are after the jump. (The webcast just went up, too.) Sadly, across campus, even UC Berkeley journalism student Carmel Wroth long ago beat me to the punch with a funny-yet-still-informative account of last night, damn him. You can find it over at Sam Fromartz’s blog, Chews Wise.

...

Elsewhere in the blogosphere: John Birdsall from the East Bay Express posted the most scathing take yet many hours ago, and I just know he’s going to say I drank the Kool-Aid and begged for more. Becks & Posh has a factual bone to pick. Cookiecrumb for once isn’t mad, and offers some succinct takeaway. (Or should it be takeout?) Jen has a very even-handed, fair & balanced report — and links to a lot more accounts. "

Olive Oil Factory

What I find interesting about this, obviously much larger, olive oil production than Pasolivo's is how much faster the circular blades run through the mash--that's got to have an effect on how hot the mash is turning and how much flavor is being expelled from the oil before it even gets to the storage tanks.

It's one of those profit decisions versus taste decisions, I guess. One produces more oil if the machine is run faster.

I'm also fascinated by the burlap bags full of olives--I think if done properly, that could provide a gentler environment from tree to press than the large storage bins Pasolivo uses, especially if they were driven to the press on a shelving unit such that many bags weren't weighing down on each other.... hmmm... random thoughts.

New level of readership

I seem to have stumbled onto a new level of recognition on this food blog. I've been part of the Wikipedia entry on olive oil for a while now, which did give me quite a boost in readership. Recently (like yesterday, I guess) a site called Buzz Feed had an entry on Unfiltered Olive Oil on its front page and listed me as one of the 10 best links about olive oil. Woo hoo! Gave me an exponential leap in readership, I must say.

I'm flattered to say that the description of the link to me was "Everything you could possibly want to know about olive oil."

Over time, hopefully a few more categories of "Everything you could possibly want to know about [BLANK]" will be added, I just need time to research and write (and host tastings)

Thank you BuzzFeed.

Eat Fearlessly,
Solomon