SPANISH OLIVE OIL AT THE GOURMET WAREHOUSE: We of course carry a wide variety of quality extra virgin olive oils at the Gourmet Warehouse. Spain is the world’s largest producer. Some of our most popular Spanish oils come from Castilla de Canena, Nuñez de Prado, Marques de Valdueza, Merula, and Castelanotti. Some of our Spanish oils are single varietals and some are blends. Of the single varietals that we sell and have sold, the most popular are the Picual and the Arbequina. These varietals produce oils with very different flavour profiles and character. The Picual (Photograph below left) is an olive cultivar native to Spain. The name Picual comes from the Spanish word picudo which means peak, and this is because of the distinctive shape of the fruit which has a marked point at the end of it. Picual olives are the most commonly grown olive today for olive oil production, with production centred in the Spanish province of Jaén. Naturally, this varietal is very high in oil content, at 20-27% by weight. Virgin olive oil from Picual olives have high levels of polyphenols (an organic compound which is known to have antioxidant effects), typically between 300 and 700ppm. It is one of the most stable olive oils due to a high polyphenol count. It tends to be fruity, with a mild intensity, a sweetish taste, low pungency and slightly bitter. As far as Arbequina (photograph below right) goes, the name comes from the village of Arbeca in Catalonia, Spain, where it was first introduced from Palestine in the 17th century by the Duke of Medinaceli. The fruit is highly aromatic, small, symmetrical and dark brown, with a rounded apex and a broad peduncular cavity. In Europe, it is mostly grown in Catalonia, Spain, but it is also grown in Aragon and Andalusia, as well as California, Argentina, Chile, and Australia. 78% of olive oil acres in California are planted in Arbequina. It has recently become one of the dominant olive cultivars in the world, largely under highly intensive, super high-density plantation. The oil made from Arbequina tends to be generally buttery, fruity and mild in flavour being low in polyphenols. The combination of low polyphenol levels and high levels of polyunsaturated fat as compared with other olive cultivars means that it has relatively low stability and a shorter shelf-life than Picual. At our store, we sell single varietal Picual and Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil produced by Castilla De Canena and Castelanotti. Marques de Valdueza, and Merula produce oils blended from Picual and Arbequina plus two other Spanish Varietals. Nuñez de Prado’s oil is a combination of Picudo, Hojiblanca, Picual and four other varietals.
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 21:19:05 +0000
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