Here’s something you can do with your friends that’s a bit out of the ordinary: hold an extra virgin olive oil tasting at your home. It’s similar to a wine tasting – except you “slurp” the oil rather than sip it. You also bite on a tart green apple to cleanse your palate rather than nibble on a cracker or piece of bread.
You can read a great article on holding an olive oil tasting at home. It was published originally in the Spring 2007 issue of California magazine. Its author, Nancy Ash, is a trained olive oil taster and owner of the consulting firm Strictly Olive Oil.
A tasting lets you learn the oil’s aroma, flavor and peppery quality, or pungency. Those features form the core attributes of true extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). A tasting also can help you gauge defects – such as mustiness – found in lesser quality oils.
I’ve been to a number of tastings, including one California Olive Ranch held in March for chefs in the San Diego area. The chefs we spoke to afterward enjoyed it. “By slurping the oil you really get the taste,” said James Montejano, executive chef at Vista Valley Country Club north of San Diego, in Vista.
Why slurp the oil? Let me explain. When you sip the oil you also sip in a bit of air. That slurping action combines the oil with the air and spreads it throughout your mouth. You’ll notice the oil’s “smell” in your mouth – the retro-nasal aromas – as well as the different sensations throughout your mouth.
Have a good time – and slurp away with your friends!
Bon appétit,
Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch
