Olive Oils

Over the years I have done a lot of research on olive oils because it is well known that olive oil is has many health benefits, most notably its favorable effect on heart disease. The monounsaturated fat that is found in olive oil is linked with a reduction in coronary heart disease. It also has favorable effects on the regulation of cholesterol.

Now, there are many different kinds of olive oil, and I just wanted to write a very simple blog on olive oil that might help one decide which kind of olive oil to buy.

First of all, you want to choose an olive oil that is extra virgin. This means that there is less than 1% acidity and that the olive oil is produced from the first pressing through cold-pressing.

The taste depends on the time of the harvest. The earlier the olives are processed, the greener and stronger and more bitter the taste while the later the olives are processed, the taste will be more mild and buttery with a more golden color. Underripe olives are green while ripe olives are dark green or black.

Australian olive oils tend to be on the bright side in flavor.
The olives in Italian oils come from a variety of countries, many coming from Spain, where most are going to taste medium to strong. Spanish olive oils tend to have medium strength in flavor. Finally, most olives that are in Greek olive oils are kalamata, thus the Greek olive oils are going to have the strongest taste.

Obviously, there are many, many types of olive oils. Hopefully this will help a little bit when choosing one. The easiest way to choose one is to just look at the color, and this will give you a little bit of insight as to the flavor.

Lila.