» Calabrian Olive Oil

Brand Italy – Olive Oil Industry – Smoke and Mirrors

Joe — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 15:18:24 +0000

Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil is like “French Wine” or “Swiss Chocolate” or “German Cars”… Italy isn’t the largest producer of Olive Oil (Spain is) but Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil is in its own class… not to take anything away from any other country as there is certainly high quality products elsewhere, possibly superior (let’s not get crazy) but we’re talking about marketing and image not facts.

In much of Italy, olive oil is produced from small family groves where they care for their own trees, pick their own olives and bring them to local mills to produce their oil. Many families only produce enough olive oil for personal use but larger groves may also have additional oil to sell.

The small mills that are very common throughout the south (as I’m sure they are in other areas as well) press the olives for area farmers and in turn will take payment in cash or in oil. Pretty straight forward right?

The mills that have accepted payment in oil now have a good amount of oil that they need to sell, so they call or are called upon by wholesalers. The mills will watch the market price of oil and hold onto it if it is low, sell it if it is high (the market game.) Once they decide to sell, the wholesaler shows up with a truck, sucks up the oil and takes it away… simple right? The problem is, there is only one “wholesaler” in our area of Calabria…. you would think there would be some competition wouldn’t you? NOPE. Is it surprising? NOPE… but that’s another story.

This wholesaler is from another region of Italy, so after he sucks the “life” out of Calabria (or parts of it at least) he returns to his region where the company either sells it in bulk or bottles it or mixes it with seed oil or takes a bath in it… it doesn’t really matter at that point. So the wonderful oil that is produced in Calabria and other areas of the south is taken away to other regions and sold as “their oil”… so in the eyes of the world, the best olive oil is made where? I would guess that most people would say Tuscany… not because the world has tasted Tuscany’s local oil (which is wonderful) but because the south, which is the leading producer of olive oil in Italy is supplying the company’s based in Tuscany with oil to sell to the world. I would love to say that I’m upset that southern Italy isn’t getting recognized but to be honest I’d rather not have the world know because by the time they actually taste that bottle of olive oil it may be mixed with Spanish oil, Turkish oil, Greek oil, hazelnut oil or maybe even motor oil!

So the moral of the story is, no matter what region’s olive oil you prefer: buy local or buy from a small company that supports local farmers and you’ll taste a world of difference.

Seven Fishes Feast – A Food Blogger Event

Joe — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:32:52 +0000

Now that Thanksgiving is over and December has arrived, Italians go into overdrive in the kitchen. There are so many wonderful dishes, recipes, specialties and customs that come along with the holidays, which for me has always been a wonderful time of year. Christmas Eve in particular is one of my favorites as we celebrate “La Vigilia” with a fish feast! As a matter of fact, my very first post on Italyville was on Christmas Eve last year and I posted on the “Seven Fishes” which is a tradition with many Italian families including mine. I was recently sent a book called, “Feast of the Seven Fishes” by Robert Tinnell, Shannon Tinnell, Ed Piskor and Alex Saviuk. The team over at “Feast of the Seven Fishes” sent me 2 copies actually…. one for me and one to give away on Italyville. It’s a wonderful comic strip story about family, friends, love and best of all… food! Robert Tinnell who grew up Italian American also includes recipes he and his wife Shannon make for their ”Feast of the Seven Fishes.” In addition, there are some great photos and a brief family history of growing up Italian American in West Virginia.

So, in celebration of the holidays and “la Vigilia di Natale”, Maryann of Finding la Dolce Vita and I are hosting a virtual “Seven Fishes Feast” We will be giving away a copy of “Feast of the Seven Fishes” …. but since it’s the season of giving, we are sweeting the pot! (that’s just how we roll) So here’s a photo and list of “Italian products” in our holiday gift basket: {Note: products in the gift basket may vary to apply to postal laws}

1 homemade sopressata
1 small bottle of extra virgin olive oil from Calabria
1 jar of homemade roasted red peppers
1 bag of Perugina Baci
1 package of cookies (Savoiardi/lady fingers)
1 panettone
2 boxes of Properzi torrone (regular and chocolate covered)
1 book – “Feast of the Seven Fishes”

So come join us for a wonderful fish feast. We are accepting recipe’s until December 18th.

This is what you have to do to participate:

Create a fish or shellfish dish and post it on your blog.
Display our “Seven Fishes Feast” badge and link back to both Maryann and me.
Send your entry to me at joe (at) italyville (dot) com and put “Seven Fishes Feast” in the subject line.
Tell me your name, blog name, url, the name of your recipe with a photo and a link to your post.

Maryann and I will be posting the recipes as they arrive… so keep checking back! We will chose a winner at random on December 19th.

….and thanks for the early Blogoversary wishes Maryann!

Forge Restaurant NYC

Joe — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:52:00 +0000

The doors are open at FORGE, so if you find yourself in New York City any time soon, make sure you stop by for a great meal. You can also view the menu at www.forgenyc.com and there’s a special appetizer made with olive oil direct from my grandparents’ farm in Calabria! (see sheep milk’s ricotta appetizer on the menu page) Marc and my brother Mike traveled Europe together after college and stayed at my grandparents’ place for a few days. The Calabrian olive oil obviously had an affect on Marc (if you’re Calabrese you already know it’s the best in the world.) If you haven’t read the post on Chef Marc Forgione click here.

Forge
134 Reade Street, NYC 10013
212.941.9401

Here’s a few photos from the restaurant (from the Forge website.) Buon Appetito!