I’ve just learned that Italy has trained some of its cops to become crack olive oil tasters. Their mission: distinguish between bogus extra virgin olive oil and the real thing.

You may have read that Italy has had a bit of a problem with counterfeit extra virgin olive oil. A couple years ago the Italian police nabbed 39 people and seized more than 25,000 liters of counterfeit EVOO. It was about to be sold in Italy and elsewhere in bottles bearing the labels of phony companies.

If you’re wondering what actually was inside those bottles, Britain’s Guardian newspaper provided this version of the secret recipe: “Oil made from soya beans or sunflower seeds – some of it genetically modified – mixed with beta carotene and industrial chlorophyll.”

The prosecutor who ordered the plant raids said the concoction “of itself” wouldn’t have hurt you.

But it caused huge embarrassment for Italy, which reacted by training a special squad of “gourmet” police officers to sniff out EVOO fraud. No word on whether they used those small blue olive oil cups for tasting when they got their training from Unaprol, a trade group representing Italian olive growers.

The industry association representing Italian olive oil producers did say, however, the fraud was “the tip of the iceberg,” according to the Guardian. You can also check out a fascinating article in The New Yorker about how widespread the problem has become overseas.

To prevent such fraud, California has adopted strict standards governing what can be sold as genuine EVOO. Oil certified as EVOO here must undergo lab and taste tests. California’s standards are stricter than those set by the International Olive Council.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

Can you guess where California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is holding this bottle of California Olive Ranch extra virgin olive oil?

The “Governator,” as he’s known, was more than happy to be photographed with a bottle of our Arbequina EVOO.  No word yet on whether he’s had a chance to open the bottle and taste the oil.

A quick follow-up to my initial post last week: The Governator was in central California paying a visit to the world’s largest annual agricultural exposition, the World Ag Expo in Tulare.  He was visiting the stall of one of the nurseries we buy our trees from – NursTech Inc. – and the company happened to have a spare bottle of our EVOO.

On a related note, the governor earlier this month officially proclaimed February 2010 as “California Olive Oil Month.”

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

It’s amazing to think Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Tom Hanks and scores of other Hollywood stars will soon get a chance to try our extra virgin olive oil.

Our Olio Nuovo EVOO will be one of the ingredients used to to prepare the dinner at the Golden Globe Awards Show Dinner on Jan. 17, at the Beverly Hilton. The hotel’s executive chef, Suki Sugiura, began planning the menu for the gala event last summer. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association sponsors the Globes. In the photo – which shows our EVOO – Chef Suki is providing a media preview of the dinner he’ll be serving.

The chef — a veteran of four Golden Globe dinners — is a big proponent of our EVOO.

He’s serving Tinseltown’s heavyweights a locally inspired menu showcasing the bounty of California’s agriculture. Every ingredient will come from the Golden State, from our Olio Nuovo to the mozzarella to the beef short ribs.

“This is a message from California,” Chef Suki told the Associated Press. “We’re taking advantage of the fact that some of the finest ingredients in the U.S. are right here in California.”

The chef also is adhering to a California theme of “cooking light.”

“There’s not so much butter. And cream — forget it,” he told the AP.

Instead, according to the news agency: “Fresh herbs and local olive oil add flavor to the appetizer salad and the beef and sea bass entree (that comes from Central and Southern California).”

The entree, for example, will pair our EVOO with an aged balsamic vinegar that accompanies the sautéed sea bass and the herb-braised short ribs.

Chef Suki and his kitchen staff of more than 100 have been extremely busy. Some 1,700 meals are expected to be served during events tied to the Golden Globes. The Jan. 17 gala banquet alone is expected to draw nearly 1,300 movers and shakers. The chef also is responsible for preparing the food for a half dozen parties thrown after the big dinner.

He and his team are prepared to work from 6 a.m. to well past midnight on the 17th.

“It’s the busiest day of the year,” he told the AP.

No doubt.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

Here’s a major news flash from my desk at California Olive Ranch. We’ve just rolled out a new extra virgin olive oil we call Everyday California Fresh. It’s the nation’s first domestically produced, fresh, high-quality EVOO available in sufficient quantities for the U.S. market – and at mass-market prices.

The oil is fresher than mass-produced oils imported into the United States from overseas. Just open the bottle and inhale the olive aroma. I’m guessing you’ll agree.

What makes our EVOO smell and taste like the olives have just been picked?

First, the olives are grown and pressed in California. I point out to people that our oil doesn’t sit on a cargo ship for several weeks, journeying across the ocean.

And, as I just told someone: If you live in the United States, you can hop on a plane and take a two or three hour flight to visit our olive ranches and mills. They’re located in northern California. No need to buy an overseas plane ticket.

Second, to ensure the oil’s freshness, our employees get the olives from tree to mill quickly.

How?

We plant our trees using a system known as “super high-density planting.” It allows us to grow the trees in hedge rows of 570 to 670 trees per acre, versus traditional plantings of 100 to 150 per acre.

That way, employees driving our harvesting machines can harvest the trees more rapidly – and deliver the olives within hours to our mills, where they’re crushed into EVOO. It’s this speed which prevents the olive from decomposing before we extract the oil.

The result: a great quality oil.

Here’s another thing you’ll notice about Everyday California Fresh. Each bottle shows the date the olives were harvested. We harvest our olives in the fall. So the bottle I’m holding shows a harvest date – stamped on the back – of November 2008. Olive oil typically is best when consumed within two years.

Like our other EVOO, the California Olive Oil Council has certified Everyday California Fresh as a true extra virgin olive oil. It has zero defects.

The flavor profile delivers a distinct fruity nose, grassy and floral notes, and a smooth and buttery tongue. There’s absolutely no bitterness. You’ll also notice a slight peppery finish in your throat and no greasy aftertaste like you’d get from lower quality imports.

Everyday California Fresh is a blend of the three olive varietals we grow in northern California: Arbequina, Arbosana and Koroneiki.

Thanks to a documenting system we use to manage our products’ “traceability,” we can locate the grove of trees on our ranches that have supplied the olives for each bottle of EVOO we produce. No overseas, national olive oil brand can make that claim.

One final note: You’ll notice Everyday California Fresh comes in a new green bottle. The dark green glass prevents light and oxygen from damaging the oil, keeping it fresher longer.

We plan initially to sell Everyday California Fresh at stores in northern California. Our recommended sticker price: $8.99 for a 500 ml bottle, and $11.99 for a 750 ml bottle.

But you don’t have to live in California to try the oil. Anybody can buy it through our online store.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

A colleague of mine trolling the Internet last night came across an electronic version of an article from this September’s issue of Cook’s Illustrated. I’ve been anxious to read the piece: It details a blind tasting of California extra virgin olive oils the magazine’s staff conducted earlier this year.

I already know the results. Food guru Jack Bishop of Cook’s Illustrated announced on NBC’s Weekend Today show earlier this month our Arbequina extra virgin olive oil was the best California EVOO among the 10 sampled.

We were told the details of the tasting would emerge in the September issue of Cook’s Illustrated. Now that the article is on my screen, I can tell you what the magazine said about our Arbequina: “This extra-virgin oil, made from Arbequina olives, won raves for its fresh, sweet, fruity flavor and pleasing hint of bitterness.”

The article also praised the quality of California extra virgin olive oils in general versus their European counterparts: “The California growers—particularly the folks behind our favorite, relatively affordable oil—have clearly struck something promising.”

To use a term the pros use when tasting olive oil, I’ll “slurp” to that.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

I tuned in to NBC’s Weekend Today show yesterday and was thrilled to see Cook’s Illustrated magazine has rated our Arbequina the No. 1 tasting California extra virgin olive oil.

Food expert Jack Bishop, who oversees editorial operations at the magazine, raved about our Arbequina during a segment of the show focusing on olive oil and how to taste EVOO.

“We love this,” Bishop exclaimed to Weekend Today co-anchor Jenna Wolfe, as they stood on the set of the show with a bottle of our Arbequina on the counter. “This is California Olive Ranch. It was our top-ranked of the 10 California oils that we sampled.”

Bishop went on to say our Arbequina “tastes delicious.”

“We thought this was as good as any European oil.”

Cook’s Illustrated plans to publish its list of the top olive oils in its September issue.

Bishop – who also is editorial director of the popular public TV cooking show America’s Test Kitchen – praised California’s olive oil industry, likening it to the state’s world famous wine industry.

“The California olive oil industry is sort of like the wine industry was in California back in the 1970s. Nobody’s heard of it. But you’re going to hear about it very soon,” said Bishop. “They’re doing a tremendous amount of olive oil now out in California.”

And Bishop predicted strong growth for California olive oils: “They’re going to be in supermarkets all over the country in coming years.”

I couldn’t agree more!

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

I just took to the keyboard to dash off a quick heads-up. Please tune in to NBC’s Today Show this Sunday, July 5th. I learned the news only earlier today. And the details are still sketchy.

But you’ll get to see how to taste and select olive oil, including California Olive Ranch extra virgin olive oil. Food guru Jack Bishop of Cook’s Illustrated magazine will be on hand to help walk us through it all. The Cook’s Illustrated web site advises viewers of the show to “Keep an eye on ‘the slurp!’”

It should be interesting!

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

It’s no secret I enjoy good food. I’m guessing you do, too. So what better way to spend part of a Sunday than eating good food for a good cause. You can do that very thing this Sunday at Taste of the Nation Los Angeles, at Media Park in Culver City. The event will feature great chefs and great food. It’s part of a nationwide fundraiser to combat childhood hunger. You can participate in  Taste of the Nation events in other parts of the country, too.

Each year Taste of the Nation Los Angeles brings together dozens of top local chefs to donate their time and culinary know-how to raise money for area food banks and hunger programs. California Olive Ranch is a sponsor.

There will be cooking demonstrations by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, and Michael Mina for XIV. Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold will be leading this year’s Mole!! Cookoff, and will later be available at the “Ask Jonathan Booth.”

Taste of the Nation Los Angeles is one of more than 40 Taste of the Nation events being held across the county and in Canada by Share Our Strength, the national antihunger organization. Since 1988, Taste of the Nation has raised more than $70 million.

Proceeds from the Los Angeles fundraiser will go to organizations such as Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, St. Joseph’s Center, Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, and California Food Policy Advocates.

For those of you in the Los Angeles area, come on by for a great time, great food, and a great cause. And for those of you elsewhere, check for a Taste of the Nation event in your area.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

Here’s one news flash I’ve been meaning to note. Three of our extra virgin olive oils (EVOO) recently grabbed honors – including two gold medals – in a competition sponsored by the California Olive Oil Council. We try not to blow our own horns too much around here. But we figured this news item was significant.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch