The Passionate Olive Read Online Free Page A

questions, as Bruce Tindall and Mark Watson did in their book How Does Olive Oil Lose Its Virginity?
    Let’s Begin …
    Stepping back into history, one finds that olive oil has been classified according to its quality for centuries. The Romans used to classify olive oil into five categories, with the socially designated upper classes (priests, nobles, and athletes) privileged to enjoy the very best of the oil and the slaves destined to have the oil extracted from rotten olives. Talk about an unfair class system! The Romans’ five designated categories were:
     
Oleum ex albis ulivis: oil extracted from green olives
Oleum viridum: oil extracted from olives beginning to color or ripen
Oleum maturum: oil extracted from ripe or mature olives
Oleum caducum: oil extracted from olives that have fallen to the ground
Oleum cibarium: oil extracted from rotten olives or olives with worms (it is interesting to note that the word cibarium also refers to “food”)
    Since that time the classifications and definitions have gone through many iterations, including the designations of virgin oil as “sweet oil,” or “sweet oyl” in some early references, for late-harvested olives. Even today, olive oils may be distinguished by their quality and by the subtle and not-so-subtle differences in varieties, flavors, and aromas. Still, the primary distinction of extra virgin olive oil is its lack of defects.
    Most olive oil-producing countries use a set of designated standards to grade their olive oil. The European Union, as the leading world producer, generating over 80 percent (and consuming 70 percent) of the world’s olive oil, has led the way for new regulations that focus on clear definitions and labels. New international standards (beginning with the fall harvest of 2003) have been adopted by the International Olive Oil Council (I OOC) , an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Madrid, Spain, that focuses on maintaining the integrity of the olive industry worldwide.
    Definitions
    To the neophyte olive oil consumer (and even to those who have grown up with olive oil by their side), the classifications of olive oil can be confusing. Depending upon the rules and legal regulations of the different countries throughout the world, not all classifications are sold directlyto the consumer. In addition, some countries require more specific designations and labeling. I am presenting brief descriptions of only three olive oils (two virgins and one refined) and one olive-pomace oil that you will most likely find in a store or on the Internet.
    Please note that I am not defining all the grades of olive oil or olive-pomace oil nor presenting a highly detailed chemical composition or gas chromatography for each classification of olive oil. Those readers who want additional information should log on to the IOOC website ( www.internationaloliveoil.org ) or the California Olive Oil Council’s website ( www.cooc.com ).
    Olive Oil
    The classification of Olive Oil means that it is an oil that is obtained only from the fruit of the olive tree. It is not mixed with any other oils (for example, hazelnut oil), and the process by which it is made cannot involve the use of solvents or reesterification (one definitely needs a college chemistry course to understand this!). The classification of Olive Oil is further divided into Virgin Olive Oil and Olive Oil .
    In order for an olive oil to bear the classification of virgin , the oil must be obtained only by mechanical means or other physical means, under specific temperature or thermal requirements that do not lead to its alteration or deterioration. Any treatment other than washing, decantation, centrifugation, or filtration is not acceptable. There are several grades of virgin olive oil. Here are the two that you are probably familiar with:
     
Extra Virgin Olive Oil means that the oil has been made by mechanical means, its free acidity (oleic acid) is not more than 0.8 percent, and the oil has no