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ALLABOUTOLIVEOIL
HowtoBuyOliveOil

A

skingwhatoliveoilyoushouldbuyissimilarto

askingwhatknifeyoushoulduse,whatcartodrive,
or what Beatles album to listen to: it’s largely a
matterofpersonaltaste.Onceyougetpastacertain
base threshold of quality, whether to choose an oil
that is buttery and rich or bright and grassy is
largelyuptoyou.
Oliveoilcomesinseveraldifferentgrades:
• “Virgin” and “Extra-Virgin” are standards set
bytheInternationalOliveOilCouncil,andthey
reflect a mark of quality. Virgin olive oils can
contain up to 2 percent oleic acid.Extra-virgin
oliveoilcontainsnomorethan0.8percentoleic
acid and it is subjectively deemed superior in
flavor to standard virgin olive oil. Neither of
these oils can be made from olives that have
been heated to extract oil. The extra-virgin
production of most countries accounts for
between 5 and 10 percent of their total output,
hencetherelativelyhighprice.
• “First Cold Press” indicates that the olive oil

was pressed from unheated olives and that the
oil came from their first pressing. To a large
degree,thislabeloverlapstheextra-virginlabel.
• “Pure”or“Light” has nothing to do with olive
oil’s calorie content—it is only an indication of
flavor. These olive oils are made from
subsequentpressingofolives,orfromolivesthat
have been heated to extract more oil.The oil is
then refined, so that none of the flavorful
compounds found in virginor extra-virgin oil
arepresent—leavingyouwithaneutraloilwith
ahighsmokepoint.Lightoliveoilstendtobefar
more expensive than vegetable or canola oils,
which will work just as well or better for
cooking.Leavetheseontheshelf.
Extra-virginispricey,sohowdoyoufindagood
one? My advice is to locate a store that will let you
trytheoilsbeforeyoubuy,andtasteatfirstwithout
paying attention to sticker price.You may well find
that the cheapest bottle in the shop suits you just
fine.Ifyouhavethetime,budget,andinclination,it
canbefuntocollectoliveoilsfromvariouspartsof
the world. In the United States, it’s now fairly easy
to find olive oil imported from Italy, Spain, France,
Morocco, and South America, along with our own
domesticoliveoils(mainlyfromCalifornia).Iliketo
keep a few of my favorite bottles on hand: a sunny
andgrassySpanisholiveoilfromExtremadura,like
Merula or Oro San Carlos; a buttery, rich Italian