ARBOSANA EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
It is the best extra virgin olive oil with this variety of olive and is totally unique.
The Extra Virgin Olive Oil is really a fruit juice, in this case, made from olives.
There is almost as much of a variety of oils as there are of wines. And as in the case of wine, the oil is differentiated by the olives from which it is made, by the soil in which the olive trees grow and by the climatic conditions existing each year.
In this particular case, it is a matter of a very special olive, the Arbosana, which produces a unique, mild and fruity oil, and features some very different characteristics to, for example, the Arbequina olive, although they apparently belong to the same family.
The Arbosana is the true star of one of the most important olive making mills in Spain, La Boella.
The olive trees are planted in such a way that the fruit can be harvested mechanically, at just the right moment, and without the olives being allowed to fall to the ground.
A few minutes after their collection, the olives are in the mill and they are pressed cold, in order to achieve that current gastronomic miracle which is referred to as Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
The result is an Extra Virgin Olive Oil, at the very top of its category, and one which is without a doubt among the very best in the world.
1. The olive oil need not be kept cold, but it should be protected from light, heat and humidity.
2. It does not improve with age, quite to the contrary. The oil maintains its ideal qualities during a period of one year as of its bottling date.
3. The oil should not be changed from its recipients. If necessary in order to be able to serve it at the table, the best option is to do so in small bottles which are consumed rapidly.
4. As this is a mild olive oil, it is ideal for adding to products such as truffles or Ventresca tuna belly loin, in order not to diminish or overshadow its prominence.
The recommendations regarding this oil would depend on its use or on the specific recipe. If we do not want to hide the oil in any way, we must look for beverages which do not have a lot of aroma such as a young and not very aromatic red wine or a Garnacha rosé.
The wine will also depend on the use of the oil in its different preparations and presentations, from the more simple application to a piece of bread, to other more complex ones, such as sauces, including mayonnaise.
By the Equipo Team, headed by María Isabel Mijares. Secretary of the International Union of Oenologists. Vice President of the Spanish Association of Sommeliers. Founder of the Laboratory of Sensorial Analysis.
Olive oil possesses a profile of very healthy fatty acids, as it contains a high proportion of monounsaturated acids, basically oleic acid, and a much smaller proportion of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. This profile is very beneficial for regulating the cholesterol in the blood and help to increase the “good” cholesterol (HDL) and to decrease the “bad” cholesterol (LDL).
It is the star culinary fat of the Mediterranean diet, synonymous with a wise and healthy eating plan. This is due to the fact that the extra virgin olive oil is the juice extracted from the olive using exclusively physical methods, without adding heat or solvents, and with low acidity. This will assure us a greater content of tocopherols (vitamin E) and polyphenols and a greater anti-oxidant power.
By Emma Ruiz Moreno, José Manuel Ávila Torres, Teresa Valero Gaspar, Susana del Pozo de la Calle and Gregorio Varela Moreiras. Spanish Nutrition Foundation.
