Extracts from Sam Cook's Newletter, A food, wine and spirits newsletter.
By Sam Gugino. Volume 3, No. 11, June 11, 2000Turkish Olive Oil
"You've probably consumed Turkish olive oil on a number of occasions and don't even know it.
How's that? Turkey is the fourth or fifth largest producer of olive oil in the world, after Spain, Italy, Greece, and sometimes Tunisia, depending on the harvest. But as with much of the olive oil in Spain and Tunisia, Turkish olive oil is often sent to Italy to be repackaged and sold as if it were Italian olive oil. Then there are brands such as Cavallo d'Oro, which sounds very Italian. But this is a Turkish oil that was shipped to the United States and given an Italian name to make it easier to sell. After all, most Americans when faced with a choice would buy an Italian olive oil or one that sounds like an Italian olive oil in a heartbeat over a Turkish olive oil (or Spanish, or Greek or Tunisian oil for that matter).
I was amazed to find out how many olive oil containers with labels that look very Italian actually contain Turkish olive oil. At Taris, the largest olive oil producer in Turkey, there was an entire room containing cans and bottles with names like Bella, Giorgio, Selesta, Antonia - Turkish oils all.
But organizations such as the European Economic Community and the International Olive Oil Council (of which Italy is a member but Turkey is not) and the World Customs Organization are changing all that. As a result of their efforts, we are starting to see the origins of olive oils on cans and bottles, albeit in very fine print.
But that's only half the battle. The other half is to put Turkish names on Turkish oils to be sold in the United States. In this regard, Turkey is moving in the same direction as Spain, though it is several years behind.
Extra virgin oil must have less than 1 percent oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid that studies show lowers overall blood cholesterol and raises high-density lipoproteins, or the "good" component of cholesterol.
Oils that have between 1 and 3 percent oleic acid are considered to be virgin oils. Oils previously labeled "pure" and now simply called "olive oil" are refined oils and contain 1 to 1.5 percent oleic acid. Most olive oil sold in the United States is pure. The rest is extra virgin. Little or no virgin oil is seen in the United States because virgin oil is typically added back to the refined "olive oil" to bring its oleic acidity down and to add some of the flavor that was lost in the refining process."
The difference between Early-Harvest Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and normal Extra-Virgin Olive oil is significant - in both taste and the amount of oleic acid found. My olive oil is tested and guaranteed to be no more than 7/10ths of one percent (7/10ths of one gram per 100 grams.)
As for health, the real significance of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil is that this form of the oil contains the "polyphenols", chemical substances which have been found to be powerful antioxidants capable of protecting against certain types of disease.
Though polyphenols are not the only substances in the olive with health-promoting effects, when compared to other commonly used culinary oils such as sunflower, soy etc., they are quite unique and far more beneficial. It's the polyphenols which really set Extra-Virgin Olive Oil apart from any other oil and any other form of olive oil. The more refined, the smaller the amount of polyphenols.
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