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<pre>Excerpted from, SAM COOKS
A food, wine and spirits newsletter
By Sam Gugino
Volume 3, No. 11, June 11, 2000
____________________________________

In April, I traveled to Turkey as a guest of the Aegean Exporters'
Unions. The reason for the invitation was to promote Turkish olive
oil, but I also learned a good deal about Turkish cuisine and Turkish
history.
___________________________________
____________________________________

TURKISH OLIVE OIL

You've probably consumed Turkish olive oil on a number of occasions
and don't even know it. How's that? Turkey is the fourth or fifth
largest producer of olive oil in the world, after Spain, Italy,
Greece, and sometimes Tunisia, depending on the harvest. But as with
much of the olive oil in Spain and Tunisia, Turkish olive oil is often
sent to Italy to be repackaged and sold as if it were Italian olive
oil.

Then there are brands such as Cavallo d'Oro, which sounds very
Italian. But this is a Turkish oil that was shipped to the United
States and given an Italian name to make it easier to sell. After
all, most Americans when faced with a choice would buy an Italian
olive oilor one that sounds like an Italian olive oilin a heartbeat
over a Turkish olive oil (or Spanish, or Greek or Tunisian oil for
that matter).

I was amazed to find out how many olive oil containers with labels
that look very Italian actually contain Turkish olive oil. At Taris,
the largest olive oil producer in Turkey, there was an entire room
containing cans and bottles with names like Bella, Giorgio, Selesta,
AntoniaTurkish oils all.

But organizations such as the European Economic Community and the
International Olive Oil Council (of which Italy is a member but Turkey
is not) and the World Customs Organization are changing all that. As
a result of their efforts, we are starting to see the origins of olive
oils on cans and bottles, albeit in very fine print.

But that's only half the battle. The other half is to put Turkish
names on Turkish oils to be sold in the United States. In this
regard, Turkey is moving in the same direction as Spain, though it is
several years behind. While still selling olive oil to Italian and
American producers, who will repackage it, Spain is increasingly
keeping its best oils for Spanish labels. At the time of my trip, I
was told that the only Turkish-labeled olive oil in the United States
was made by Taris. Subsequently, I was sent a bottle of Olive Farm
olive oil, an estate-bottled Turkish oil. You can buy it by mail
order at 1- 888-380-8018.

How good is Turkish olive oil? In general, the oils I tasted were
quite pleasant but not exceptional. They are the kind of oils you
would use for everyday cooking, especially since the price is
generally reasonable. Ironically, the two best oils I sampled are not
yet available in the United States. One is from one of the largest
producers of table olives in Turkey, Ardes, which sells most of its
olives to Europe, especially Germany. The brand name of the Ardes
olive oil is Zeyno and it is sold only in two company stores, one in
the city of Izmir, the other in Istanbul.

The second oil is made by Dr. Yahya Laleli, who is as passionate
about making olive oil as Robert Mondavi is about making wine.
Laleli, who is a physician and owns a laboratory testing company, has
bought small olive presses and other equipment from Italy. He has
also had his oil tested by the Amministrazione Provinciale di Siena in
Tuscany to verify that the oil meets Italian standards as extra virgin
oil.

(Extra virgin oil must have less than 1 percent oleic acid, a
monounsaturated fatty acid that studies show lowers overall blood
cholesterol and raises high-density lipoproteins, or the "good"
component of cholesterol. Oils that have between 1 and 3 percent
oleic acid are considered to be virgin oils. Oils previously labeled
"pure" and now simply called "olive oil" are refined oils and contain
1 to 1.5 percent oleic acid. Most olive oil sold in the United States
is pure. The rest is extra virgin. Little or no virgin oil is seen
in the United States because virgin oil is typically added back to the
refined "olive oil" to bring its oleic acidity down and to add some of
the flavor that was lost in the refining process.)

Laleli extra virgin olive oil could easily fetch $20 a 750 ml bottle
in a gourmet shop in the United States. The reasons for this quality
are not surprising. Laleli does what quality olive oil producers in
Tuscany do. (In fact, he's had his olives tested and has found they
are the same as those used in Tuscany.) Laleli scrupulously avoids
using any damaged olives because even a few bad olives can spoil the
taste of top quality extra virgin oil. He uses cold pressing, never
above 37 degrees centigrade, because heat (as well as light and air)
are the enemies of olive oil. To retain maximum flavor Laleli doesn't
filter his oil but allows any sediment to gradually settle to the
bottom of storage tanks. The resulting oil is transported by gravity
for bottling because pumping can damage the delicacy of the oil. If
Turkish olive oil wants to make any significant strides in quality,
more producers will have to follow Laleli's lead.

Laleli also makes a delicious garlic oil that is superior to any I've
tasted. The reason is that he presses the garlic with the olives to
integrate the taste. He does the same with mandarin oranges for a
lovely oil that would be perfect on salads. If you're ever in Ankara,
the capital of Turkey, look for Laleli's store, Korfez 'den, which is
the only place where his oils are available.

Most of the Turkish olive oil producers I talked to were quick to
point out the heart-healthy benefits of olive oil. As a physician,
Laleli was particularly conscious of olive oil's health benefits,
contained primarily in its antioxidant properties. To keep his oil's
antioxidant properties as high as possible, Laleli picks his olives
early (usually in November) because as olives mature, their
antioxidants go down. He also tries to pick at night, while the
olives are cool. And he processes them immediately, before they are
allowed to ferment.

Incidentally, Laleli was at odds with other Turkish olive oil
producers on one major aspect of olive oil's health benefits. It has
long been assumed that one gets the health benefits of olive oil
whether the oil is heated for cooking or used at room temperature, in
salads for example. However, Laleli contends that most of olive oil's
antioxidant properties are obtained only when the oil is used in its
raw state. This makes sense, since heat breaks down the flavor of
olive oil as well.

Laleli's facility is located near the town of Taylieli in the area of
Ayvalik along the Aegean, the prime olive oil producing region in
Turkey. (Olives and oil are also produced on the southern coast of
Turkey along the Mediterranean.) Though some 86 varieties of olives
are grown in Turkey, the Edremit olive is the primary one for olive
oil.
____________________________________
____________________________________

If you like my newsletter, I'd really appreciate it if you
would send it on to friends who might also enjoy it.
Anyone can subscribe for free by sending a blank
email to sam-cooks-on@mail-list.com.
____________________________________

Copyright 2000.
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<pre>Hi folks,

As one who has dealt with the marketing hype of the natural products
industry for years, I think I see in Sam Cooks evaluation of Turkish
olive oils signs of promotion of a brand or two that had the attention
of the Aegean Exporters Union (of which I'm a member) but I accept that
as the norm here. There's no question that Yahya Laleli is doing some
good things, but there are many other fine oils besides those mentioned.
One fine oil, which I sell a heckuva lot of in the USA, can be seen at
http://www.oliveoilclub.com/verde.html

Y'all keep smiling, Butch in Ankara http://www.AV-AT.com
Purveyor of all kinds'a good things to make folks smile ....

> Excerpted from, SAM COOKS
> A food, wine and spirits newsletter
> By Sam Gugino
> Volume 3, No. 11, June 11, 2000
> ____________________________________
>
> In April, I traveled to Turkey as a guest of the Aegean Exporters'
> Unions. The reason for the invitation was to promote Turkish olive
> oil, but I also learned a good deal about Turkish cuisine and Turkish
> history.
</pre>
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