I am almost inclined to believe the joke that the Americans are responsible for barbarizing culture. In the early 1990s, an Italian restaurant from the United States opened in Greenbelt. With its dim lights and the rustic feel of the place, it was an immediate hit. Not to mention the fact that celebrities were drawn to the restaurant (I distinctly remember spotting Pops Fernandez and Dayanara Torres having dinner there).
And so, from this American franchise, we learned to enjoy focaccia with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and parmesan cheese.
Ten years later, when my mother and I were at Osteria Le Logge in Siena, Italy, we asked for some cheese to drizzle on the olive oil—you know, like at Italiannis. We were gently rejected on the first request and we scratched our heads. The second time we asked, horror turned up on the lovely server’s lips.
Apparently, you don’t massacre good olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar with cheese! Sacrilege!
Well, now we know. It was at the Salone del Gusto in Turin, days later, that I finally understood why.
It was my first time to visit and only then did I realize how seriously the Italians take their balsamic vinegar and olive oil. They treat it just like wine or whiskey.
Take a taste of the five years, 10 years, 15 years. Compare. True enough, the flavor becomes denser, stronger, more defined through the years, give or take weather disturbances in certain vintages.
Hierarchy of oils
You realize there are good, better and best brands. The good ones are reasonably priced, while the best are crazy expensive and handled with extreme care.
We don’t have all these brands here. But for good olive oil, Bettina Osmeña has a new “baby,” as she calls it: the Marchesi de Frescobaldi’s Laudemio extra virgin olive oil, imported and distributed through Rustan’s Gourmet-to-Go.
The olive oil is produced by Marchesi de Frescobaldi of the Frescobaldi family of Florence. The brand is Laudemio (highly lauded or acclaimed) and has consistently been rated as “exceptional” by various critiques.
According to its website, Laudemio was a term used in the medieval times for that part of the harvest reserved for the feudal lord, i.e., the best part of the harvest. Today it is a term that indicates quality.
Created in 1986, the Laudemio olive oil is regarded as having the highest quality of olive oil in Tuscany, with its intense aroma and flavor.
To achieve this quality of olive oil, the olives are harvested by hand and milled the same day at a controlled temperature at the property’s own mill. The olive varieties include Frantoio, Moraiolo and Leccino.
Apparently, choosing your olive oil is like choosing your wine. It requires a recollection of how great or poor the weather was in the year that the “vintage” was produced. And it doesn’t mean that a more current year is a cheaper vintage. Apparently, 2010 was a better year than 2011, when the spicy notes of the olive oil were dimmed. The year 2012 was also a challenging year, but thankfully the flavors turned out to be quite balanced.
Now go forth and be an olive oil connoisseur! Compare vintages and check if the notes are of bitter almond or artichoke. And, please, no cheese!
