What is Olive Oil?

Definition: Pressing tree-ripened olives, extracting flavorful, monounsaturated oil that is prized throughout the world for cooking and salads.

The Greeks prized it as a luxurious import, as a food, a beauty treatment, and a lightly scented fuel for lamps. According to Greek mythology, the goddess Athena created olives as a precious commodity for the lovers of fine foods. Istria traces its olive oil roots back to the days of Ancient Rome and beyond when Roman aristocrats owned their own olive oil trees. The degree of acidity olives contain determines the grade. The best are cold-pressed, a chemical-free process that involves only pressure, which produces a natural level of low acidity. Extra-virgin olive oil is cold-pressed and contains less than 1 percent acid and is the most digestible of the edible fats. It is the finest and fruitiest of the oils and is, therefore, the most expensive. Its color can range from a crystalline champagne color to greenish-golden to bright green. Typically, the deeper the color, the more intense the olive flavor. San Gurmano oils have less than 0.3 percent acidity and are darker in color, indicating a full-body, genuine and intense olive flavor.

Virgin olive oil is also cold-pressed, with 1 to 3 percent acidity. Olive oils labeled simply olive oil contain a combination of refined olive oil and virgin or extra virgin oil.

Light olive oil contains the same amount of beneficial monounsaturated fat as regular olive oil with the same number of calories.

Light refers to an extremely fine filtration process; lighter in both color and fragrance, with less of the classic olive oil flavor.

Light olive oil is perfect for baking and cooking. It is ideal for high-heat frying, where regular olive oil is better suited for low- to medium-heat cooking, as well as for uncooked foods such as salad dressings and marinades.

Caring for your olive oil

Olive oil should be stored in a cool, dark place for up to 18 months. Do not refrigerate olive oil; chilled olive oil becomes cloudy and too thick to pour but will clear and become liquid again when brought to room temperature. However, repeated changes in temperature caused by keeping the oil in the refrigerator can break down the oil molecules and deteriorate the flavor of the oil.