Introducing Olive Oil
September 28, 2011
It is believed that the cultivation of the olive oil tree began in the Eastern Mediterranean some 6000 years ago. The oil was used for lightning, and in perfumed unguents and cleansers for the body, as well as for cooking. The Minoans traded olive oil from Crete in about 2000 BCE, with subsequent Greek and Phoenician seafarers continuing the trade, carrying it as far west as Spain and today’s Morocco. From 750 BCE the Greeks planted olive trees in their colonies in eastern Spain, southern France, Italy and Sicily; where the Greeks did not plant them, the Carthaginians and the Romans did.
Today, the principal world olive oil producer is Spain, followed by Italy, Greece, Tunisia, Turkey, Syria, Morocco and Algeria. However, olive oil is increasingly being produced outside the Mediterranean, in places such as Australia, Africa and California. Each country’s oil has distinctive flavor.
Olive Oil, the world’s most commonly eaten mono-unsaturated oil, has been enjoyed for many thousands of years around the Mediterranean. Not only does it taste good, but there is a mass of evidence that a diet based on this kind of oil can promote longer life. In recent years, medical researchers have turned their attention to the virtues of the Mediterranean style of eating and to olive oil. On closer inspection, this ancient oil has proved to be more than just a source of mono-unsaturated fat. it is also a rich source of antioxidants – substances now attracting great attention.
It contains a wide variety of valuable antioxidants that are not found in other oils. Epidemiological studies suggest that it has a protective effect against certain malignant tumors in the breast, prostate, endometrium and digestive tract. Research has revealed that the “type” rather than the “quantity’ of fat seems to have more implications for cancer incidence. This could be related to oleic acid, which is the predominant mono-unsaturated fatty acid in olive oil.
It has been demonstrated that the addition of oil to a diet is not changed in any other way has a lowering effect on blood pressure. A diet rich in olive oil is not only good alternative in the treatment of diabetes; it may also help to prevent or delay the onset of the disease by preventing insulin resistance and its possible harmful implications by raising HDL cholesterol, lowering triglycerides, and ensuring better blood sugar level control and lower blood pressure.
Like all other fats and oils, it is high in calories, which could suggest that it would contribute to obesity. However, evidence shows that there is less obesity amongst Mediterranean people, who consume the most oil in the world. it has been demonstrated that a diet rich in olive oil leads to greater and longer-lasting weight loss than a low-fat diet. It tastes good and it is a stimulus to eat vegetables and pulses. It bolsters the immune system against external attacks from micro-organisms immunological parameters.
It is also good for the stomach, pancreas and intestines. It helps with osteoporosis, cognitive function and skin damage. it is also beneficial to consume it during pregnancy and whilst breastfeeding.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marwin_Ralt
Spanish Olive Oil – Its Origins
May 22, 2011
I was asking myself the other day: How did humanity come to discover olive oil? Most historians are in agreement on where and when it was first produced, how it spread all over Europe and North Africa, which countries embraced planting massive orchards of olive trees and producing this amazing and beneficial liquid gold. But nobody knows how they discovered it, or who was the first to think about crushing an olive to get the oil out of it. Who invented olive oil?
I am an avid researcher for the origins of most everything, and invariably come to the same root, no matter what I research:
The Greek Mythology says that Athena the Goddess of Wisdom, was the one to introduce the olive oil to mankind, after winning a heavenly contest between the gods for presenting Zeus with the most practical gift to man. Hercules stomped his foot on the ground and out popped an olive tree.
The Egyptians believed to be the goddess Isis who taught mankind about its cultivation and secrets. Anphors of this oil were found in pharaoh’s tombs and other Egyptian graves.
The book of Enoch tells us that the Nephilim, the fallen angels and their offspring the semi-gods, where the ones who took to themselves the task to teach humans all kinds of trades, secrets and mischief. Apparently these heavenly beings mixed themselves with the daughters of men and tried to impress them with their superior knowledge, teaching them all kinds of things. No matter what you research, soon enough Mythology comes in stating that the Gods brought it down to man somehow, no matter what country in the world. This is something to consider.
Olive oil was not only used as food, but also as cosmetics, fuel for lamps, medicine, mystical anointing of kings and priests, etc. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the production went down for awhile during the dark ages in Europe, but surged again during the moors occupation of Spain.
The Franciscan monks took with them olive trees when they went to evangelize the Americas in the 1700s and they spread it through the New World.
Nowadays, Spain is the first producer of olive oil in the world, followed by Italy, Greece and California. The almost 300 different varieties of olives that grow in Spain, make for a rich array of all kinds of tasty and fruity Spanish olive oils that are very valued and priced worldwide.
| Rose is an expert on the field of extra virgin organic oils and natural healthy foods. Original from Spain, she has a first hand knowledge of the benefits of Spanish olive oil. Read her articles and visit her website for more information. spanish olive oil
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rose_Gagnon |
Olive Oil – Why This is the World’s Oldest Miracle Food
April 18, 2011
Olive oil is the pure juice pressed from the fruit of the olive tree. It has been cultivated for over 5000 years around the Mediterranean and has been used variously as a fuel, food, medicine and cosmetic.
Greece is one of the top 3 producers of olive oil in the world — and Cretan olive oil is the finest of them all.
Recently, olive oil (and particularly Extra Virgin Olive Oil) has been recognised as one of the healthiest foods you can get, promoting long life and improving resistance to many of the life threatening diseases that are the curse of the western World.
Isn’t Olive Oil Fat?
You can’t compare olive oil with other oils and fats. It’s best to look at it as fruit juice. It does contain fat of course, but this is the best “fat” you can eat, and is actually good for you.
Olive oil is the only oil or fat that is produced without refining or any chemical or unnatural processes. Thus it retains all its (considerable) vitamin and mineral goodness.
Olive oil:
- reduces cholesterol
- is free from saturated fats and high in monounsaturated fats
- has a naturally occurring chemical which is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent which helps reduce the severity and occurrence of arthritis and asthma.
- contains a high percentage of phenols, vitamin E and other anti-oxidizing substances protecting the body from the negative effects of free radicals and thus helping prevent cancer and delaying the ageing process.
Which Olive Oil is best?
There are a few grade of oil you can choose from:
Extra Virgin Olive oil is pressed from the olive without help from heat treatments or other processing, and produces the purest and best oil. This is the most expensive and you should use this for dressings, especially.
Virgin Olive Oil comes from the second pressing and is still a quality tasty oil. Use this for infusing herbs (and salad dressings too).
Pure Olive Oil is produced using some filtering or processing. This oil is less expensive and can be used for frying. You should do all your frying in this type of oil. It is so robust, you can use it many times without any reduction in its flavour or quality.
Which Olive Oil Should I Buy?
Olive oil is in great demand because people are now aware of its health benefits, particularly when compared to other fats and oils. But who produces the best olive oil?
Because of this demand, producers all over the world are resorting to more mechanical and unnatural method of production. Even oils labeled Extra Virgin can sometimes be simply less quality oils that have had their acidity reduced, as this is a criterion for the Extra Virgin mark.
Demand for the oil has encouraged more cost-reducing methods of production through increased automation and concentrating production in ever larger factories. These methods result in a less nutritious product.
On the Greek Island of Crete, the production of olive oil is almost wholly by smallholdings. Small communities will grow olive trees and produce the oil for themselves, their own restaurants, and their own community in the same way they have for centuries.
Walk through olive groves on Crete in November through to February and you will see the families gathered for the harvest, shawls and headscarves wrapped close to keep out the morning chills. Occasionally you’ll hear the low drone of little mechanical flailing machines to gently beat the branches laden with the olives — a Cretan concession to the mechanical age.
Because of this tradition, many people say that you can guarantee the authentic and unprocessed nature of organic Cretan Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Take into account the Cretan soil, the stuff from which the olives acquire all their goodness, and you get the reason why the olive oil from Crete is the best tasting. For millions of years, the rains have washed minerals and nutrients from the mountainsides and hillsides of this mountainous island, and deposited them on the plains and valleys around the coasts — the very place where you will find rows and rows of olive trees, about 30 million of them!
Cretan Olive Oil — the best in the world for health and long life!
| Graham Yates wrote this article. To learn more about Cretan Olive Oil visit http://www.completely-crete.com/olive-oil.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Graham_Yates |
You Don’t Have To Be A Chef To Read An Olive Oil Label
June 21, 2010
Olive oil has been with us for almost as long as the olive, which is at least 6,000 years. It is mentioned numerous times in the Christian Bible, singled out as holy by Mohammed the Prophet of Islam, and celebrated by the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Considered the best of all oils, it is the traditional oil for anointing kings, bishops, and temples in western culture.
Olive oil is easy to digest and helps our bodies assimilate vitamins and minerals. It aids the digestive system by stimulating the gall bladder. Olive oil is cholesterol free and is made up of 70% monounsaturated fatty acids, which reduce bad cholesterol (LDL). It contains chlorophyll which aids the metabolism, stimulating cellular growth and speeding the healing process. And it contains no trans fats.
The olive tree flourishes in Mediterranean-type climates with hot, dry summers and cool winters. Spain, with over 300 million olive trees, is the number one producer of olive oil with 44% of the world market. Much of Spanish olive oil production is shipped to Italy, both for consumption and to be repackaged for sale abroad as Italian olive oil. The region of Andalucía accounts for 75% of Spanish olive oil production.
Selecting the right olive oil can be a daunting task – the terminology used on labels is sometimes confusing and often misleading, and the differences between oils are usually not made clear. Here is everything you need to know to choose the right olive oil for your table or kitchen:
Grades – Olive oils that come from countries that are members of the International Olive Oil Council (of which Spain is, of course, one) adhere to strict regulations regarding labeling and packaging. The grades defined by the IOOC are as follows:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil comes from the first pressing of the olives, has an acidity of no more than 0.8%, and has been judged to have superior taste. Extra virgin olive oil can contain no refined oil.
- Virgin Olive Oil has an acidity of less than 2% and has been judged to have good taste. Virgin olive oil can contain no refined oil.
- Pure Olive Oil is a blend of virgin olive oil and refined olive oil, and has an acidity of no more than 1%.
- Ordinary Olive Oil is also a blend of virgin and refined olive oils, and has an acidity of no more than 3.3%.
- Olive-Pomace Oil is very rarely found in markets, but is sometimes used in restaurant cooking. Made from the residue of the production of higher grade olive oils, olive-pomace oil is fit for consumption but not very tasty.
It is important to note that these grade definitions apply only to olive oils manufactured in countries that are members of the IOOC, which means that American olive oils may or may not meet these criteria. The USDA doesn’t recognize any of the above terms, instead using terms like “fancy” and “choice” as they have been since 1948, so you could put the words extra virgin olive oil on a tub of strawberry pudding and still be legal in the US as long as the ingredients list is correct.
Notice that taste is only a consideration for classifying extra virgin and virgin olive oil. These are the only two grades you would want to use when the flavor of the oil is important to the outcome of the dish.
Other things you may see on an olive oil label
- 100% Pure Olive Oil – This is a bit misleading if you don’t know what it means. Pure olive oil is actually the lowest grade available in retail stores, though the word pure might lead some to believe it’s the highest. No question, pure olive oil is an excellent choice for some uses, which we will get to shortly.
- Made from refined oils – The word refined is often associated with increased purity, but in the case of olive oil it means that the taste and acidity were altered by artificial means. Refined oils invariably start with lower quality olives, and suffer from a lack of the true taste of the olive. They undergo thermal and chemical treatments to reduce acidity, subjected to an extremely fine filtration process to remove any residual chemicals, and then fortified with a small amount of virgin or extra virgin oil to give them some flavor and color. The agricultural equivalent of making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
- Lite Olive Oil – or Light Olive Oil. All olive oils have 120 calories per tablespoon, lite olive oils included. Lite olive oils are refined olive oils that have not been fortified with virgin or extra virgin oil, and therefore lack any semblance of taste or color. This type of oil can be used for baking or other forms of cooking where you don’t want the oil to flavor the food at all. Just don’t expect it to help you lose weight.
- From hand-picked olives – There is no evidence that manually picking olives produces better oil than the traditional tree-shaking method. The implication is that there are no olives picked off the ground (“windfall olives”) used in the making of the oil, which is a very good thing since windfall olives increase the acidity of the oil and require more washing of the olives before pressing, and that the olives are hand selected after being inspected by the picker – also a very good thing.
- First cold press – You will see this on many bottles of extra virgin olive oil, because EVOO comes from the first cold press by definition. If you don’t see it, don’t worry about it as long as you trust the brand and believe them when they say the oil is extra virgin. First press means that this oil came from the first press of the olives – some companies use a second press for lower grade oils. Cold means no additional heat is applied during pressing.
- Estate Grown – All the olives in the oil come from the same grove. This typically means less time to transport the olives to the mill, which means less time from picking to pressing, which results in superior oil.
- Unfiltered – Most olive oils are filtered to remove sediments that occur naturally during pressing. Some, however, retain the sediment in the final product. This is thought by many to strengthen and improve the flavor of the oil, and some connoisseurs seek out oils with the most sediment in the bottle. If nothing else, unfiltered oils undergo one less step in processing and are therefore one step closer to being an unadulterated product. The sediments can go rancid over time, so use unfiltered oils within 3 – 6 months of purchasing them and store them in a cool, dark place.
- Blended Oil – The olives in a particular grove can change in flavor from year to year. In order to achieve a consistent flavor, manufacturers will blend oils from different types of olives. Sometimes olive oil will be blended with canola or vegetable oil to improve the flavor or for marketing purposes. These oils should be clearly labeled.
- Flor de Aceite – Flower of the Oil in English. This is a process where the olives are crushed but not pressed, and the oil is decanted through gravity alone. It takes twice as many olives per liter to produce oil in this way, which is one reason this method is rarely used.
There is also the matter of the bottle itself. Some olive oils come in clear bottles, others in green bottles or even cans. Why is this? One reason a manufacturer may choose not to use clear glass is that there is some evidence that this may enhance shelf life – same reason some beers come in dark bottles. Unfortunately, this prevents you from seeing the oil before you buy it. Using green glass also gives the appearance of deep green colored oil, which many see as a sign of higher quality.
Which brings us to color. Green oils are from olives picked early in the harvest and have a peppery, fruity, ripe flavor in addition to higher levels of antioxidants and polyphenols. Gold oils are from later in the harvest and tend to be smooth and mellow. Green oils have a shorter shelf life than gold oils – figure around 8 to 9 months instead of 12. Color isn’t an indicator of the quality of the oil, though it does have a value all its own.
So, which olive oil should you choose? Depends on what you are going to use it for.
Unfiltered oils are great for salad dressings, dipping, or to drizzle on soups or pastas. They should never be used for cooking, because the sediments reduce the smoke point to a very low level and you are likely to wind up with a burnt taste to your food.
Use virgin or extra virgin oil for dipping, garlic toast, to finish sauces, anywhere you will be able to taste the oil.
While the rule of thumb is to only use expensive virgin or extra virgin oils in cold dishes or right at the end of cooking, you can also use them to sauté. They cost more, but many of us only have one bottle of olive oil in the house at a time. Keep in mind that these oils have a relatively low smoke point, so keep an eye on them.
Refined or light olive oils are great for baking. Their lack of flavor is actually a plus in baked goods, and you get many of the health benefits of unprocessed oils.
And use pure olive oil for deep frying – its higher smoke point (410 degrees) and less intense flavor make it perfect for this type of cooking.
Store your olive oil in a cool, dark place and pay attention to the date on the bottle. Olive oil is fresh food and can and will go rancid over time, especially if not stored properly.
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Matt Wasserman Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Wasserman |
The Evolution of Soap
May 21, 2010
Have you ever wondered what soap is, what ingredients it is made out of and how it is made? How do you think our ancient ancestors got clean? Did they use soap at all? How has soap evolved over the centuries to be the conventional soap we know of today. In modern day, there are so many types of soap available in virtually all shapes, colors and scents.
Prehistory
It is believed that prehistoric man used only water as a cleanser and purifier.
Ancient Babylon
In ancient Babylon (2800 B.C.), wood ashes were burned with animal and vegetable fats and this substance was used to cleanse and treat skin disease. It was also used for a shiny hair look and as hair nourishment.
The Greeks
The Greeks were known to wash themselves with clay pumice and sand which stimulated the blood circulation in the body as well as removed dirt.
The Romans
Soap got its name when the Romans at ‘Mount Sapo’, a popular location for animal sacrifices, discovered it. Rain mixed the animal fat residue (tallow from cattle) with the burned wood on the clay and a chemical reaction occurred. Women living on the banks of the Tiber river discovered that clothes which they washed using this substance were much cleaner and cleaned with much less effort.
The Early Americans
The early Americans made soap using a process known as ‘Cold Process’, which yielded soap comprised of animal fat and lye extracted from wood ashes (potassium hydroxide). The substances were mixed in the right concentrations and animal fat would be added along with steady stirring. Because of the time it took the soap to cure, soap makers would commonly repeat this process twice a year.
Modern Day
Today, natural soap is most commonly made using the Cold Process method where lye (a base) is added to a vegetable alkali (an acid) such as palm oil, coconut oil, or olive oil, which causes the chemical reaction known as ‘saponification’. When the mixture becomes the desired consistency, it is poured into a mold. The bars are then removed from the mold after setting (approximately 24 to 48 hours). They are restacked, covered and left to cure. As in the old days, the curing process can take anywhere from 3 to 8 weeks depending on the formula. In modern times, animal fats are typically no longer used in this process since vegetable oil based soaps were found to be chemically superior and can be of higher quality than soaps made with animal fats. Vegetable oils are more readily absorbed by the skin, while animal oils have been found to clog pores and aggravate certain skin conditions, such as eczema.
Summary
It is remarkable that the basics of the soap making process are essentially unchanged over the course of the past 2000 years. Of course, the advent of modern day technological advancement, along with our understanding of chemistry has made the soap making process much more accurate and a refined science and art.
Iris Fuchs
http://www.articlesbase.com/crafts-articles/the-evolution-of-soap-725291.html
