BOOKS
Luigi Caricato, Il racconto dell'olio. Breve
guida alla scelta e all'acquisto (The Oil's Tale. Short guide to
selection and buying); Noesis, European Community, VII
Promotional Campaign of Olive Oil Consumption; Milan, May 2002;
pages 40, out of print edition.
Compared with what used to happen not
long ago, nowadays oil selection is further more complicated. Higher
evaluation skills are in fact required because the act of buying
is no longer one of those usual gestures that we practice every
day.
On top of that, even the generic definition of olive oil isn't good
enough, nor the extra-virgin appellative, chosen by the legislator
to indicate a high and prestigious quality product.
The extra-virgin definition itself, doesn't represent any longer
the many different aspects of a product, still not known for its
expressive character. For this reason, recently, besides the common
various kind of olive oil on the market, there are also more specific
products, strictly linked to the land or, in some other cases, to
special cultivation or extraction methods. (...)
Starting from the second half of the nineties, the change is evident
for everybody. The selection of olive oil available on the market
in fact extremely wider. At the same time even the product consideration
has increased among those people who weren't accustomed to use it.
(...)
Olive oil appreciation however, is not the expression of a food
trend, it's the direct consequence of oil high and exceptional nutritional
value. And not just that. Even the hedonistic side has met its requirements:
in other words, all those consumer needs strictly related to the
organolectic features like scents and flavors that make this excellent
olive juice extremely good.
Besides, nowadays it's clearly understood that the goodness of oil
during the tasting can't any longer be underestimated. Different
flavors and scents, but also color nuances or the sensation left
by an oil on the palate, today are aspects strictly related to different
production lands, olives and cultivation methods. (...)
(from the introduction)
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