Personally, I use EVOO in just about all my cooking. I use my previous harvest EVOO in cooking more because the sediment has decanted out a lot. I use the fresher harvest oil for all other cooking and raw use. There is so much info out here on the benefits of EVOO it just takes a little reading. The more processed the oil the least health benefits there are. I would not recommend using virgin, pomace or plain olive oil as it is extracted using heat or chemicals and contains a chemical structure that is not beneficial and actually unhealthy. Pomace olive oil is extracted using solvents. The more refined, the more unhealthy it is.
So enjoy the deliciousness of the fresh season and have some nice to go with it.
Organic is no guarantee of quality or taste. Copper is the only spray used to deal with Peacock Spot on Olive leaves. It is organic. We sprayed our olive trees with Copper to stop Peacock Spot. Our Ram jumped the orchard fence and dined on olive leaves. The copper almost killed him and left him sterile. Our trees still have Peacock Spot and we live with it. There is nothing wrong with organic. Just do not let it be the end all and be all. Otherwise you will miss a lot of great olive oils. The Los Angeles International Olive Oil Competition is a great place to find quality Olive Oils. The judges are equally split between US and International judges.
The point is that Nola has organically farmed olive oil but your reply sounded like you were kicking her to the curb because of a lack of a certification. I grow organic vegetables and have no certification. That does not make them not organic. Same with Nola’s EVOO.
Truthfully, my business is primarily my wines which don’t suck btw. The EVOO we personally make on premise and mill it within an hour to two hours after harvest. We (Juan) have enough work between practicing medicine on both sides of the planet to pay the bills, making the wines, certifying the wines and playing mambo-jumbo with the regulations set by the D.O.P. Granada for the wines. We have thought about getting organic certification for the wines and we may at some point. The production for the olives though is just not worth the time. I shipped three pallets and a week after its arrival I only have two pallets left so I am really fine with someone preferring to search for something I don’t offer at this time.
My understanding regarding fraud is that most of it problems are not in bottled EVOO but in products claiming to contain olive oil.
To answer the question, we do Costco Organic for general use, and just to go snobby Californian on you, for high quality stuff, we keep it local: http://victorinevalley.com/
I have no clue what an “organic” certification even entails. But, I am well versed in the concept of paper “certification” (health care for me) and recognize what a joke that can mean. I don’t know that anyone that is certified organic actually meets the criteria other than they passed whatever test at some point. Who knows if during one season, facing serious crop loss, some “organic certified” farmer didn’t spray his crops to avoid being financially devastated. He/she just has a certificate that they can stamp on their product for some modicum of supposed quality control.
I’ve met Nola (briefly) and I know her through this board. Technically, I don’t know if she’s telling the truth about no pesticides. But, if given the choice between trusting someone with a certificate or her with her word about who is pesticide free, I’ll take my chances with Nola every time! But, I’m skeptical of a lot of “official” things these days. I’d rather just know the supplier and make my own judgement. And, in the end, “organic” doesn’t mean much to me anyway.
Really. I’d rather hear from someone I can trust that it’s organically grown than see a certification on something that might not be real olive oil (and, as Chris pointed out, might not really be organic). If you’re looking for certification, relatively low price, and authentic product, I doubt you’ll find it. It isn’t worth paying for the certification for a lot of small producers, who are most likely to take the best care possible of their trees and product.
clearly you must not belong to / shop at Costco… the Kirkland Tuscan brand alone is DOP certified, vintage dated… they also get similar Spanish olive oil from a single variety of olives, but more importantly you also sporadically see boutique brands / small production options as well… the whole concept of the Costco “Treasure Hunt”… its not all 5 gallon, mass-produced, high volume supermarket brands…
thanks everyone for your help. from the links and recommendations, i was able to find a few great options at various price points that fulfill my needs.
EVOO has a rather low smoking point - only butter is lower. That’s the main reason why you shouldn’t use it as its a waste of money as that flavor just goes away.
I use grapeseed oil for cooking. Neutral taste and not hydrogenated like your vegetable oils. Fair price as I generally pay $10 for a 500 ml.
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