I have chosen Frantoio for the second in my series of posts on the olive varieties most frequently pressed for olive oil. This Tuscan varietal, which shares its name with the Italian word for olive mill, has found its way to many parts of the olive oil world. Its popularity is probably linked to the…
Italy
Memories: Lunaio and the Seggiano brand
The small town of Seggiano is tucked away at the foot of Monte Amiata in the Grosetto region of south western Tuscany. It is still quite a wild area somewhat off the Tuscan beaten tourist track. The mountain is volcanic and there are numerous hot pools which the locals say are great for swimming even…
A Taste of Sicily
The food in Sicily is rich and varied and I have collected a good many recipes on my travels there. Here is a selection of them. Caprese and Salami kebabs These lovely little hors d’oeuvres come from a selection of recipes on the new website of The Gift of Oil which I reviewed in my…
Website of the Month: March
Artisan olive oil company: I am often asked “How much should I pay for a good extra virgin olive oil?” This is quite a difficult question to answer. The quick response is “as much as you can afford”, but there are oils which are very expensive which are arguably not worth the money that is…
Off the Shelf: March
Here is another post in my series looking at extra virgin olive oils taken at random from the marketplace. I am very lucky to have samples of evoo sent to me from time to time direct from the producers and of course these oils are likely to be the very best they produce. So I…
SALAD DAYS
I am always looking for new ideas for interesting salads, particularly at this time of the year. Here are five delicious recipes from the internet sites of three of my favourite olive oil producers and two from the American vegetarian blogger Dina Honke and her great blog oliveoilandlemons. All the oils mentioned are available from…
Off the Shelf: July
Here is another post in my new series looking at extra virgin olive oils taken at random from the market. I am very lucky to have samples of evoo sent to me from time to time direct from the producers and of course these oils are likely to be the very best they produce. So…
Off the Shelf: June
After a short gap I am continuing my new series of posts looking at a range of extra virgin olive oils taken at random from the market. I am very lucky to have samples of evoo sent to me from time to time direct from the producers and of course these oils are likely to…
Olive Oil for Christmas
Olive oil for Christmas has two meanings – in the food and among the presents. Of course olive oil will be in full use in my kitchen this Christmas, but here I want to talk about extra virgin olive oil as a Christmas present. Lots of my friends and family enjoy first class olive oil…
Designer Packaging for EVOO
A range of designer packaging will be on show at Anuga and other food shows with an eye to the Christmas market. Here are just a few of them….. Zeet Last year Zeet Tunisian extra virgin olive oil launched a range of new packaging by established international contemporary artists. They temed up with Selma Fariani…