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<pre>I know that Gareth's technique for tasting is the correct one and used
professionally but it can be a bit overwhelming and the simpler oil on bread
method as used in the Italian food fairs is easier for those of us who are
not professional olive oil tasters. The complication in Italy is that the
traditional bread of regions such as Umbria does not have salt because the
bread is eaten with food which contains salt (some of us say too much). When
it comes to the oil and bread combination there is a tendency to add salt
(bruschetta for example) which may improve the taste but reduce the accuracy
of comparisons. This should not be a problem in NZ or Australia where all
bread is salted and a simple bread and oil method of tasting should work
well.
The advantage of the bread method is that it is close to an actual use
(bruschetta) and helps consumers realise that the strong flavours which may
be overpowering to the newcomer on their own are a marvellous adjunct to
bland food such as bread, pasta, potatoes etc.
It is amazing how many foreign experts on Italian food say again and
again that olive oil is essential to the Italian cuisine but do not
understand why until they come to Italy. They then realise that it is not
really "olive oil" but the flavour of good quality olive oil that adds that
something extra. Take as an example a dish such as pasta with olive oil and
sage. If one cooks this from an Italian cookbook in English and one uses an
"olive oil" from the supermarket one can only wonder why the world is oohing
and aahing about thise fantastic Italian food. It is not worth eating. It
is plain dull and uninteresting. Now cook the same with a great oil packed
with fruit and finishing with a slightly bitter bite and this simple dish
becomes something that can be oohed and aahed about.

Cheers Brian Chatterton.
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<pre>Brian,
Say that all again, and again, and again ... etc!

The taste of a GOOD olive oil makes the most significant difference to
any one of a number of dishes that would be (are!!) nothing without it!

Maybe I should have said "a GOOD LOCAL olive oil" but that would be ..
Oh, what the heck! I am biased!

John Attwood
Tamworth Australia

Chatterton Brian wrote:
-------------just a small snip ------------------

>
> The advantage of the bread method is that it is close to an actual use
> (bruschetta) and helps consumers realise that the strong flavours which may
> be overpowering to the newcomer on their own are a marvellous adjunct to
> bland food such as bread, pasta, potatoes etc.
> It is amazing how many foreign experts on Italian food say again and
> again that olive oil is essential to the Italian cuisine but do not
> understand why until they come to Italy. They then realise that it is not
> really "olive oil" but the flavour of good quality olive oil that adds that
> something extra. Take as an example a dish such as pasta with olive oil and
> sage. If one cooks this from an Italian cookbook in English and one uses an
> "olive oil" from the supermarket one can only wonder why the world is oohing
> and aahing about thise fantastic Italian food. It is not worth eating. It
> is plain dull and uninteresting. Now cook the same with a great oil packed
> with fruit and finishing with a slightly bitter bite and this simple dish
> becomes something that can be oohed and aahed about.
>
> Cheers Brian Chatterton.
>
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>
>
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<pre>on 4/3/01 9:45 PM, Chatterton Brian at tn7685@orvienet.it wrote:

> The advantage of the bread method is that it is close to an actual use
> (bruschetta) and helps consumers realise that the strong flavours which may
> be overpowering to the newcomer on their own are a marvellous adjunct to
> bland food such as bread, pasta, potatoes etc.

I still treasure the memory of the local Italian restaurant/cafe/deli in
Teddington (London, an earlier life), where Franco would often liven up the
queue for his hot focaccia on a Saturday morning with a few saucers of
different oils, and chunks of bread to taste them with. He sold a lot of oil
that way...

For consumers, this is a great way to get into tasting and using good oil.
Producers and critics, however, have different needs. They need to
establish, for instance, the flavour contributions of different cultivars,
particularly if they are blending different batches of oil to achieve a
consistent result. I may wish to make an "early harvest" or "late harvest"
style, and will have to experiment to get there. As a producer with some
aspirations to quality, I have no option but to develop an educated palate,
and to use a standard tasting technique. A professional critic of my product
should be capable of the same discrimination.

In the wine world, a consumer can go in to a retailer, and be given a taste
of a wine. If they like it, they may buy a bottle or two. They don't need to
be analytical, they just have to know what they like. The winemaker, on the
other hand, has to be able to taste the grape in the vineyard, to measure
ripeness and flavour, and then be able to judge the developing flavours in
the wine in the barrel as it matures, before blending to a consistent
result. This is a technical skill essential to making wine.

A couple of years ago, tasting some pinot noir in the barrel at a local
winery, the winemaker - who was leading me gently by the hand through
tasting the effects of various oaks on the wine - reduced me to a
spluttering wreck: "That taste? That's the aldehydes. Aldehydes always stick
out like a dogs bollocks."

Winemakers have it easy...
--
Gareth Renowden, Limestone Hills, New Zealand
Words, olives and truffles
Office +64 (0)3 355 9552 Home +64 (0)3 314 9921
Mobile 025 790 070
"And when I find my trousers, I'll find my feet" (Viv Stanshall)
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