OLIO NUOVO!

Celebrating the Italian olive picking & pressing season

Olio Nuovo, new oil!  Ooooh, just the sound of these two little words brings music to my ears!  Today in our garden, Salvatore and our olive oil pickers are busy reaping the harvest.  Large green nets are spread under trees like catch nets under a circus trapeze...tied to branches, fences and whatever they can hold on to, while sun tanned farmers with worn leather-like hands pick vigorously by hand.  With a small hand-held rake, the farmers gently sweep off the olives from the branches, being careful not to bruise them.  They fall to the net and then are wrapped up, bagged and carried to the frantoio, the press. 

 

The olive fruits, that were only small pearl sized in May, have now grown full size and are ready for pressing.  And all in a days work!  Yes, the picking, cold pressing happens quite fast so the olives don't lose their fresh flavor!   

Poured into glass green bottles to keep it away from light, the Olio Nuovo  is made with Leccino, Curatora, Frantonoio & Coratina olives.  These varieties give an excellent, high quality and low acidity of 0.25%;  which qualifies it to be extra virgin.  Our olives are grown on a small olive oil orchard, tenderly cared for by our farmers and picked just at the right time.  Grassy and with a hint of almond give this olive oil a clean taste.  Celebrate the season with Olio Nuovo, drizzled on bruschetta, risotto, pasta, fish or meat!  A good olive oil not only tastes good, it is imperative in the healthy Mediterranean diet.

Check out our lemon olive oil, made with Amalfi Coast lemons, and hot red chili pepper too at Marketplace Page.

ENTER to WIN!!

We Make Our Own OO!

OO is an abbreviated name for Olive Oil, and in Italy it is a serious business.  Italians use only extra virgin paying close attention to taste, harvest date, producer, and exact location. 

At Cooking Vacations, we grow, press and bottle our own with veteran olive oil maker and taster Salvatore. We produce a high quality extra-virgin olive oil in Campania. The oils are blends of the more common cultivars (varieties) of this region, like Leccino, Coratina, and Frantoio. We include the harvest date and added information on the label to guarantee the best production possible!

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

The olives used to make our extra virgin olive oil are healthy and picked just at the right time, making the oil clean, golden yellow-green in color, and crisp to taste. Our oils compliment any salad, pasta, risotto, fish and meat too.

Lemon Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Amalfi Coast lemons, sfusato, are gently infused in our extra virgin olive oil giving it just a hint of lemon.  The light tasty oil is great on summer salads, lemon pasta and risotto, fish and bruschetta.

A Guide to Olive Oil
With so many options on the store shelf, it can be difficult telling which extra virgin olive oil is best. Here are few tips to keep in mind when its time to restock on your liquid gold. 

•  Look for the when, who, where of your oil:  When it was made (harvest date), who made it (producer name), and where it was made it.  A quality producer will include this on the label.

• Be sure the label reads, “extra virgin” and not “pure”, “light” oil, or even just “olive oil”- these have gone through chemical adulterations that remove the olives natural flavors and health benefits.

• Olive oil is best if consumed within one year of processing. It can quickly become rancid if not stored properly. Keep your oil in a dark, cool environment and with the cap well sealed.  Direct sunlight, heat, and oxygen can contribute to off-flavors. 

• Don’t be lured by the dark green color of some oils. Different olive cultivars contribute to various hues and are not an indication of quality.

•  Some olive oils are more peppery and pungent while others a more mild and grassy. It just depends on your preference! Try to find a specialty store where you can taste the range of styles for yourself. 

•   Look for oils that have a “best by” date or better a “harvest date.” The “best by” date is two years from when the oil was bottled not harvested. Unfortunately many oils are stored for years before bottling. Many supermarket olive oils are blends of fresh and older oils that have been chemically altered to remove off aromas. 

Visit our Marketplace page where you can purchase our oils online or come help Salvatore with the harvest in October with our Salvatore Olive Oil Harvest Program!

Source: For more information on the world of olive oil pick up Tom Mueller’s book, Extra Virginity. For more tips visit his site, www.extravirginity.com