Olive oil Flashcards
What have been some of the historical uses for olives?
Soap, perfumes, slathering olympians, ritual anointment.
Which Ancient Greek god is attributed with having invented the olive tree? Why would they do this?
Athena. In a competition to see who could make the most useful invention for humans, she made the olive tree while Poseidon made the horse. The winner would win the greatest city of the time (Athens… I wonder who won…).
How long have olive trees been known to live? Why can they only be grown in relatively warm climates?
They can live up to 1600 years but are not frost tolerant so must be grown in a warm environment.
What is considered to be the most extensively cultivated fruit crop in the world? How much land is used for this cultivation?
The olive tree, covering 8.5 million hectares of land.
Olives can not be consumed raw, how are they processed for consumption? What about for oil?
Must be brined before eating. Fresh-pressed while green (but not too green, and not black either) to give olive oil.
What name is given to oil which is pressed from black olives? How has this been used?
Lampante grade oil. Not legal for human consumption but used as lamp oil for hundreds of years.
What name is given to the first pressing (without heat), highest quality olive oil?
Not just “virgin”… EXTRA VIRGIN…
What chemical requirement must be satisfied for olive oil to be classified as “extra virgin”?
Must have <0.7% free acids.
How has olive oil sale been the victim of fraud (any examples, this is an open ended question)?
Other oil (soy, canola, etc.) with added clorophyll and beta-carotene packaged and sold as olive oil. Ordinary olive oil with crappy oil added and sold as “extra virgin”. The list goes on…
How did the Ancient Romans combat olive oil fraud?
Olive oil shipped in amphorae (type of ceramic jug), which was only used once and must have weight, quality, merchant, and inspector stamped on the outside.
What controls olive oil production today?
Absolutely nothing…
Describe the story of the Mazal II in as much detail as possible.
1st voyage: fills up with hazelnut oil in Turkey, drops off “olive” oil in Italy 6 weeks later
2nd voyage: fills up with Tunisian olive oil, sold as Italian olive oil later
How do companies take advantage of the European Union and make incredible profits on sub-standard olive oil at the same time?
By taking non-European olive oil and selling it as European olive oil they collect the EU subsidy for supporting the European olive industry and evade taxes at the same time. Worth millions of euros in basically theft.
(Textbook) Between the low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) and the high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), which are considered “bad cholesterol” by the popular media? Why?
LDLs are considered unhealthy because they can be taken up by the cells which line the arteries, supposedly leading to cardiac issues.
(Textbook) What differentiates drying oils, semidrying oils, and nondrying oils?
Drying: will dry in air and form thin, waterproof film
Semidrying: will dry slowly but sometimes requires high temperature
Nondrying: remain liquid for long periods even when exposed to air
