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A GUIDE TO THE TASTING OF EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL In order to fully appreciate the qualities of virgin olive oil, it must be tasted first of all pure, without the accompaniment of other foods. Therefore, in order not to be led astray by spurious sensations, certain guidelines should be kept in mind: - extra virgin olive oil, unlike other foods, can even offer an immediate gratification, but its purpose is not to please in and of itself; it should be judged imagining it as an addition to other foods or as a cooking oil which will impart its own particular taste. Therefore, certain sensations such as a prickling in the throat or a hint of bitterness are due to its concentration and are not to be seen as defects, but rather can constitute an authentic element of quality. Therefore one should obtain a certain experience through numerous trials in order to have a basis for comparison. - Olive oil does not contain any naturally sweet substances; what is sometimes called a sweet oil is one in which bitterness is more or less completely absent and which is usually exceptionally fluid. - Bitterness is a normal attribute of olive oil, as this oil contains precious substances which by their nature have some bitter taste. This is not in itself a defect even though, if excessive, it may not please certain consumers; in such a case it may be corrected or let evolve by itself. However, there do exist certain bitter tastes of an unpleasant type (leaf, medicinal…) which are not those of a healthy olive and these should be recognized as defects. - The acidity of an oil is a commonly cited classifying element based upon the presence of free radicals and is measured as the weight of non esterified oleic acid (since oleic acid can make up as much as 80% of the weight of the product). Free fatty acids have a molecular weight which is too high to be observed by our sense organs, so that the oil’s acidity cannot be perceived or evaluated by tasting and must be measured in chemical analysis. It is absolutely wrong to claim as the result of tasting alone that an oil has a high or a low acidity. At the most one could suppose that a defective oil has a high free acidity, but this is a far cry from being able to quantify it. - A visual exam of an oil is not important in determining its quality and may even mislead or distract any taster with preconceived notions. For this reason coloured glasses and not transparent ones are used for tasting. A turbid looking oil cannot be considered more or less valuable than a clear one. On the one hand because it is easy to artificially render any oil more cloudy, and on the other because authentically cloudy oil has its advantages and disadvantages. Also, a stable cloudiness is not to be confused with the turbidity that low temperatures cause: that initial flocculation which occurs even at 15° C for certain saturated fatty acids and which disappears at higher temperatures. You can have an excellent oil at all shades from pale yellow to intense green, while shadings of red, brown or grey are a sign of alteration or oxidation. |
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