Guide to Olive Oil

Italians consume olive oil like it's water.  My grandparents used olive oil for cooking, shining shoes, preserving food, lubricating machinery (including various shotguns), curing various ailments (including stomach ulcers), etc.  I wouldn't recommend you use olive oil to lubricate your shotgun given other alternatives on the market, but if you produced your own olive oil (as my grandparents once did) you'd probably find alternative uses for the golden liquid as well!

If you're going to stick to olive oil for preparing and eating food, then you have plenty of good choices on the US market.  First, let's start with some basics about olive oil (including extra virgin olive oil):

1. Olive oil DOES NOT get better with age.  In fact, olive is meant to be consumed as quickly as possible (fresh=good).

2. Olive oil DOES NOT like light or warm temperatures.  In turn, it should be stored in a cool, dry, and dark environment.

3. Olive oil is a type of fat (like butter and lard) and has a good amount of calories.

4. Unlike butter, for example, olive oil has wonderful health benefits due to its high content of monounsaturated fatty acids as well as high content of antioxidative substances. 

5. Olive oil helps lower bad cholesterol and helps with good cholesterol.

6. Extra virgin olive oil is produced without using heat or chemicals (extra virgin olive oil also must have an acidity level of less than one percent).
 
7. Olive oil is extracted from crushed olives.

Both my grandparents and parents have told me wonderful stories about harvesting olives on the family farm in southern Italy (see La Cucina Italiana's guide to regional olive oil) and the process involved to produce both first press olive oil (that is, the first batch of olive oil produced via an old fashioned press; nowadays, most olive oil is produced via continuous centrifugal presses) and extra virgin olive oil.  I've tasted much of the olive oil produced by my family in Italy and to be perfectly honest the olive oil is extremely intense and almost too flavorful and viscous for everyday use (at least for my American palette).  Fresh, extra virgin olive oil, is almost a guild the lily type condiment (maybe to be used with a ready to explode ripe San Marzano tomato or drizzled over a freshly baked piece of bread); you wouldn't want to cook or make a salad dressing with the aformentioned extra virgin olive oil.   

In terms of everyday olive oil that can be purchased in most supermarkets in the US, I have a couple of favorites:

- Filippio Berio Olive Oil for everyday use- I find this olive great for both cooking (frying, sautéing, etc.) and using raw in salads and for finishing dishes (like bruschetta, any type of sauce for meat, etc.).  There is a definite olive taste to Berio and it's not overly oily like many mediocre olive oils on the market today.

- Colovita Extra Virgin Olive Oil for items that don't require cooking - I use Colovita Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO as Rachel Ray like to say) for pasta sauces, tomato salads, and for dunging soft crusty bread from my favorite bakery (Sullivan Street!).  Unlike celebrity chefs such as Mario Batali, I don't believe in using extra virgin olive oil exclusively in my kitchen (that is to say, for cooking, finishing, raw, etc.).  

- Bertolli Olive Oil - Bertolli is very similar to Berio in terms of quality, taste, and use.  In fact, I have a hard time discerning between the two, however I do have a preference for Berio if I'm faced with a choice at my local supermarket.  

In terms of high end olive oils from small producers, it's really a hit or miss type of thing.  I can't recommend a specific brand because of location and distribution.  For example, here on the East coast I often buy my extra virgin olive oil from Bartolomeo's Italian Food Emporium (click here for a review of the shop from Jason Perlow at Off the Broiler) that imports the oil from the owner's olive orchards in Puglia (the olive oil is fresh and has a nice balance of flavor and viscosity without being too overpowering or thick).  My recommendation on finding specialty olive oil is to try different producers and stick with a brand once you find something you like (also be sure to buy in small quantities unless you plan on using the oil every day).  Also, price doesn't equal quality.  In fact, I would opt for a fresh, recently produced bottle over an expensive extra virgin, first pressed, olive oil that has been sitting on the shelf for months.  

Finally, as I've said about wine, you should only buy and use what you like (don't listen to critics unless you've tried the product yourself).