Dear Judy,

I would also like to receive this valuable information.

Regards,

Phil Bramley
Tanja Olives

Dear Judy, I would dearly love a copy of the update of your paper. We are
after all the information we can get and im interested to find out about any
tasting appreciation courses run on the east coast of Australia. We live in
southern Queensland where there are, in our immediate area about 250,000
trees all under 5 years of age that we know of. The figure is growing all
the time as we come across new growers hidden away in the back blocks .
Thanks for the interest, This sharing is a terrific idea. Have only found
out about it in the last few days. terrific isnt it

Regards

Bill nad Maree Kearney.

Mike & Julie,
Could you also count me in. Perhaps since there are so many you could
upload it onto the site so we can all access it. Then you won't have to
worry about who to send it to etc.
Sadoum will be able to help you do that

Andrew & Val

Dear Stan:

Right on point again!

I am glad that you agree with my point that olive oil
preference has nothing to do with ethnic pride or
cultural pride.

Olive oil preference is related to cuisine preference.
Of course, trained IOOC tasters, are expected to be
above that.

Best regards,

Constantine

Dear all

I would like to add the following comments to the discussion.

I believe there are at least 2 reasons for olive oil tasting

¥ Fristly as olive oil is a legal entity ie IOOC trade standards.

The tasting has to be undertaken under controlled conditions - with a
set number of trained panel tasters, a panel leader - the latter with
the help of a spevial statistical passage, signs off the results.
Individual panel tasters are not allowed to actually judge the oil.
Their job is to look for attributes - good or bad.

Thus if the oil is sold at whatever grade - discrepancies in subsequent
testing by a third party could be used to challenge the original
grading. I am not sure what the outcome would be!

¥ Secondly for the additional attributes (not necessarily IOOC) - the
original oil must have passed all the required IOOC hurdles. Then the
oil can be evaluated regarding fruitiness, aromatics, bouquet etc. Even
colour and appearance would have a place.

I believe whatever testing/tasting is currently undertaken has no
cultural basis. eg Tuscan, Creatn, Moroccan, etc. What can be said is
that Greeks like Greek Olive oil, Italians prefer Italian olive oil
(home grown) etc etc.

The current olibe oil tastin method seems to have been derived from some
wine tasting model????. And I challenge anyone that can produce evidence
that wine tasters make good olive oil tasters. In fact it could be a
disadvantage. With wine, it is mostly drunk as is albeit with a meal (or
wine is in the recipe). In contrast one rarely guzzles olive oil on its
own (except for an uncle of mine who drank 2 tablespoonfuls neat every
day - he was regular and died in his 70s) and it is intimately
associated with food.

Getting back to the cultural aspects of olive oil - each cultural group
has its preferences - eg Greeks pan fry their fish, zucchini and
aubergine with olive oil. Because most Greek olive is EVO, then
ipsi-facto that is what is used for cooking. Olive oil is also used to
cook dolmades, added to greek salads, beans etc etc. so the cook or chef
must understand the olive oil food interactions.


I am sure there are Spanish, Turkish, Syrian etc etc versions of my
analysis above.
But I would doubt if an Italian cook or chef would understand the
nuances of the Greek cuisine and vice versa, unless they came from
Sicily or Calabria where there is some affinity.


Thus once one moves from the IOOC requirements of olive oil then further
evaluations of olive oil are undertaken within ones own limited
experiences and often speculative because of a lack of cultural
understanding.

On a recent TV cooking program - the chef said the best way to check
the quality of an olive oil is to rub it with your hands then inhale the
aromas? Another said to place it in a wine glass, examine the colour
take in the aromas and then sip! Wheras another said eat it with bread.

Thus once you pass the IOOC requirements, which are minimal, the rest is
up to anyones interpretation.

One thing for sure - you certainly taste the olive oil if used in cakes,
but if seed or nut oils are used, they pass unnoticed.

Stan Kailis

I would love to read further in depth report
regards
John Bishop

Hi Judy,
As one who has started using Olive Oil for Chinese and Singaporean cooking at
home, I woud love to know more about Olive oil. Would be most grateful if you
could include me in your list.

Victor Yue
SINGAPORE

To John Bishop

Very interesting re the olive tasting. Please send me a copy of your
overview.

Stan Kailis
Fax +618 9380 1108

Hi Judy,
we would certainly appreciate a copy of the paper when available. Our
address is:
Stella Cadente Olive Oil Co.
PO Box 160
Boonville,
California, 95415

thank you,
Sue&Tom

Hello Judy

I'll be glad to receive a copy of your work. I am a moroccan olive
grower, working in Rabat, 30 km far from the Atlantic coast, and this
year we are planting 1700 olive trees (total: 2300 trees). We hope to
make our first harvest after the next three years. Then we'll certainly
be happy to know more about olive oil taste.

Thank you. Best regards

Saâd