The olive oil Granada has the flavour and cooking properties to benefit our life

Why Olive Oil From Granada Benefitted Granadinos for Thousands Of Years

I'm hooked on olive oil from Granada. We never had it when I lived in England. It was very expensive and I couldn't see the point in using it. benefits of olive oil Granada
But now, whenever I go back to England, I usually take my own bottle of olive oil with me. I enjoy having it on bread, or with grated tomato on toast for breakfast. I enjoy the taste and I'm happy in the knowledge that my health is benefitting from its use.

But olive oil from Granada is not a new thing.

It was the Phoenicians who brought olive oil to this country before the year 3,000 b.C. And from 1,000 b.C. olive oil was actually being exported from the Iberian peninsula to the other countries around the Mediterranean.

Since then we have come a long way. Now, a fifth of the world's olive oil comes from Spain and more than three quarters of the world's consumption is European. Indeed, a lot of Spanish olive oil is exported to Italy where it is blended and labelled with Italian brands.

The effect of olive oil production on Spain's economy is huge. There are more than a million jobs created by olive tree care, olive harvesting, olive processing and olive oil pressing.

Essentially, olive oil is produced by pressing (or crushing) olives. The different grades of olive oil are determined by the amount of processing involved in obtaining the oil from the olive. And the less processing involved, the better the olive oil Granada.

Grades of Olive Oil

Extra Virgin Olive Oil - This is the best quality of olive oil available. Its acidity has to be less than 0.8% and its scent and taste must be clean and "fruity". It is produced from the first pressing of the olives. Olive oil from Granada produces excellent extra virgin.

Virgin Olive Oil - The quality is slightly lower than the extra virgin. Acidity can be no more than 2% and the oil is produced by using mechanical methods only (not chemical) to extract the oil from the fruit of the olive tree. Virgin olive oil is obtained from the second pressing.

Ordinary Virgin Olive Oil - Sold only to wholesalers in Spain, its acidity can be 3.3% or less

Lampante Virgin Olive Oil - The same stipulations as ordinary virgin, but Lampante has to be processed further in order to make it suitable for consumption. Again, this is only sold to wholesalers in Spain. Lampante oil has no flavour or smell and it has an acidity of more than 2%.

Refined Olive Oil - Made from refined lampante oils which have been processed by high temperatures and chemicals. This is not sold in Spain.

Olive Oil - This is produced by mixing refined olive oil with virgin olive oil to get a better taste.

The Future of Olive Oil in Granada

With greater emphasis being placed on quality, the future development of the olive oil industry is the development of Denominations of Origin. This means that the olive oil is guaranteed to come from a particular region. And to qualify, the extra virgin oil not only needs to be produced in a method typical of its area, but it should also display the taste, colour, odour, feel and smell particular to virgin oils of its area.

Virgin olive oil has 17 denominations of origin controlled by the Agricultural Ministry fo Agriculture. Eight of them come from Andalucia.

Health Benefits

Central to the healthy Mediterranean diet, olive oil retains the goodness of the olives and is high in mono-unsaturated fatty acids which are high in antioxidants. It can actually protect against heart disease by raising good cholesterol while controlling the bad. Olive oil also helps reduce ulcers and gastritis as well as lowering the chance of suffering from gallstones.

Olive oil from Granada promotes good digestion and thereby can help to relieve various disorders of the stomach.

It contains anti-ageing properties and promotes the development of a healthy nervous system.

Extra virgin olive oil, being the most natural olive oil, contains more anti-oxidants and vitamin E. No wonder it is often referred to as a "healing fat".

New research indicates that there is a compound in olive oil which has the same chemical structure as ibuprofen, a popular painkiller with anti-infammatory properties. The oil can thus produce similar benefits of taking mild doses of the ibuprofen and help reduce risk of certain cancers (including breast cancer), Alzheimer's disease, heart attack and stroke. This research has been carried out by the Monell Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia.
jar of olive oil

What Makes A Good Olive Oil

There are three main factors which are important in the production of good olive oil.

The first is the flavour. This most important factor for good olive oil means starting with healthy olive trees and from there, good olives which need to be picked at at the optimum harvesting time. For olive oil from Granada, harvesting occurs between December and March.

The second factor is the growing region. The type of soil, growing conditions and the climate all affect the flavour of the oil. Needless to say the soil and climate of Granada provide excellent growing conditions.

The third aspect is the actual method of pressing used. Within the area surrounding Padul we have three olive mills. And as a prior condition to pressing is the proper care of the olives beforehand. Obviously, if the olives are kept in poor conditions and allowed to ferment or deteriorate the oils will be defective. Since the olive mills are only open during the harvesting season, visitors to our bed and breakfast guest house can visit several oil mill museums in the area, a good one being the Andalucian Museum of Olive Oil. The museum is just a few minutes drive away from our B&B and it is there that you can see, and taste, a selection of olive oil from Granada.

Finally, it is important to store the oil correctly. The ideal temperature for keeping oil is below 18 degrees centigrade. Once you get your oil home, pour some into a dispenser for daily use and keep the rest in a cool dark cupboard. Olive oil can also be kept in a fridge. It can even be frozen. When it is brought back to room temperature the oil will be in perfect condition again and ready for use.

Cooking with Olive Oil

Olive oil is not only excellent for cooking but it adds a flavour as well. There are very mild oils and there are fruity tasting oils with a wide range of flavours in between. To experiment, try different oils, buying small amounts and scoring and evaluating them until you find one that you like.

The olive oil from Granada comes from the picual olive Granada and provides an oil wich is an excellent accompaniment for all types of cooking, being perfect for salads, fish, cheese, french fries (chips), vegetables and meats.

Barbara enjoys using the local grown and pressed olive oil in her dishes and cooking.

olives Granada

The main reasons why cooking with olive oil from Granada produces such excellent results are:-

A high temperature is required for saut�ing and so an oil is needed that doesn't burn or smoke at high temperatures.
When pan-frying olive oil does not mark or taint the natural flavour of the food because it is able to maintain its chemical composition at high temperatures.
Olive oil does not penetrate food during deep frying (in a deep fat fryer) and thus it produces food with a lower fat level. And...
Olive oil can also be used in baking, of course. Witness the many panader�as (bread shops) which have "pan con aceite" (bread made with olive oil) - and a whole range of sweet cakes, buns and biscuits all made with olive oil

Olive oil from Granada can provide the ultimate requirements of a good food - it not only improves the taste of the food, but it does you good as well. What better reason could one have for using Granada olive oil?

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