This month I bought three extra virgin olive oils from shops in Brighton all at prices under £13.00 a litre. Cypressa EVOO from Taj in Western Road Brighton There is very little information of any kind on the label other than that the oils is from Greece and is packed there for Katsouris Brothers Ltd…
Planeta-olive-oil and the magical island of Sicily
I am just back from a wonderful trip to Sicily as the guest of the Planeta family, producers of Paneta-olive-oil and I was bowled over by the rich history of the island . The earliest visitors to put down roots were the Phoenecians, closely followed by the Greeks and then the Romans. A few hundred…
New Approach to cooking with olive oil
I have just received a copy of Mary Platis and Laura Bashar’s book “Cooking Techniques and Recipes with Olive Oil” and I am very impressed. The book is clearly presented and beautifully illustrated with a picture for every recipe but more importantly it offers a whole new approach to cooking with olive oil. The clue…
Food with a difference… from an award winning producer
Melgarejo is the name to look out for among leading extra virgin olive oils from Jaen in the Spanish region of Andalucia. This oil has just won one of the top awards in the Mario Solinas Awards organised by the International Olive Council in Madrid. The oil is pressed from the local Picual olive and…
Scatter pearls for a burst of flavour
The latest in foodie novelties are these little spherical gelatinous “pearls” filled with extra virgin olive oil or with balsamic vinegar of Modena. The idea is to sprinkle them over salads and other dishes so that when you bite into them you get a sudden burst of flavour. There is no doubt that they are…
The Olive Oil Diet; Book Review
I make no apology for reprinting this book review of The Olive Oil Diet which was published in the internet magazine Medscape. It was written by Dr. Melissa Walton- Shirley MD, a US cardiologist. In it she sums up everything that my co author, Dr Simon Poole, and I were trying to convey. “If you…
More reviews and testimonials for The Olive Oil Diet
Since I posted the first batch of wonderful reviews and testimonials about my new book The Olive Oil Diet, written with co-author Dr. Simon Poole, it has not only been named as the UK winner in the Diet Section of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, it has now also been shortlisted for the International Award. In…
February Website of the Month
This is the third in my new series about websites selling extra virgin olive oils which are well worth seeking out. My researches this month turned up The Artisan Olive Oil Company. This is a relatively new company which was started in September 2016 at the Speciality food Fair in London by Yacine Amor. Since…
Off the Shelf: January
This is the second in my new series of posts looking at evoo that is on the shelves at the moment. I am very lucky to have samples of extra virgin olive oil sent to me from time to time direct from the producers and of course this oil is likely to be the very…
Twelve days of short tasting seminars
I shall be running twenty short tasting seminars at various restaurants in London for the next twelve days. The seminars are open to journalists, chefs, wholesale/ retail olive oil buyers or anyone with a professional interest in olive oil. The seminars are free of charge and details are given at the following locations. Seminars at…