The good, the bad and the ugly side of olive oil

• There is rising awareness that not all olive oils are created or labelled equal.
• Consumers should use three senses when choosing a good extra virgin olive oil: see, smell and taste.
• Use websites like truthinoliveoil.com. to research good, trustworthy olive oil brands.

Buying olive oil is simple, right?

Walk into your grocery store, walk down the aisle, peruse the bottles and grab the one with the best price.

Tell that to Antonio Durante, and you’ll get a pretty passionate reaction.

“You don’t want to buy from big names,” said Durante, owner of Caffe Toscano in Fort Myers. “They never make an oil, they just purchase it, bottle it.”

Durante worked with importers prior to opening his restaurant more than two years ago and, when he lived in Italy 19 years ago, had his own olive trees. In the past, he has visited sources in Italy to choose which olive oils to import for the restaurant.

“When we go to Italy, we visit where they keep the oil. You need to go to the plant and follow where they pick the olives, see them crush it at the mill and sample that,” Durante explained. “That is the only way to see it is 100 percent pure and clean extra virgin olive oil.”

In the kitchen:Antonio Durante of Caffe Toscano

Which can be difficult for the average consumer who simply has to trust that the olive oil they are purchasing is pure and not mixed with other oils.

Due to reports of “adulterated and fraudulently labeled olive oil imported into the United States,” the Committee on Appropriations urged the FDA to begin sampling imported olive oil in its 2017 Agriculture Appropriations Bill.

And with 96 percent of the olive oil in the U.S. coming from imports, according to the International Olive Council, that’s a lot of oil for the FDA to test.

“The testing could create a large backlog of imported olive oil waiting to be tested and could cause consumers to turn to other sources,” explained David Neuman, certified Olive Oil Expert and CEO of Gaea North America, a Greek extra virgin olive oil company.

His company is another that, like Durante, is there every step of the way, from grove to press, to ensure that the olive oil they import and sell to customers is pure and of good quality.

How can the average consumer ensure that the product they are purchasing is good without traveling to the groves? We asked Neuman, Durante and Francis Cuomo, owner of DeRomo’s Gourmet Market, for a few tips.

See

Start by reading the label. Durante stresses that there should be a harvest date and expiration date on the bottle along with a source.

“A lot of olive oil may say it was packed in Italy, but not made in Italy,” Durante said. “You need to know who makes the olive oil.”

Durante also notes that the oil should be clear and clean with a color that varies from dark green to yellow. The color can be hard to see when purchasing, as olive oil is perishable and should be sold in dark glass bottles to prevent the oil from going rancid.

Neuman is a little cautious. “Harvest dates can be faked and bottles can hide the color of the oil,” he said. “Be skeptical.”

Review: DeRomo's, an Italian restaurant unlike the others

Smell

Once you’ve brought the oil home, “put it on a teaspoon and smell it,” Neuman said.

Start by swirling the oil in the bottle to help release the fragrance.

“If it’s good it should either have an olive smell, green and grassy, or like a riper fruity olive,” he explained. “If it smells like crayon, tire tread or shoe leather, those are bad smells. Close the bottle, take it back to the store and get a refund.”

Taste

“You should sample it straight up with a tasting spoon,” Cuomo said. He went through close to 20 different olive oils before choosing the one that would be sold under the DeRomo’s label. “It also depends on what you are tasting it with. Crackers, pieces of bread, those will change or alter the taste of the olive oil.”

Durante serves small amounts of his house olive oil with fresh-baked bread. “The taste has to be a little bit sour and a little bit strong,” he explained. Some olive oils have a flavor that blends well with fish, others with beef, which is why Durante has four different olive oils he uses in the restaurant.

The taste should absolutely not be rancid. “Rancid oil is not healthy for you,” Neuman said. “It’s full of oxidation.”

“It’s like wine,” Cuomo explained. “To be a wine connoisseur you have to really know your wines …. The average customer goes with the taste and that’s about it.”

Durante also compares olive oil to wine. “There are a thousand varieties of olives,” he said. “Each olive has its own flavor …. It’s very complex and very interesting.”

Olive Oil Sources

For more information on choosing a good olive oil, visit truthinoliveoil.com.

Visit DeRomo’s Gourmet Market, located at 26811 South Bay Drive, Suites 140 and 148, in Bonita Springs, for a large selection of olive oil. 

Caffe Toscano  is closed currently but will re-open June 2 . The  restaurant is located at 12901 McGregor Blvd., Suite 21, in Fort Myers; call 415-8466 to make reservations starting in June.