Gloria -- wondering if you know; is there something 'special' about "Frantoia" olive oil? I visited Liguria one September and it seemed people were making a big deal about its availability. Also noticed a place or two in small towns that seemed to be olive oil presses so people could bring their own fruit to be pressed ... these establishments were marked "Frantoia" or something similar, if I recall correctly.
The word is "Frantoio". They are the places where people who have olives take them to get oil.
There is a huge difference between the oil you buy there and the standard commercial oil you can find in supermarkets, although you can get excellent oil in the supermarket.
However, there are two aspects to consider. First of all, if you get oil from a frantoio it has a different taste: it is more spicy, it is more dense and darker. There are many "frantoi" where you can taste what you are buying. The second thing is that you are sure to know where the olives came from.
Usually, frantoi also offer olive oil files, with the features of the oil they produce.
We produce our own oil. My father has many olive trees and he is one of the founding members of the "frantoio" we have here in Civitella. They almost every year receive prizes for the good quality of the oil.
There are many different types of frantoio. Some of them work with big stone wheels other ones with more modern systems. I still remmeber when I was a little kid and every november the teachers would take us to a "day trip", a walk actually, to one of the three frantoi which were in the village. My village was known for the oil, it was its major source of income. Now the old frantoi are closed, and there is this larger new one.
Anyway, the smell, the taste of warm oil coming out of the big " stone pool"... I will never forget those!
I warmly suggest you consider taking a tour in some frantoi if you happen to be here in November-December.
The other thing you should consider when buying oil is where. Tuscany, Liguria and Puglia are the three major producers. But their oil is very different, because olive trees are grown differently and olives are picked at different times and with different techniques.
Since last years, the EC has introduced a new law: frantoi cannot sell oil in bottles, only sealed cans. We are trying to protest against that, because olive oil shouldn't really be kept in cans...
Sorry if this is a long message... but it sounds like home!!!
"Since last years, the EC has introduced a new law: frantoi cannot sell oil in bottles, only sealed cans. We are trying to protest against that, because olive oil shouldn't really be kept in cans..."
Gloria, Could you say more please, about keeping olive oil in tins or bottles?
I ordered a 5-litre tin of the new oil from Umbria through EVO, a member on this board. I packaged it in tiny plastic containers and have them in the freezer. I'm sure the plastic isn't the best idea, but it was all I could find just before the oil arrived. It's wonderful oil!
Charity
Posts: 1484 | Location: Santa Barbara, CA, USA | Registered: 11 May 2003
Oil and the freezer don't go along well... Oil is very easy to keep. The best way if you have small quantities is dark glass bottles and a cool place, not the fridge though, a room with no heating is perfect. Alternatively there are small containers, the traditional ones were made of "terracotta", the brick coloured ones, now the most common containers are the alluminum ones.
Plastic is not the ideal container. Unless it is just for very little time, to transport it, ecc. Just make sure you move the oil from those plastic containers as soon as you have transported it.
The secret to keep oil as good as at the beginning it to check the bottom of your containers. Usually after few months the oil starts to create a deposit: you much change the container, or just take the oil out of it, clean the container and put it back. We call this operation "travaso". For large quantities, we usually do this before the summer. If you leave your oil during the summer in the same container it won't be as good afterwards.
I don't think you will have problems with 5 litres of oil: they go quickly. But don't put it in the fridge or freezer, oil doesn't go bad easily.
Hi, My husband and I went to an Olive Oil seminar at Pornanino (sp?) in Radda. It was so much fun and they have incredible olive oil! They only make 5000 bottles a year. Definitely worth a trip! Quite an experience to get there!
Tuleppy
Posts: 123 | Location: Hutchinson, MN United States | Registered: 29 July 2003
Gloria, I’m just following the advice I got from Deborah and Scott and others on SlowTalk (see Food/Drink/Recipes: Olio nuovo) about how to keep the new oil so it retained its “new” taste. See EVO’s posting:
quote:EVO posted 17 December 2003 02:11 PM Deborah, I love the way you freeze your nuovo! What kind of container do you use? Many people ask me about freezing oil and I tell them that it can be done to very good results, but with one caveat; that is, the oil deteriorates very fast after defrosting. So, your technique of using very small containers is a great strategy to being able to enjoy the grassy-green nuovo all year long.
Passionate for Olive Oil & Italy www.casadecase.com Posts: 31 | From: San Francisco, CA USA
Charity
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[This message was edited by dean on 04 February 2004 at 05:03 AM.]
Posts: 1484 | Location: Santa Barbara, CA, USA | Registered: 11 May 2003
well, then maybe that is alright... you know how we are in Maremma... we are stuck with our old habits!
Honestly, it might retain it's taste... but oil in the freezer is a "sin" like cappuccino after a meal...
I would never do it and I have never seen it done, but who knows, I mean, I am not an authority. Probably the results are definitely good.
I would not recommend it, but probably for the reasons EVO mentions, that it detereorates very quickly afterwards... and that cannot be a good sign.
I think, actually, that oil is like wine. They have "life cycles". Their taste, their consistency change in time, and I feel that that is also part of their charm. So, why not just keep it in proper containers destined to this function and enjoy the changing nuances of oil's taste?
Tracy, tell me where you are going and I can suggest oils from that region (with my trusty book I just mentioned in the Feb blog and, also from other info I've assembled on oil). There are so many delicious oils here, my kitchen counter is groaning from the weight! Light, medium, intense - whaddya like?
Gloria, thanks for the tip about 'travaso'. I'm thinking I will need to do this eventually. I appreciate your description of the life cycles of oil and the charm of this characteristic. Besides, I don't have room in my freezer!
Freezing oil is fine.....lots of research, by oil producers even considers the practice acceptable, especially when access to fine oils (like from the United States) limits one's access to high quality oils at reasonable price levels.
There are more than 400 varietals of olives in Italy alone...pick the one you prefer, grassy, peppery, bitter, fruity, and ten look for a small producer. In tuscany and leguria you can even find the one's still with hand written lables.
quote:Originally posted by Gloria - Casina di Rosa: ... but oil in the freezer is a "sin" like cappuccino after a meal...
This is one aspect I love about Italy. all the cultural rules about when to consume what that take on an almost religious overtone. My introduction to Italy was give to me by Raffi, an Armenian immigrant to Itlay who has lived in Modena well over 25 years. Culturally, he is 100% Armenian (he cannot take no for an answer from his guests) and 100% Italian (the way they do things in Modena is the only right thing to do etc). He still thinks of me as a small child unable to make up my own mind. I fear my biggest sin is that at the gellateria, I am likely to ask for melone and bacio (chocolate and hazlenut) in the same cup! "But Dean! You must only have furtta with frutta or crema with crema! Otherwise its a sin!"
quote: I think, actually, that oil is like wine. They have "life cycles". Their taste, their consistency change in time, and I feel that that is also part of their charm.
Gloria, you have hit the mark with this one. When we take a purely seasonal experience and freeze it to have all year, are we extending the pleasure or oare we forgoing other pleasures. I but bottles of olio from my favorite wineries in Montalcino as it is one of my favorite olio growing areas. Pertimali and Ciacci Piccolomoni are my favorites. I have never been there early enouogh in the year to enjoy them in a new state. But hwhen they are fresher, they have a new mown hay aroma I love. As the year progresses, they mellow further and become almost buttery with a hint of spice at the end. I just finished off my last bottle of Pertimali last week (a great excuse for another trip to Montalcino ) and it was very gentle with a "green olive" character I had never noticed in the oil when I tasted it younger.
THere is a counterpart in the wine business. Wine writters and other professionals taste wine every day. They are tasting a huge proportion of young wines as thet is what they do for a living. Their palates get used to the harshness and brashness of youth. They need all the vanillin sweetness of loads of oak because of the raw state of the wine. Their ability to appreciate the more aged characteristics of a wine diminish. This is why the international style is what it is.
I am not in any way saying freezing some olio nuovo is a bad thing, but I personally enjoy watching my olio develop over the year and then waiting for the fresh stuff next year!
Karen, We're looking for both light oil and the more intense stuff, for different uses of course. I live in NYC, and between all the shops here and the Internet, we can get almost anything! So I'm really on the hunt for truly "local" oils that I would not be able to obtain other than by traveling to Tuscany.
quote: they have a new mown hay aroma .... become almost buttery with a hint of spice at the end .....vanilla sweetness of loads of oak
Dean - with all due RESPECT to your vast knowledge on ALL subjects - and I realize your descriptions above were about both oil and wine - but I had to pass on a short story.
Last May, we several food writers join our classes. One afternoon, we were hosting a wine tasting of Vino Nobile with a most knowledgeable, drop-dead gorgeous young Italian woman (Chiara) hosting the tasting.
One of the journalists - an abnoxious woman from Miami - used EXACTLY the same words in italics above to describe one of the wines she tasted.
Knowing Chiara well, I asked her to give her thoughts on the same wine. Chiara slowly swirled it in her glass, looked at the color, took a small sip and closed her eyes. Then she looked up and said, "it reminds me of the last time I was kissed".
This "cultural" rule is because Italians feel that milk after a meal prevents proper digestion. And as has been discussed many times on Slow Talk before - proper digestion is most important to all Italians - read Rebecca's View.
quote: I live in NYC, and between all the shops here and the Internet, we can get almost anything
I know you asked about local oil here, but just FYI - two important things to consider when buying oil in the USA.
First - what year was the oil produced? Is there a date on the bottle? Oil is good for two years, but it is always best to buy the most recent year of production.
Second - again, talked about many times here on Slow Talk - the EU laws allow "bottlers" here to add oil that is produced in Spain, Africa, etc to the bottle. They are not required by law to even tell you of this. Buying oil directly from a good fantoio will allow you to know exactly what you are getting.
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