Dica Olio
Volume #1
Extra Virgin
Most well-informed cooks think that olive oil labeled “extra virgin” comes from the very first pressing of just-picked olives, and if the words “cold-pressed” appear, so much the better. The notion evokes images of a sunny Mediterranean countryside, rustic baskets filled with shiny black olives, and green-gold oil running freely from an ancient press that probably dates back to the Romans. Such oil, unsullied by the modern industrial world, must be the best available.
It’s a beautiful dream, but the oil you buy here in the US, even the pricey stuff, is most likely the product of a high-tech continuous press, a mechanical wonder of gleaming stainless steel and digital readouts capable of turning hundreds of kilos of olives into oil every hour. It probably uses hot water, up to 30 degrees Celsius (about 86 degrees F), to help get the last molecules of valuable oil away from the olives’ other vegetable liquids. A high-speed centrifuge separates the oil and water, and a cotton filter might also be used before the liquid gold is bottled and labeled “extra virgin olive oil.”
So just what does “extra virgin” really mean? In the European Union, the words can only be used if the oil meets both chemical and flavor standards (these last are called “organoleptic,” a term that encompasses flavor, aroma, and mouthfeel). The definitions for different grades of olive oil were established by the International Olive Oil Council in 1990. Only two grades of oil, extra virgin and virgin, are the result of simple pressing that, while technologically advanced, mimics the age-old methods of squeezing olives to get oil.
-Extra virgin: These are olive oils with “perfect” flavor, defined as an organoleptic rating of 6.5 or higher as determined by a panel of certified tasters, and a level of free fatty acid (expressed as oleic acid) of one percent or less.
-Virgin: This term is used for oils with good flavor (a rating less than 6.5) and an acid level between 1 and 3 percent.
Note that “first-pressing” and “cold-pressed” don’t appear in the official definitions. All extra virgin and virgin oil comes from a single pressing, and in fact, the olives are almost always only pressed once. Even if warm water is used, the oil is considered “cold-pressed.” You can think of it as code for “not refined”, but the term on the label is really just for marketing, similar to the use of the phrase “no cholesterol” on products that clearly aren’t of animal origin.
The other grades of olive oil are the result of two different processes. They’re sometimes called “rectified” because additional steps are taken to correct or rectify the flavor.
-Olive oil: Formerly referred to as “pure,” this is mostly oil pressed from inferior fruit so that the flavor is unacceptable or the acidity is more than 3 percent (in some countries oil with high acidity is preferred, but most of us would find it unpalatable). It is refined to remove the undesirable characteristics, leaving a completely tasteless oil. A small amount of virgin or extra virgin oil is blended back in to provide some flavor.
-Olive pomace oil: The residue from the pressing process, called pomace (or sansa in Italy) undergoes additional chemical refining to extract the last fraction of oil. The process typically uses hexane or a similar compound to capture the oil, then the blend is distilled to remove the chemical. Sometimes water is used, but not often. A small amount of virgin or extra virgin oil is blended in to provide flavor, but pomace oils still have acid levels as high as 20%.
Since most of the olive oil consumed domestically is imported from EU countries, you’ll see these terms on the labels (except perhaps for “virgin olive oil,” since very little of it is exported; most is used for blending). The California Olive Oil Council has adopted the EU standards, so domestic olive oil labeled as “COOC Certified Extra Virgin” has also been rated by a tasting panel.
Rectified oils can be blended with the better grades of oil so that the acidity is less than 1%. Much of the oil sold in the US labeled “extra virgin” is the result of this type of blending.
But the labeling definitions, imprecise as they are, aren’t required by the FDA. In fact, the FDA standards for olive oil were established in 1948, and the words extra virgin don’t appear anywhere. Under the FDA rules, the best grade of oil can have an oleic acid content of 1.4%. In other words, anything goes. So how do you know what you’re getting? Short of tasting the oil, you can’t be sure.