The Many Shades of Olive Oil

The Many Shades of Olive Oil

Growing up with an Italian mother, imported olive oil was a staple in our kitchen. We even went so far as to fry our eggs in it—a food tradition I still continue to enjoy—with one small, but important change. You see the olive oil my mother used in her cooking was golden in color and had a light scent to it, whereas today, the olive oil I use has a greenish tinge to it, a stronger olive taste and scent (and, unfortunately, a somewhat higher price tag).

Why the departure from my Sicilian family’s tradition? Simply because I discovered that many of reasons why olive oil is such a wonderful fat to consume actually become lost during the manufacturing processes which give rise to the more traditional, light-golden colored oil.

There are two things to look for when choosing an olive oil. The first is that is has been cold-pressed. This means that the oil wasn’t subjected to any chemical processes or high heat which can literally “cook” the nutritional goodness (antioxidants, vitamin E, Omega-9’s) right out of your oil.

The second feature to look for is that your oil is labeled extra-virgin (or “EVOO”) as opposed to just virgin. This tells you that not only was the oil extracted during the first pressing but that it was processed quickly, before its health-breeding fatty acids had much of a chance to break down. EVOO has been shown to lower the inflammatory markers in the blood (which help to prevent against cardiovascular disease) in contrast to virgin olive oil which came up empty handed.

Want to add more of this powerful nectar to your diet? Dip your whole grain bread in it, drizzle it over hearty soups, fry your eggs in it (I use an oil sprayer to avoid overuse), or add some extra cold-pressed, EVOO to your pasta sauce after cooking. Mangia!