We’ve just this week had a very welcome visit from Danilo of The Olive Oil Company. He visited us laden with bottles, and shared his incredible knowledge and passion for the olive oils he supplies us with.
Danilo is the latest in a long line of the Manco family to head the production of their genuine Italian oils; in fact his family have been producing olive oil for over a century! They are based in Puglia, where 50% of Italian olive oil is produced, because the weather there is perfect for olive growing. It’s sunniest between May and September, ensuring the olives are ready for their October harvest.
Danilo prefers to harvest and press the olives just before they are ripe, which whilst it means that you get less oil per olive, the taste is far superior and helps to produce the lovely peppery kick in the back of your throat. He ensures us that this is a sign of great quality oil!
Another great sign of good oil, he told us, is the cloudy, spotty texture your oil can get in colder temperatures. The spots are actually concentrated clumps of pure oil. It’s perfectly fine to use like this, but simply storing the oil at room temperature for a short while will turn it clear again.
The best way to store your olive oil is to keep it in a dark place at room temperature. Although olives themselves love the sunlight you actually need to keep your olive oil in the dark as it can become more acidic when exposed to prolonged sunlight or heat. So don’t store it next to your cooker like I do!
To our delight we ended the session with a taste test. By way of comparison, we first tried a supermarket brand. I must say it tasted incredibly bland and all that was left was a nasty film covering your mouth. Luckily, though, we had a few of Danilo’s to try after this: we tried his basic cooking olive oil, a lovely green one, his top of the range gold star oil, and finally the organic oil he provides for us. If I was pushed, I would have to say the green oil was my favourite as it had a lovely grassy taste like summer!
Myself and the rest of our Customer Service team are now eager to answer any queries you have about olive oil…so please do ask us! You can either ask us by leaving a comment here, or contact us on 08452 62 62 62 or organics@abelandcole.co.uk
You can also visit Danilo at the famous Borough Market in London, every Friday and Saturday, if you have any questions, or want a taste test of your own!
Look forward to hearing from you,
Alan from Abel & Cole Customer Services team
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
11 Mar 2010 at 21:27
That’s me in the background!
Tell you what, working at Abel & Cole is turning me into a real food snob. I will never, ever buy supermarket olive oil again and after our tasting I was hugely relieved that it is the olive oil we sell here sitting in my kitchen back home!! I also felt slightly guilty that I’d been using it far too liberally for simply cooking as opposed to making the most of its taste by dribbling it over salads…
17 Mar 2010 at 11:20
Sounds good – I presume its cold pressed, raw and unrefined?
17 Mar 2010 at 17:18
Hello Lorna,
Danilo tells us that the Olives are completely raw and un-refined throughout the process. The new machine he uses to produce the oil starts by shaking the olives to wash them and to separate the leaves. They then move on to being crushed, all the time being kept at a constant low temperature.
The resulting paste is then passed through a centrifugal system in order to separate the water and make sure that you are left with 100% Olive Oil.
I hope this helps but if you have any other questions then please don’t hesitate to contact our customer service team on 08452 62 62 62 or organics@abelandcole.co.uk
Thank you for your post!
Alan
18 Mar 2010 at 11:24
Thank you! Just what I’m after!
22 Mar 2010 at 00:05
The oil is fine but the stopper is pretty difficult to pull off… especially when you’re cooking and your hands are maybe a bit wet and you are in a hurry…
16 Apr 2010 at 20:48
Can u supply it in larger sizes – 3 or 5 Litres tins?
10 May 2010 at 01:06
I love The Olive Oil Company oil which I bought from you recently. However can we also please have the Fairtrade Palestinian Peace Olive Oil back as well. I know its more expensive but it is divine and helps people lots in a troubled community. A big success in every way and room for it surely amongst the diversity of the othe suppliers to Abel and Cole. It truly is a spectacularly fresh and luscious olive oil too.
{ 1 trackback }
You must be logged in to Abel & Cole to leave a comment.