Cooking & EatingThis year, professional, international olive oil experts and a jury of Dutch chefs assessed olive oil for the first time. During this competition they tasted and sniffed 83 types of olive oil.
Who makes the best olive oil? This week revolved around this question in the first edition of the Amsterdam International Olive Oil Competition. Producers were allowed to send in their oil for tasting. In total, 75 producers submitted 83 olive oils.
The judges used a so-called organoleptic test. That is the official method of the International Oive Council (IOC). They only used their sense of taste and smell in testing. Olive oils with a negative difference in smell or taste are not classified as extra virgin olive oil.
The oil that was good enough — extra virgin — fell into one of three categories: delicate, medium, and intense. “We first assess the oils with a nose test to confirm that the oil has been placed in the correct category. After that, the fruitiness, bitterness and pungency (properties of extra virgin olive oil, ed.) are assessed by mouth”, explains Francesca de Ritis, one of the ‘expert probes‘ of the competition.
Evaluating olive oil is difficult
Evaluating olive oil is difficult for consumers. That is why it is difficult to determine which olive oil is the right choice, says Wilma van Grisven-Padberg. ,,With our institute we also inspect olive oil in the supermarket and there is real work to be done there. We are currently discussing this with Albert Heijn, Jumbo and Delhaize,” says the olive oil sommelier and Dutch panel leader of the Olive Oil Institute.
,,These supermarkets want to make improvements, but to be able to buy olive oil you need specialist knowledge. It is mandatory to test olive oil with an organoleptic test and there are not enough panels to test all olive oil. So it is very easy for a producer to just put a lower quality in the bottle and still put ‘extra virgin’ in the bottle.” Not a rooster crowing at it.
The winners of the olive oil competition
In the delicate category, the Olio Gianecchia DOP Collina Di Brindisi from the Italian manufacturer Azienda Agricola Valentini Ambrogio the winner. The Anno Zero IPG Toscano Biologico from the Italian manufacturer Tenuta Quarciamatta was the winner in the medium category. In the category intense won El Empiedro DOP Priego De Cordoba from the Spanish manufacturer SCA Olivarera La Purisima.
Chefs are also involved in the judging of the oils. “That is important, because eventually they will use the oil in the kitchen,” says De Ritis. In the chef’s choicecategory also came three winners. The Turkish olive oil Cook’s Groove, from the manufacturer of the same name, won in the delicate category. In the medium category, the Anno Zero Italiano Biologico from the Italian manufacturer Tenuta Querciamatta. The Dominius Early Harvestfrom the Spanish manufacturer Monva SL, was the winner in the intense category.
Olive oil in Dutch stores
“As an institute, we work according to IOC standards, but we have also started working with quality marks,” says Van Grisven-Padberg. “We hope that we can persuade supermarkets to have us tested and to obtain a quality mark, so that consumers know that it is guaranteed to be extra virgin.”
Unfortunately, there are no real tips and tricks for buying the right olive oil for consumers. “But you can go to a specialty store and buy it there, you can usually smell and taste it beforehand,” says Van Grisven-Padberg.
“I always give one tip to people who taste olive oil”, Van Grisven-Padberg continues. ,,If you drink a burgundy, you probably eat a white fish or a lamb’s lettuce, so you also take a delicate olive oil. If you drink a bordeaux, choose a robust olive oil. But that’s not even on the label. In fact, it is often not even stated which olive varieties have been used.”
According to expert De Ritis, competitions like the one in Amsterdam also help consumers make better choices when buying olive oil. ,,The aim of the competition is also to connect with the end users and the retailers, so this is definitely an extra help. This is a growing market, which means that consumers themselves also need to grow in how to understand the oils. We can do this by talking about oil quality through official competitions.”
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.