TV host and comedian David Letterman has his Top Ten List. I’m starting my own list. Mine aims to set the record straight on olive oil. Below are my Top Five Olive Oil Myths:

1. All European extra virgin olive oil sold in the United States is true, certified EVOO. Wrong! California has adopted strict tasting and testing standards for what can be sold as certified EVOO in the Golden state, while the International Olive Council has set its own standards for what’s sold overseas. But the U.S. government hasn’t set nationwide certification standards. Consequently, foreign producers can ship olive oil to the states and label it “extra virgin” – even though it isn’t true EVOO. “They can, and they do,” says Nancy Ash, a trained olive oil taster and owner of the consulting firm Strictly Olive Oil.
2. Light olive oil is lower in fat and calories. The fat and calorie levels in “light” olive oil are the same as any other type of olive oil. Light olive oil is made from refined olive oil that’s light in flavor, color and aroma. The term is a marketing ploy.
3. To make EVOO, olives are crushed with heavy mill stones. That was the case many years ago. But hammer mills largely have replaced donkey-powered stone mills. The modern hammer mills use a motorized system that’s much like a meat grinder: Arms, or blades, spin at a high speed and crush the olives and force them through a stainless-steel screen.
4. You can tell an extra virgin olive oil’s quality by its color. Color isn’t a good indicator of quality. But color will tell you other things. Olives harvested early in the season, for example, are naturally very green and therefore produce a greener oil. “Olives picked early in the season tend to make green colored oil as they contain higher levels of chlorophyll,” notes Australian olive oil expert Richard Gawel. “Olives harvested late in the season will typically produce more golden colored oils due to a higher level of natural occurring levels of carotene-like substances. Both oils may be technically equivalent in quality but very different in style.”
5. You can’t cook with EVOO. This belief mistakenly assumes EVOO has a low “smoke point” – that’s the temperature at which the oil begins to break down and smoke. A high-quality EVOO has a higher smoke point than other oils, making it very suitable for many forms of cooking, such as frying.  “Extra virgin olive oil’s smoke point is generally given as 410 degrees Fahrenheit, which gives plenty of room for the 250-350 degrees Fahrenheit that covers most cooking,” says Karen Collins, a nutrition adviser for the American Institute for Cancer Research, a nonprofit which funds cancer-prevention research.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

Spring is just around the corner, but at the moment winter is showing few signs of retreating in northern California.  Cool temperatures and rain are in the forecast. In other words, it’s still perfect soup weather.

I have a hearty and healthy recipe that fits the weather. It comes by way of Ryan Scott. The San Francisco caterer and cooking instructor’s soup features cabbage, red potatoes and white beans.

It’s an easy dish. The chef keeps it vegetarian by using vegetable broth. You can cook your own beans ahead of time, or use canned beans to save time. The soup is finished with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Chef Scott, who appeared on Bravo’s “Top Chef” a few seasons back, is a classically trained chef and a graduate of the California Culinary Academy.

And he has his own show, “Cooking with Ryan,” on CBS’ Los Banos affiliate.

You can also check out our earlier blog post featuring his caramelized cabbage with pancetta and apples.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

I was asked recently how we literally keep tabs on our olives – from the time our harvesters pick them, to when they are freshly crushed and the oil is bottled at the mill. You can see the evidence yourself if you look at the back of a bottle of Olio Nuovo extra virgin olive oil.

Below the “harvest” and “best by” dates are some numbers (see photo at left below). They identify a particular batch of oil based on the exact location of the grove of trees.

It’s called “traceability.” We rely on a computerized system that tells us the date and time the olives were harvested, the ranch where they were grown, and the block of trees that produced the fruit. A block ranges from 10 to 100 acres.

Grape growers in the wine industry have long used such a computerized system. Lettuce and spinach growers have introduced the technology in response to food safety issues. California Olive Ranch is the only U.S. EVOO producer using the system.

The equipment isn’t cheap. It cost us more than a quarter of a million dollars to install and operate.

Why go to the trouble and expense?

Several reasons:

• We can identify which olives produce great oil and which produce good oil
• We can learn more about the growing conditions and farming practices that produce the best olives, and spread that knowledge among our growers
• If there’s a problem with a particular batch of olives, we can isolate the resulting oil in a particular storage tank so that one bad olive, so to speak, doesn’t spoil the entire bunch
• Knowing which olives produced the oil stored in various tanks allows us to better blend the oil once we bottle it; that way we maintain a consistent quality
• And by coding each of our bottles and boxes, we can keep track of who’s buying our EVOO once it leaves our mill – a particular grocery chain, for example, or a big restaurant operation

Here’s how we do it.

When a truck loaded with freshly harvested olives prepares to leave a ranch and head to one of our mills, a worker scans a bar code accompanying the olives and hands a bar-coded stub to the driver. The stub identifies the date, ranch and block for those particular olives.

At the mill, the driver hands one of our employees the stub as the olives are loaded on the conveyor belt to be cleaned, pressed, and turned into oil. The stub is scanned so we know the time and date the olives entered the mill.

We continue to track the olives via computer as they are: crushed; put in malaxation tanks where the oil is separated from the fruit; spun in a high-speed centrifuge to further separate any fruit particles from the oil; and pumped into storage tanks.

The information about each batch of olives ultimately is coded on every bottle and box of our EVOO.

That way, we know where the oil came from – and you will, too.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

San Francisco chef Ryan Scott thinks cabbage is way underrated. We agree.

Chef Scott – who’s worked alongside such culinary notables as Charlie Trotter, Gary Danko and Alan Wong – gives cabbage the treatment it deserves.

The San Francisco caterer and cooking instructor prepares a dish of caramelized cabbage with pancetta and apples. The pancetta is sautéed in extra virgin olive oil oil until crisp, and then set aside. Shredded cabbage, onions and apples are then sautéed until they’re golden brown. You want to keep scraping the caramel up from the bottom of the pot and incorporating it into the cabbage and onions.

Once the mixture is soft and golden, salt is added. You continue cooking until the cabbage, apples and onions turn a caramel color. You can sprinkle the cooked pancetta on top of the dish, or mix it in.

As a kid, the chef’s Christmas wish list included a food dehydrator, among other kitchen utensils. One of his first dishes, at age 9, was tuna quesadilla with canned chili over the top. He made it for his brother, who still cooks it to this day.

The Central Valley native favors local, seasonal ingredients.

“You should always decide what to cook by first figuring out which produce and vegetables are in season,” he told us. “From there, look for what will complement. Cabbage, leeks, oranges, Fuji apples . . . see what is in abundance, see what is bountiful. Then plan your meal around it.”

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

My unofficial taste tests have already convinced me extra virgin olive oil can be used instead of butter in baking. Now the Greeks are showing olive oil can be an excellent substitute for trans fat-laden shortenings in commercially baked products such as cakes.

Trans fats, otherwise known as partially hydrogenated oils, are found in many products: stick margarine, shortenings and some packaged goods – including cookies and cakes – as well as  fast foods.

“Eating trans fats increases your risk of developing heart disease and stroke,” notes the American Heart Association. “It’s also associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.”

In the study, published in LWT – Food Science and Technology, Greek researchers whipped up three cakes: one using the shortening margarine; another using extra virgin olive oil; and the third using a combination of EVOO and margarine.

A panel of 20 tasters found the judges preferred the combination of EVOO and margarine over the other two cakes, indicating that olive oil can replace a significant portion of less healthy fats – even in commercial baking that often relies more heavily on trans fats.

With the right recipe, olive oil can stand on its own. If you still need persuading, try the chocolate almond torte pictured here. Dessert guru Alice Medrich created this sumptuous dessert.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

Here’s another great recipe from Jamie West, executive chef at California-based Ojai Valley Inn & Spa.

This one features pan-seared diver scallops combined with a cooked tomato and basil puree. Chef West calls the tomato puree a fondue.

To make the fondue, onions and shallots are sautéed in extra virgin olive oil. The pan is deglazed with white wine. Roma tomatoes and fresh basil are added and allowed to simmer until thickened. The sauce is then pureed.

Chef West suggests serving the scallops atop his smoked mozzarella, corn and truffle risotto. The fondue gets spooned around the outside of the risotto. You can garnish the dish with fried basil leaves and go all the way by shaving some black truffles on top.

The Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, where Chef West overseas four restaurants and a banquet operation,  is located in a scenic area about 80 miles by car northwest of Los Angeles.

Fresh, seasonal ingredients are a foundation of Chef West’s cooking. At the resort, he has a two-acre chef’s garden where he can pick seasonal vegetables to serve his restaurant customers. He also shops at the farmers market to stay “in touch with the season and what’s available locally.”

You can also check out my posts about his spicy scallops and butternut risotto, as well as his grilled chicken breasts with tangerine honey and chipotle glaze.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

A topic we see fluttering around in cyberspace revolves around cooking with extra virgin olive oil and EVOO’s “smoke point.” It may not be the sexiest topic. But it’s a hot topic, so to speak, loaded with misinformation.

A cooking oil’s smoke point is the temperature at which the oil begins to break down and smoke. A high-quality extra virgin olive oil has a higher smoke point than other oils, making it very suitable for many forms of cooking, such as frying.

So it’s wrong to say EVOO isn’t suitable for stir-frying or frying. This belief mistakenly assumes extra virgin olive oil has a low smoke point.

First, let’s clear up the misinformation about whether it’s OK to sauté, fry, roast and even deep fry with extra virgin olive oil. As I’ve noted before, cooking doesn’t destroy an EVOO’s healthful polyphenols.

“Extra virgin olive oil’s smoke point is generally given as 410 degrees Fahrenheit, which gives plenty of room for the 250-350 degrees Fahrenheit that covers most cooking,” says Karen Collins, a nutrition adviser for the American Institute for Cancer Research, a nonprofit which funds cancer-prevention research

Chefs, to be sure, probably have to be a bit more alert than home cooks. The burner system on a professional restaurant stove typically puts out more BTUs than your average home stove.

It’s also worth noting some extra virgin olive oils are more susceptible to burning than others.

“If your oil is cloudy in appearance that will mean particulate matter, and that will burn first,” says Nancy Ash, a trained olive oil taster and owner of the consulting firm Strictly Olive Oil.

With exception of our Olio Nuovo, which we bottle immediately after the olives are pressed, our EVOO is first placed in storage tanks.  The oil sits for a few months to allow Mother Nature to suck any remaining fruit particles to the bottom of the tanks, where any solids can be removed so they don’t go in the bottle.

Chemistry also plays a role in the smoke point. A cooking oil’s smoke point depends on the amount of “free fatty acids” in the oil.

High-quality EVOO, by the way, has low levels of the acids.

“The lower the free fatty acid content, the more stable the fat, and the higher the smoke point,” food expert Harold McGee writes in his book, On Food and Cooking (Scribner, 2004).

To be certified as genuine EVOO, the International Olive Council’s guidelines require that an olive oil must have a free fatty acid content of less than 0.8%. The California Olive Oil Council’s standards are stricter, saying a true EVOO must have an acidity level of less than 0.5%.

Our EVOO’s acidity comes in at less than 0.3%, according to lab tests.

“So pay more for a well made extra virgin olive oil with a lower acidity and it’ll reward you with significantly more degrees of heating potential,” says Australian olive oil expert Richard Gawel.  “In fact, the natural preservatives called polyphenols you find in EVOO protect it from heat degradation.”

Lasty, Gawel offers this advice when cooking with any type of oil:

“Breathing in the smoke from burnt oil (no matter what type) is a health hazard,” he says. “So watch that temperature and keep those exhaust fans on.”

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

My first revelation of how olive oil can transform the ordinary into something special was a grilled cheese sandwich cooked with extra virgin olive oil. Another eye opener was a fried egg on toast, with the egg sautéed in good EVOO.

So my eyes lit up when I saw Mark Peel’s recipe for olive oil fried eggs on artisan toast. What kicks this dish up another three notches  is the egg is topped with a salsa romesco.

Peel – executive chef at Campanile in Los Angeles – makes this famed Spanish sauce using toasted almonds and hazelnuts, an oven-roasted tomato, a roasted pepper, toasted bread, and red wine vinegar. The ingredients get combined in the food processor.

The egg, meanwhile, is sautéed in extra virgin olive oil, placed on a toasted slice of sourdough batard, and topped with a spoonful of the romesco. What a way to start the morning – though I could eat it any time of day.

An award-winning chef, Mark Peel has quite a history in the restaurant business.

Just out of college, he landed a job peeling vegetables for Wolfgang Puck at Ma Maison. He eventually moved to France for stints at La Tour d’Argent and Le Moulin de Mougins. In 1979, he returned to Los Angeles and began working at Michael’s restaurant. From there he moved north to Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse and, finally, back to Los Angeles to open the original Spago as Wolfgang Puck’s chef de cuisine.

In 1989, he opened both La Brea Bakery and Campanile along with Nancy Silverton and Manfred Krankl.

Small surprise that such a creative mind can take the ordinary egg and elevate it to new heights.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

I was driving home this week listening to NPR when my ears perked up. A reporter was talking about a study suggesting a Mediterranean diet – rich in olive oil, fruits and vegetables – could prevent strokes that otherwise lead to brain damage.

“This is the first study looking at the connection between diet, dementia and the small strokes that can cause dementia,” NPR reporter Patty Neighmond said over the radio as I was driving.

Researchers at the Columbia University Medical Center found that people who eat a Mediterranean diet suffer fewer small strokes than people who follow a more traditional Western diet. Those small strokes – which typically go unnoticed – can cause brain damage, leading to thinking and memory problems such as dementia as well as loss of balance.

The researchers studied the diets of 712 people in New York above age 65. They were divided into three groups based on how closely they followed the Mediterranean diet. The researchers conducted MRI brain scans of the people about six years later to look for small areas of dead tissue called brain infarcts. A total of 238 people had at least one area of brain damage.

Those who most closely followed a Mediterranean-like diet were 36% less likely to have areas of brain damage than those who were least following the diet. Those moderately following the diet were 21% less likely to have brain damage than the lowest group.

“In this study, not eating a Mediterranean-like diet had about the same (negative) effect on the brain as having high blood pressure,” said study author Nikolaos Scarmeas of Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

Scarmeas speculates the Mediterranean diet somehow protects the blood vessels, reducing plaque and clotting.

“That makes sense because cardiologists have long known that diets high in fruits, vegetables, fish and olive oil, essentially the Mediterranean diet, benefit the heart,” NPR’s Patty Neighmond noted in her report.

Previous research by Scarmeas and his colleagues suggested that a Mediterranean-like diet may be associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease and may lengthen survival in people with Alzheimer’s.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

Around Hollywood, Chef Katsuo “Suki” Sugiura is known simply as Chef Suki. The executive chef at the Beverly Hilton is a chef to the stars. Next Monday, for example, he’ll be overseeing lunch for the Oscar nominees. This busy man also happens to be a very nice guy. And he took time out from his kitchen duties to share a recipe for citrus-scented steamed broccoli accompanied by sautéed wild mushrooms.

The dish is topped with a citrus-infused sauce that includes orange and lime zest, fresh parsley, focaccia crumbs, and extra virgin olive oil. It all gets finished with fresh shavings of parmesan cheese and a drizzle of EVOO.

At the Beverly Hilton,  Chef Suki is in charge of preparing meals for Hollywood’s movers and shakers as well as the customers of his restaurant.

Last month he prepared an exquisite dinner for the Golden Globe Awards Show dinner. The meal showcased California ingredients, including our extra virgin olive oil. He also created the dinner for the pre-GrammyAwards gala on Jan. 30 at the Beverly Hilton.

“I have the highest respect for my guests,” Chef Suki told us.  “And I want to provide the best things they can possibly taste.”

Chef Suki was raised in Europe. He’s cooked all over the world – from Berlin, London and Paris to São Paulo, New York and Hawaii. And he’s meticulous about his cooking and the ingredients he uses.

Chef Suki, for example, stocks his kitchen with nine different types of rice. He also cultivates his own herb garden, smokes his own meats, and infuses his own vinegars.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch