Extra Virgin Olive Oil

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Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Let Food be Thy Medicine

Authentic extra virgin olive oil is liquid gold. This fresh pressed fruit juice is loaded with health benefits and tastes divine! Yes, the olive is a fruit, and every pantry should have real, unrefined extra virgin olive oil within their reach.

The key to creating delicious and healthy meals is using high quality ingredients. The sad fact of the matter is that most people have never tasted genuine extra virgin olive oil. The olive oil market is saturated with low quality product and confusing labels. Not to worry, we will teach you how to find a real, authentic bottle of extra virgin olive oil that will knock your socks off!

We know the Lord hates false weights and measures! So, we are on a mission to Shine the Bright Light on extra virgin olive oil. We will give direction on how to pick out an olive oil that’s worth your hard-earned money and you will know exactly what is in the bottle.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil vs Other “Olive Oils”

You will notice that we are strictly speaking of true extra virgin olive oil here. Other versions of olive oil, such as pure olive oil, light olive oil, virgin olive oil, and so forth are not the same product and frankly, we recommend that they are not consumed. Among many deceptive practices and other questionable shenanigans these other “olive oils” are not produced or tested in the same rigorous manner as real extra virgin olive oil is. Buyer beware!

Introduction: Questions

Extra virgin olive oil is a highly desired around the world, nearly every kitchen has a bottle on hand. The average shopper has access to a large variety of different types, blends and brands of olive oil. Supermarkets have aisles upon aisles of olive oils just sitting on shelves waiting to be picked up and brought home by consumers. The lingering question that lays before us is: is this truly extra virgin olive oil?

Furthermore, if the product is truly what it says it is, then what is the date of harvest? What kind of olives were picked, when were they milled and what are their origins? Why are some bottles made out of plastic while others are made out of glass or tin? Does packaging make a difference? Is it OK to display extra virgin olive oil under bright fluorescent lights or in sunlit windows?

So many questions, so little answers.
We are here to change that!

Fortunately, there are many indicators to spot out a low quality or even a fake olive oil that indeed take very little time and effort but are extremely helpful tips for the new olive oil hunter. We were all neophytes in the beginning, but once you equip yourself with the knowledge of real extra virgin olive oil versus fake extra virgin olive oil, you will never go back to the fake stuff. You’ll find yourself glancing at all those supermarket olive oil bottles with pause and a raised eyebrow. Hey, you might even find yourself sharing this information with your fellow grocery store shopper or a friendly neighbor.

What is Extra Virgin Olive Oil?

Put simply, extra virgin olive oil is fresh fruit juice that’s been extracted from olives. It enhances flavors of food and is super healthy for you!

Olives are a Fruit!

We know, fruit usually taste tender and juicy when eaten raw. The raw olive provides a bitter taste that can send you to the moon. So, before olives are eaten and enjoyed, they are cured to draw out bitterness.

Olives are sometimes referred to as drupes or a stone fruit. This just means that the outer flesh of the fruit surrounds a single seed or pit, as seen with the olive, peach and cherry, for instance.

A fruit is a matured, edible reproduction of a flowering plant.

Olive Trees

Where Do Olive Trees Grow?

The olive is native to the Mediterranean region. The tree thrives best in climates that provide long, hot, dry summers and short, mild, wet winters. For example, places like Israel, Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Morocco, Turkey, Chile, Argentina, California, and Texas are among some of the best locations for an olive grove.

Olives come in a wide variety, there are hundreds of different types. To name a few popular kinds, there are Kalamata, Mission, Arbequina, Ascolano, Manzanillo, Picual, Hojiblanca, and Koroneiki. Some ancient varieties include Favarol, Grignano and Nostrano. Each olive offers its own flavor profile and intensity.

What Do Olive Trees Look Like?

Olive trees are hardy, they have strong trunks that twist and can appear gnarled. The bark is brown and/or gray in color. As evergreens, their sleek, hearty green leaves have an earthy and delightful silver hue to them.

Olive trees are drought tolerant, they do best in rocky and sandy soil that is well draining. This prevents root rot and any other fungal disease that would come from too much stagnant moisture.

When the olive tree grows in the right conditions, they bring forth good fruit.

The lovely blossoms produced from the olive tree come in creamy white clusters. Once they are pollinated, the tree bears fruit known as olives. Olives start off green but as they mature their flesh darkens to a deep purple or black color. In other words, green olives are young unripe fruit, and black or deep purple olives are ripened fruit.

Olive trees have been around since the beginning of time. Can’t you just picture this beautiful, abundant tree in the Garden of Eden? It’s certainly a romantic thought, but did you know that this resilient tree can live for thousands upon thousands of years and still produce fruit?

Mount of Olives

The Mount of Olives is part of a mountain ridge east of the ancient city Jerusalem. Once upon a time this place was covered in olive trees. As a matter of fact, an ancient olive grove called the Garden of Gethsemane still remains there to this day.

The Garden of Gethsemane is where Jesus was betrayed and arrested before he was led to His suffering. It is the place where he earnestly prayed and where His sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:41-42

You can read more about the night Jesus was arrested in the New Testament.
You can also listen in audibly from one of these devices.

Gethsemane means “olive press” in Hebrew.

Is Extra Virgin Olive Oil Good for You?

The answer to this question is resounding YES! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or a medical sort of genius to know that this liquid fat has profound health benefits.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Nutrition:

Extra virgin olive oil is loaded with monosaturated fats called oleic acid. Oleic acid has been attributed to many health benefits, including powerful anti-inflammatory properties.

Good fats, such as extra virgin olive oil heal our bodies on a cellular level and are essential for brain development, hormone production, heart health, weight loss, digestion and so much more.

In addition to all this good news is that extra virgin olive oil contains very high amounts of antioxidants and polyphenols. Antioxidants support and strengthen the body by preventing oxidation and damage to cells caused by free radicals.

Olives and extra virgin olive oil are also a good source of vitamin E and K. These vitamins promote a healthy aging process and are super nourishing to skin, hair and nails.

Standard American Diet: The Lack of Sufficient Nutrients

Unfortunately, the bad news is that these wonderful, healthy fatty acids found in extra virgin olive oil are the most lacking nutrient in the Standard American Diet. The United States is a huge consumer of vegetable oils like soybean oil, canola oil, and corn oil. These oils should be avoided at all costs. Rancid, oxidized and heat extracted oils cause cellular inflammation. It is well documented and widely accepted that inflammation is the major factor in all degenerative diseases. Just say no to these cheap, unstable, and unscrupulous “oils”.

On a more positive note, now that we know, we can make the switch from bad fats to good fats. Knowledge is power!

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Benefits:

The health benefits of extra virgin olive oil are nothing new but in 2004, the FDA approved olive oil to bare certain health benefits on its label. This is pretty cool considering it is no easy feat to accomplish such a thing. We have always known that extra virgin olive oil provided our bodies with deep nourishment and repair, even so, it is still nice to see it now publicly recognized.

It’s conclusive, extra virgin olive oil is dense in nutrients, heart healthy and contains strong anti-inflammatory properties. It is a wholesome food that is good for overall health!

What Extra Virgin Olive Oil is Best?

Small generational family farmers are among some of the highest quality producers in the world. Here at Shine the Bright Light, we love supporting small family farms, especially when it comes to multi-generational American farmers, we consider ourselves proud and dedicated supporters of our countrymen.

There is so much that goes into the production of a high-quality extra virgin olive oil. For instance, running the olive farms, practicing organic farming, fertilizing, pruning, taking care of the olive grove, soil testing, harvesting the olives, milling the olives, preserving the nutrients, storing the oil properly for peak freshness and so much more. Stay tuned because the good news is that you and your family will have access to real bottles of healthy, flavorful, polyphenol rich extra virgin olive oil!

How is Extra Virgin Olive Oil Made?

There are many different ways to go about producing extra virgin olive oil, but the basic principles remain the same.

Below, we break the process down into steps. This provides an idea of how the olive becomes the highly sought after commodity extra virgin olive oil!

Step One: Harvest

The first step in producing extra virgin olive oil is harvesting the olive fruit from the olive tree. This happens every autumn in the months of October – December.

Once the olive is picked off the tree, the fruit is at peak quality. For this reason, farmers want to get them to the mill as soon as possible in order to preserve freshness and potency. Long, unwanted delays in processing the olives result in spoiled and rotted fruit.

Many modern-day farmers use automated machines and harvesters that quickly shake the olives off the branches. This collection method is very efficient and ideal for getting large quantities of fresh picked olives to the mill in a quick manner.

Harvesting can also be done by hand. While this method may take a bit more effort, it is certainly a time-honored tradition and labor of love that is totally worth it!

High quality extra virgin olive oil is milled within the first 24 hours of picking.

Green, Unripe Olives are High in Polyphenols

Many green olives are harvested when they are “unripe”, this produces a highly desirable extra virgin olive oil that is potent in antioxidants and polyphenols. Despite green olives producing a lower yield of oil, the oil generated is very stable and lasts a longer period of time.

On the other hand, when more mature and darker colored olives are pressed and extracted, a higher yield of oil is produced. These lucrative provisions result in a milder tasting oil that contain a lower count of antioxidants and polyphenols.

Step Two: Clean

Once the olives arrive at the mill, the second step is to wash them. This removes any dirt, debris, twigs, leaves branches, et cetera.

Step Three: Mash, Crush and Grind

The third step is to crush the whole fruit in its entirety. This can be accomplished by using stone mills or stainless-steel rollers.

The crushing process breaks down the fruits cell walls. This results in a thick pasty pulp.

Olive pits are also crushed during production.

Step Four: Malaxating the Fruit Paste

The fourth step is malaxation. This is where the olive oil molecules begin to coalesce. The slow and continuous churning encourages the oil droplets within the fruit paste to release and concentrate together to form pools of oil. This process is approximately 15-40 minutes.

Step Five: Decanting

The fifth step is pouring the paste into a centrifuge. A centrifuge is a machine that uses a fast-paced spinning cycle technique to separate solids from liquids. For instance, the gravitational force extracts or pulls the oil from the olive paste. Hence, freshly pressed extra virgin olive oil and leftover pomace. The dictionary describes pomace as the pulpy residue remaining after fruit has been crushed in order to extract its juice.

The pomace that is left behind from the decanting process is used as fertilizer, compost and fodder.

Next, a fine mesh is used to filter out any remaining sediment. At this point, you have “Olio Nuovo”! This is the Italian way to say new oil.

Step Six: Bottle & Store

Step six is storage and bottling. The highly prized Olio Nuovo stores well in stainless steel tanks. The storage tanks provide the fresh pressed juice with protection against harmful UV light and oxidation until it’s time to bottle.

Step Seven: Enjoy

The delicate production of extra virgin olive oil has come to a close, enjoy the fruits of thy labor!

What’s Special About Extra Virgin Olive Oil?

Extra virgin olive oil contains a free acidity level of less than .8%. This is not only impressive, but it indicates the oil is very stable and packed full of nutrients. Basically, the lower the acidity, the higher quality.

It’s important to realize that this is a chemical free process and that no heat or solvent extraction is used in production. The temperature is heavily regulated and kept below 75 degrees Fahrenheit at all times. This produces a yield of exceptional, richly flavored, and low acidity extra virgin olive oil that is highly treasured.

What Does Extra Virgin Olive Oil Taste Like?

This question is asked a lot. Due to all the mislabeling, fraud and low-quality oils on the market, many do not know what true extra virgin olive oil should taste like.

In our family, we are total connoisseurs when it comes to the taste of extra virgin olive oils. Let us tell you that the taste and smell of real extra virgin olive oil is explosive. Yes, they may all vary on flavor profile, origin, type and intensity, but they all have one thing in common and that is the pure, true unadulterated taste of wholesome health.

Some descriptive words that do justice are robust, peppery, spicy, alive, grassy, garden veggie, fruity, and even floral, all the freshness of flavors among a nice tickle or even kick in the back of the throat apply.

The Olive Sting

The warm tickle felt in the back of the throat is referred to as the “olive sting”. The peppery bitterness is due to high content of polyphenols. This vibrancy indicates a strong, healthy, stable oil that’s packed full of nutrients.

Simply put, the characteristics of authentic olive oil are unparalleled. This natural fruit juice has a pleasant bitterness that is crisp, bright and clean.

It’s essential to know that extra virgin olive oil should not have a musty, fusty, vinegary, stale, metallic, or wine taste to it. It should never leave a greasy feeling or residue behind. These are all signs of low quality, dishonest blending, rancidity and compromised practices.

Can I Cook with Extra Virgin Olive Oil?

Due to the high content of monosaturated fatty acids, extra virgin olive oil is incredibly stable at high temperatures. So, this means that it is a safe and healthy choice for cooking.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Smoke Point:

Authentic extra virgin olive oil has a smoke point of 410 degrees Fahrenheit. Free acidity levels less than .8% allow a higher smoke point than other low-quality oils could provide.

A smoke point indicates the temperature at which an oil or fat begins to emit smoke and oxidize. When an oil smokes, molecules start to break down and harmful compounds are released. In effect, both flavor and nutrition are completely destroyed.

The average temperature for frying is about 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, don’t be afraid to fry, sauté, roast and grill with your premium olive oil. It can withstand the flames of the kitchen!

Baking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Much like cooking, extra virgin olive oil can also be used for baking without degrading its chemical composition. Baking with olive oil results in tender and moist baked goods that the whole family will enjoy.

So, say you want to swap out butter and replace it with olive oil, they key to this exchange is that 4 parts butter equal 3 parts olive oil. For example, if your recipe calls for 1 cup of butter, you will only need to use 3/4 cups of olive oil in its place.

Ways to Enjoy Extra Virgin Olive Oil

By far, our favorite way to enjoy extra virgin olive oil is raw. On salads, steamed vegetables, soups and even straight off the spoon. Another fun way to use it is for dipping fresh homemade bread. Grab a bowl, pour the oil, add a pinch of pink Himalayan salt and some crushed herbs and dip away! This is a glorious way to savor the profound flavors.

Although, none of these previous ideas stop us from baking sweet treats or frying up some delicious eggs! Extra virgin olive oil is so versatile and compliments many different types of dishes. The possibilities are endless!

Our third president and the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson loved plants! He especially loved the olive tree, he said, “The olive tree is surely the richest gift of Heaven.” and furthermore that it was “the most interesting plant in existence”. Jefferson is known for personally importing 4-5 gallons of extra virgin olive oil from France every year. It’s fun to think about all the different kinds of recipes our beloved founding father may have used to incorporate this high-end oil.

Fraud, Deceit and Fake Olive Oil

Why is there so much fraud in the olive oil industry? Well, there are many reasons for this dilemma, but it doesn’t help that in this country the FDA has no real definition for extra virgin olive oil. This means that labels can pretty much say whatever they want because there is virtually no enforcement.

“Made in Italy”

This label does not mean what people think it means.

“Made in Italy” and “Product of Italy” are desirable claims but in reality, they are misnomers. For example, most people associate Italy with olive oil. When they see bottles of olive oil at the market, they tend to believe that “Italian olive oil” is automatically going to be the best choice without taking any other factors into consideration. Well, we hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the fact of the matter is that on a national scale Italy is not a large producer of olive oil. Spain is actually the biggest producer in the world. Conversely, Italy is the largest importer and exporter of olive oil in the world. Most of the homegrown, authentic Italian olive oil does not leave the country of Italy.

What we mean is that unless you are getting your Italian extra virgin olive oil from a high-end specialty shop or a trusted source then it’s very likely that the product is simply a global blend that’s been imported and exported out of Italy. Hence the misleading terms “Made in Italy” and “Product of Italy”.

Unfortunately, mislabeling is a common practice that holds no real penalty.

Importing and Exporting

During this importing and exporting process, olive oil switches many hands. This opens the door for fraud, deceit and fakery. It’s kind of like the game of telephone, where a message starts out crystal clear but as it passes from one person to the next, it becomes muddled and unrecognizable.

Studies have shown that around 70% of imported oils are not what they say they are. This can result for a number of unprofessional reasons that include oxidation, deterioration, dishonest age of product, rancidity, damaged and overripe oils, corrupt bleaching, deodorization, unethical blending and high temperature extraction among many other devious and improper practices.

The message doesn’t sound appetizing, that’s for sure!

Real Food, Fake Food

In his book Real Food Fake Food, Larry Olmstead puts it this way ” Because of the timeline, olives are never shipped to make olive oil. Only oil itself is shipped. While artisanal producers bottle the product of their own estates, most olive oil is put not into bottles but rather trucks or tankers and then shipped to Italy. Here the giant factories of the world’s largest oil assemblers combine shipments from places like Tunisia, Morocco, Spain, Syria, Turkey, Greece and many others. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the oil in any of those places, but every extra grower, crusher, shipper, and broker involved in the opaque process adds another opportunity for lower-quality late harvest oils, rotted fruit, adulteration, and addition of refined oils.”

He goes on to say “This is exacerbated by the fact that the oils pass through the hands of numerous shady distributors and middlemen. There are endless examples of tainted, adulterated, and illegally refined oils being delivered surreptitiously to the biggest bottlers and ending up in the products they sell. Even if the oil delivered to blenders is good to begin with, because of a little-known but widespread industry practice called carryover, a fair amount of oil is rancid before it is even bottled. In good years, when growers produce more oil than they can sell, they simply keep it and mix it into the next year’s harvest.”

Knowledge is Power

This information is not shared with any intention to frighten.

It is communicated with love in hopes to bestow a little knowledge on how a valuable resource like olive oil can be compromised by corruption and greed. There is nothing new under the sun, but when we learn how to detect and spot out fraud, we have the capability to whole heartly reject it and find the real thing.

How Do I Know Which Extra Virgin Olive Oil to Buy?

At first, it may appear challenging or even tricky to detect a fake or low-quality oil, but once you have a couple tips in your arsenal you will know exactly what you are looking for and what to avoid.

Five Tips to Remember:

Label, Harvest Date, Origin, Packaging, Acidity Level

Label

Let’s start with Label: The bottle should clearly state that its Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Instantly eliminate products that display any other variation of words such as Pure Olive Oil, Light Olive Oil, Virgin Olive Oil, Olive Oil. At the very best, these other oils are second rate. At the very worst they are compromised oils that have been stripped of color, aroma and health benefit. All and all, unfit for human consumption

Harvest Date

Harvest Date: Check the bottle for a harvest date.

It’s critical to know the date of collection. If there is no harvest date do not make the purchase, you could be holding onto an ancient relic, and unlike wine, olive oil does not age with grace.

The idea is to have the freshest oil available. So, when buying a new bottle, double check that the harvest date is within one year of the purchase date. Doing so will ensure you are getting the newest, most up to date harvest.

If properly stored, an unopened bottle can last up to two years. Once opened, it’s best to use within a two-month period.

There is no way a bottle of extra virgin olive oil would last two years untouched in our house nor should that be the case for your house. The sooner you use it the better! Our family typically polishes off one bottle per fortnight.

Origin & Olive Type

Origin/Olive Type: Place of origin and olive type should be clearly marked on label.

Different types of olives produce their own unique range of flavor. For example, some are smooth and buttery, while others are pungent and robust. Place of origin and olive type should be easy information to find on the label. In addition, it’s important that the olives are from the same field. This reduces the opportunity for fraud and dishonest dilution within the olive oil industry. For these reasons, its best to choose single region or single estate suppliers. In other words, the smaller the producer, the better the quality.

Find a trustworthy source that handles the olives with care and in a timely fashion.

Bottles & Packaging

Bottles/Packaging: Store extra virgin olive oil in dark, opaque bottles. This provides protection against photo-oxidation. Did you know that light destroys many of the disease fighting compounds in olive oil? Buy olive oil that is in a dark glass or non-reactive tin cans. Rule out all transparent bottles!

Glass versus Plastic

Glass is a safe material for storage. On the contrary, plastic containers are not good or safe for storing foods like extra virgin olive oil. It’s no secret that plastics leech out dangerous chemicals. Yikes! Not only would this diminish flavor, but it would also degrade the health aspects and reap havoc on our bodies.

Eliminate all oils stored in plastic bottles!

Storage

Its best to store olive oil in a cool, dark place. This preserves freshness and keeps it out of bright environments. A good location is a cool dark cabinet away from the stove top, this avoids fluctuating temperature extremes changes that ruin the integrity of the oil.

Free Acidity Level

Acidity Level: Last but not least. The acidity level of extra virgin olive oil does not surpass .8%. This information is not always listed on the bottle. However, it should be easy to find on the company’s website.

As we have stated earlier, extra virgin oil olive never receives any chemical processing or heat extraction.

California Olive Oil Council

In addition to the steps outlined above, another way to verify authenticity is by looking for seals of certification. One in particular is the highly sought after California Olive Oil Council Certified Extra Virgin Seal. This council has the strictest standards and requirements on earth. Therefore, this seal represents the very finest extra virgin olive oil available. If interested, you can access more in-depth information about their rigorous testing, laboratory requirements and certification process here.

Authentic, Real Extra Virgin Olive Oils:

Below are some of the best olive oils on the planet. We have been investigating olive oil for over a decade and we have found sources that we love and trust! Our wish is that you and your family enjoy and experience true extra virgin olive oil. May you reap all the wonderful health benefits and blessings that come from this liquid gold.

Ready for an explosion of happiness, aromas, fragrance and fun? As you can probably tell by now, our family really loves olives and extra virgin olive oil. Our house is always filled to the brim with varieties because it’s a food we consume daily. It also makes a special gift for a loved one on special occasions. Cheers to good health! Olio Nuovo!

Some of the Best Extra Virgin Olive Oils You Can Buy:

Texas Hill Country Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Miller’s Blend- Bold & Robust
California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Texas Hill Country Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Terra Verde- Rich & Fruity
Texas Hill Country Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Sola Stella- Smooth & Buttery
Apollo Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Jovial Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Fandango Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Texas Hill Country Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Award Winning 3 Pack

The Holy Bible

The olive branch is known around the world as a symbol of peace.

In Genesis, a dove returned to Noah’s ark with an olive branch in mouth. This was proof that the water had receded, and the great flood was over. It was now a time for peace and deliverance!

Genesis Chapter 8: 6-11

⁶ And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: ⁷ And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. ⁸ Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; 

⁹But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. ¹⁰And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; ¹¹ And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

The Best Book You Can Buy:

Holy Bible KJV
Wonder Bible: Audio

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