Olive oil is a product never missing from Italian tables and kitchens. Olive oil and extra virgin olive oil are considered opposite worlds, with different and decisive nuances. How do you tell them apart? The two most common mistakes are associating that peppery, tingling sensation with a low-quality oil — without realizing it actually signals richness in the product's active compounds — and relying only on the oil's color to judge quality, which is completely wrong.
Both extra virgin oil and virgin oil are extracted from the first pressing of the olives. The difference lies in the organoleptic qualities and the acidity percentage. The key trait a good oil should have is being as low in acidity as possible. Olive oil undergoes a chemical process, with the risk of ending up with a blend of unknown components — it's made up of refined oil and virgin oil.
For this reason we always recommend buying extra virgin olive oil, and even better, sourcing it from local producers. Nutritionally, extra virgin olive oil obtained through cold pressing at temperatures no higher than 27 degrees keeps its properties intact, enhancing its benefits. Rich in natural antioxidants absent in industrialized olive oil. A friend to the heart, it prevents cardiovascular disease and lowers blood pressure.
Beyond its near-miraculous properties for our health, extra virgin olive oil can be considered, in the world of cosmetics, a true Elixir of Beauty — improving not just the skin but the hair too.
Why extra virgin olive oil costs more
A staple ingredient of the Mediterranean diet, extra virgin olive oil is a pillar that not even evolving tastes and diet trends manage to erode. Good, tasty and healthy, it enhances every dish and is indispensable in the kitchen. Present in every shopping trip. The market offers many different products and prices, depending on the type of olives used, their origin, and the different systems used.
The quality of the oil depends on 3 factors. The first is the density of olive trees in the grove, the second is the harvesting method, and the third — perhaps the most important — is the pressing method. In our country, olive growing is mostly traditional, with small, often family-run or cooperative mills, at an average price of around €10.00 per liter. A price that can easily double or quadruple the greater the care taken in cultivation, the more native the olive varieties, the more the land is preserved, the more careful the processing, the more the characteristic aromas and flavors are extracted, and the more controlled-origin certifications involved. The greater the effort and financial commitment.
Italy is the leading country for food product quality certifications. There's DOP and IGP extra virgin olive oil. These labels should guarantee superior quality of the product we're buying. Just as important: Italy doesn't produce enough oil to meet domestic consumption and exports. The causes are poor harvests and the Xylella epidemic, which has damaged over a million olive trees nationwide, affecting the final price of the product. Italy can boast the finest extra virgin olive oil compared to Spain, Greece and Tunisia.
Olive-oil wedding favors: how to surprise your guests
How many times have you come home from a ceremony or party with a favor and no idea what to do with it? If that's you, then a gourmet food favor might be just the thing. To wow your guests, useful wedding favors are increasingly in style.
Organizing a wedding isn't easy these days. Newlyweds' ideas are increasingly geared against waste. Among the current trends are gourmet favors, which guests find the tastiest and most appreciated. You can choose to give a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, which represents both a symbol of peace and a sign of a prosperous future. You can delight your guests' palates with a product carrying aromas and flavors united by authenticity and quality. A gift meant to stir emotions and tempt the taste buds.
You can rely on several companies that now offer bottling with a custom label. If you're handy, all you need is a small glass bottle with a cork stopper, a handwritten note, and why not a little wreath of aromatic herbs to create a sensory experience. You could bottle it yourself, buying glass containers wholesale and perhaps adding a flavor like chili, rosemary, garlic or basil to the extra virgin olive oil — and you're ready for a 100% Mediterranean wedding.
The watchword for future wedding favors is originality. So many, many couples-to-be are opting for a gift that's both beautiful and good.
