For four days, smell and taste 101 different olive oils. That is what a qualified test panel is doing in a tasting room of Hotelschool The Hague-Amsterdam this week. They judge for the Amsterdam olive oil competition, which aims to put olive oil on the map here.
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Gregor Christiaans, chairman of the Olive Oil Foundation Netherlands, is the man behind the Amsterdam olive oil competition. According to him, it is a mortal sin that the product, and by that he means especially in the Netherlands, is used so little.
“To give you an idea, we do 0.8 liters per person per year. Greece does 12. It is very healthy, very tasty, but we are still a butter country.” To make the use of olive oil just as popular here as in Southern European countries, he founded the foundation, with which he is now organizing the Amsterdam competition for the second time.
“Amsterdam is of course the place to be if you do these kinds of international competitions”
It was a tactical choice to hold the game in Amsterdam. With the name of the capital, Christiaans hoped to get more olive oil producers to participate. “Be honest, Amsterdam is of course the place to be if you do these kinds of international competitions. And the name you can use towards the producers.”
Gold, silver or bronze
A total of 101 producers submitted their olive oils. After a blind smelling and tasting round, the jury assigns the oils a gold, silver or bronze status. A final winner will be selected by the jury for each category. The very best in the gold class is awarded the title ‘platinum’.
Which oils will win the prizes will be announced on June 1. During the award ceremonies in Amsterdam.
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