Thursday, May 10, 2007

Olive oil tasting


Thanks to Ido, I have received 3 kinds of olive oil from Israel. Ido used 3 colors, green, red and yellow to distinguish between the bottles. According to Ido, the green and the yellow labels are almost identical, with just the time of harvest being different.

From the color of the olive oil, the green label olive oil indeed has a yellow greenish color. It also looks very sharp and transparent. The yellow label is also nicely clear, but looks more gold. The red label The yellow label is a little unclear.

1 Yellow label:
-Smell: very pure and light oil full of sun and dry land. Beyond the scent of this olive oil, I can immediately combine it with the wonderful Mediterranean dishes that use this oil: hummus, tahina dips, falafel, pita bread. The scent of the promised land!
- Taste: light viscosity and a very light lingering sweet dryness in the mouth. Almost tasteless, which makes it really a very tasty oil, because I can think of few oils that I would swallow alone without feeling sick. Very impressive. A similar experience as with some of the best teas. That bottle won't last very long, Ido. I think we have to make further tea for oil swaps in the near future.

2. Red label:
- Smell: more fruity and stronger. It lets me salivate from the start. That one seems to long for stronger dishes. It greatly enhances the mixed salads I make. The scent is rougher, but still completely natural (especially compared to what olive oil I find here in the local supermarkets: they smell like artificial olive scent mixed with another industrial grade oil.) Here I can still smell the strength of the sun and a natural unity.
- Taste: rougher it is. Just after the viscosity is over, some medium strong tannins are felt in the mouth and then especially in the throat. I feel a sensation of burning throat.

3. Green label:
- Smell: raw fruit. This oil was pressed from young, unripened olives. That's very clear from the very fresh and raw scent. It is also very pure and whole.
- Taste: The burning in the throat was so intense during one of my tastings that tears appeared in my eye! Whoaooh! That's really a rough ride! Even the stomach feels like drinking too green Oolong. The aftertaste lingers dry and rough in the mouth. I guess that with just a few drops of this olive oil concentrate you could give a generic, smooth oil an olive oil taste and smell. That must be how the forgers are doing it!

Conclusion: The difference between yellow and green label shows that the ripeness of olives is indeed a major factor for how smooth the olive oil will taste. Also, like there is pairing of wine or tea with food, I could also taste that different olive oils fit different foods. Again, I thank you very much Ido, the provider of divine tasting oils! Toda raba.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stéphane,

Juste un salut et toujours un plaisir de te lire...

Fortunato

Axel said...

l'huile no.3 doit être excellente pour assaisonner un poisson grillé ou poché... quelques gouttes avant de servir, et voilà!