Don Martinich > wrote in message
...
> In article dth>,
> "The Ranger" > wrote:
>> gloria.p > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > The Ranger wrote:

>> >> ObTopic: I currently have EVOOs from Spain, Greece,
>> >> Italy and California. Each lends a different taste to the
>> >> dishes I make. The Spanish EVOO is so fragrant that
>> >> we only use it for dipping.
>> >>
>> > Does "fragrant" = strong flavored? I found a lot of locally
>> > pressed olive oils in Spain and Portugal to be so strong
>> > flavored they were unpleasant.
>> >
>> Not regarding this particular EVOO; fragrant means that you
>> can smell a spice-like scent. To me, it lends a nice essence
>> to dipping but the two times I added it to a cooking dish it
>> overpowered it.
>>
>> Strong-flavored oils, in my VERY limited experience, have
>> been dominated by the Greek entries. Some have been
>> downright bitter and very unpleasant. I've not tried any
>> from Portugal (yet) but I'm young and love a challenge. We
>> have a local Portuguese community so finding one might
>> be easier than finding a good port!
>>
> Oils pressed from less ripe olives tend to have stronger aromas and
> flavors. Also aging the oil makes some difference. I don't know about
> Greece but Italy , Spain, and France all produced oils with a wide range
> of flavors/aromas depending on all the usual suspects: variety,
> ripeness, microclimate, cultural practices and so on. From a marketing
> angle, I think the producers/packers of high priced oils like to use the
> "greener" oils so their customers can talk about their favorite oils
> using a lot of wacky descriptors just like a bunch of yuppie wine snobs.
> How else can you charge 30 bucks for 8 ounces of cooking oil? (I guess
> packaging it in perfume bottle helps.)

Thanks, Don. I was aware of most of this information when I visited a olive
grower back in the 90s. Time and age have played on my retaining it, though.

The Ranger