Article: California Olive Oil in the new world order

[Jenise]

http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-california-olive-oil/

Some interesting facts, like that six out of 10 American consumers NEVER buy olive oil.

Really interesting. Thanks, Jenise.

I hadn't seen this! I've been recommending California Olive Ranch oils for a couple years now. They, in fact, taste like olives, and the price is much cheaper than my more artisan favorites. It doesn't surprise me that they're Arbequina, that's one of my favorite varieties.

As a kid we'd use Bertolli "extra virgin" oil, which at least wasn't rancid, because the supermarket sold a ton of of it. The flavor was mild but I liked it. Some of the other brands at that time tasted terrible. When I got into cooking, I would buy interesting looking bottles from Whole Foods. These were by far the worst oils I've ever had. I can enjoy oils of all styles from the fiercely peppery to the buttery, but these were just not good. $25 for half a liter of oil on the brink of rancidity? What a ripoff! That was when I noticed that they had labels indicating "best by". And some of the bottles had dates two years into the future, even the ones in clear glass. I vowed never to get ripped off again by buying expensive oil.

However, I did taste from time to time, and found the California Olive Council seal with the vintage on it was a reliable indicator of a fresh, flavorful oil. Still, price was a problem. $25 for a half-liter of really good oil is a lot better than the alternative. I was very pleased to find Bariani, which is reasonably priced and harvest-dated, but California Olive Ranch was a dream come true. Their "olio nuovo" isn't quite as green as I'd like, but they are an outstanding value and I was so happy to see them start showing up at Target. Probably sounds like I'm a shill, but it's unusual to find a quality agricultural product at a low price.

One more thing, there's a producer called Sciabica that's local to northern California. Anyone ever had a good oil from them? They have a million varieties to sample in the farmer's markets, but all are basically flavorless.

I see Sciabica around here a lot but I've never tried it. We go primarily with Kirkland olive oil from Costco for our frying needs. For finishing, we go with Bariani or Corto. Haven't tried California Olive Ranch, but we'll have to do so.

[Jenise]

I use California Olive Ranch exclusively--like Walt, I like it THAT much. It has true olive flavor. You can also buy single-olive batches direct from COR if you want to explore various olive flavors.

I was getting it at G&G, but the Gong family sold to Safeway, so now I have to find another source. Even if Safeway carries it.

I switched over to California Olive Ranch from Colavita for my EVOO awhile ago. Never looked back.

-Paul W.

The Livermore Costco is now carrying liters of COR Oct/Nov olio nuovo for $9. Last year's was good, a bit of herbality but not at all the full-throated green, peppery type that I would like. I haven't tried this year's. However, I also bought a bottle of Katz Suisun Valley organic December oil for $25/375 mL, so at 6x the price per liter I am not complaining about the COR.

Interesting. We cook almost exclusively with either Italian Evoo or butter. Have to remember to have some vegetable oil around for recipes that want a lighter touch.

We usually have several nut oils etc. for salad use.