Vinegar & Olive Oil

KanonGallery_OxosKaiElaion-02We proudly provide the fresh, certified organic California Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Bozzano Olive Ranch as well as quality Mussini balsamic vinegars and compotes.  Call and ask about a private EVOO tasting party for your group or organization!

Find out more about our current selection of Olive Oils and Balsamic Vinegars.

EVOO TASTINGS: Kanon Gallery happily hosts fresh olive oil tastings.  Visit Kanon Gallery for one of our fresh California organic olive oil tasting parties! Stop by the store for a taste and you will see what a difference there is in fresh, raw, un-process, 100% organic olive oil! Any of these oils can be used for dressings, sautéing fresh vegetables, cooking, or drizzling over vanilla ice cream!

While you are here, take a few minutes to look at our lines of Amish solid oak, brown maple, and American cherry furniture, as well as a couple of pieces constructed of solid Acacia Wood from craftsmen in India!

INTRODUCTION TO OLIVE OIL TASTING: Are you ready to excite your taste buds with a savory taste experience? Then extra virgin olive oil is what you have been looking for! Let’s get started on an unique culinary adventure and see where it takes us. 

Tasting extra virgin olive oil will mean different things and offer different experiences to different people. This introduction will assume that you are a novice that has recently developed interest in the health benefits, flavor experiences, and just plain fun of tasting the uniquely varied flavors derived from the many varietals and blends of extra virgin olive oil. First and foremost, realize that flavor preferences are very personal, and can be as varied as the over 1000 varieties of olives grown around the world. However, tasting different oils in a methodical fashion will help to educate your palate and determine the flavor characteristics that you enjoy and prefer with different foods.

In many cases, when first starting to enjoy olive oil tasting, the more robust and pungent oils may seem unpleasant. In that case it would be better to seek the oils with a softer and fruitier disposition. However, as you palate matures with experience, you may find yourself enjoying oils that you did not care for earlier. So, be brave and enjoy the adventure! You can reap the documented health benefits that adding extra virgin olive oil to your diet can bring and have a lot of fun doing it. Remember that we do not stop having adventures because we grow old, but we grow old because we stop having adventures. So pucker up your lips, take a sip, and let the adventures begin. 

HOW TO BEGIN: Taste perception directly involves the three senses of taste, smell (aroma), and touch (the texture sensation on the tongue). The color of the oil, which may range from light golden to green, is no indicator of quality at all, but sight perception can influence the brain. Therefore, professional tasters will use small cobalt blue glasses to mask the color of the oil while tasting. For our purposes, the blue tasting glasses will not be necessary.

Start by decanting about ½ ounce of extra virgin olive oil into the tasting cup. Gently swirl the oil in the cup to line the inner surface and release the aroma of the oil. Put the cup to your nose and slowly breath in through your nostrils and contemplate the aroma, which may remind you of nuts, certain fruit, or even fresh cut grass. Make a mental note of the aroma.

Next, sip (or slurp) the oil through your lips much like you would sip a very hot beverage, mixing air with the oil as it enters the mouth. Now don’t be embarrassed! A loud slurping sound is a good thing. This will further release and enhance the aromas of the oil. Holding the oil in your mouth, again take a slow breath in through you nostrils and experience the full sensation of taste and aroma, (retro-nasally) while noting the texture on your tongue. The texture should be light and pleasant, and not “slick” or “greasy.”

Now swallow the oil, allowing it to gently glide across the back of your tongue. Some oils may create a pungent “hot pepper” sensation in your throat, and make you cough. When tasting different oils, clear your palate with a small bite of bread or tart Granny Smith apple between tastes.  You have just taken the first step of what can be an exciting and rewarding adventure, of becoming an extra virgin olive oil aficionado!

There are three terms used to describe positive attributes of olive oil:

  1. Fruity:  Having pleasant spicy fruit flavors characteristic of fresh green or ripe olives. Ripe fruit yields oils that are milder, aromatic, buttery, and floral. Green fruit yields oils that are grassy, herbaceous, bitter, and pungent. Fruitiness also varies by the variety of the olive.
  2. Bitter:  Creating a mostly pleasant acrid flavor sensation on the tongue.
  3. Pungent:  Creating a hot peppery sensation in the mouth and/or throat. This attribute can, at times be intense enough to cause the taster to cough when swallowing.

Common defects associated with olive oil:

  1. Fusty: Characteristic obtained from olives that were stored in piles prior to pressing, which causes an advanced stage of anaerobic (without oxygen) fermentation.
  2. Winey -Vinegary: Flavor that is reminiscent of wine or vinegar. This defect is caused by aerobic (with oxygen) fermentation in olives.
  3. Rancid: Flavor in oils that have undergone oxidation. This is the most common defect; it can occur either before or after bottling, and if a bottle, either opened or unopened, has been exposed to light and heat.
  4. Others: Other defects may be described as musty, moldy, muddy, metallic, and a number of other unpleasant tastes caused by a variety of mistakes in handling or processing.

RESOURCES:

p: 405·601·3091 • f: 405·601·3093  • 124 northwest eighth street, oklahoma city, oklahoma 73102