Being more than just a mere food product, olive oil is widely known item. Croatian olive oil has some special features, though it is less commonly known, compared to Spanish or Greek olive oils…
Croatia has a long history of producing olive oil. But after the Second World War it experienced negligence and a lot of ups and downs to its economy. As a result, Croatian olive oil producers are facing some problems to cope with modern companies. Statistics shows that Croatian olive oil producers hold only 0.2 percent of the international market. But the producers of Croatia are trying to produce excellent olive oil. They still give importance to hand-picked olives and cold-pressed techniques are still followed by them. It is possibly the biggest secret that Croatian olive oil is more special than other olive oil. For example, Italian publication “L’extravergine guide” (Extra-Virgin Guide) prizes Olea B.B, a Croatian olive oil company, for being the best producer of extra- virgin olive oil. Leccino, Lumbardeška, Piculja, Bijelica, Lastovka, Drobnica, Resulja, Murgulja, Uljarica, Duzica, Sitnica, Oblica etc. are the names of Croatian olive oil.
Olive Oil Grades
Olive oil is considered good, better or best by the quantity of acidity contained by the olive fruit. Low acidity contained olive oil is considered the best olive oil. Chemical free processes like cold-pressed olive oil contains very low acidity. One example is extra virgin olive oil, which contains less than 1 percent acid because it comes from the first pressing. Virgin olive oil contains 1 to 3 percent acidity even though it is also cold-pressed. Actually, virgin oil comes from the second pressing. Normal olive oil contains the mixture of refined olive oil and extra virgin or virgin olive oil. For cooking and baking, light olive oil is best suited. Light olive oil has a light colour and a light flavour. It contains monounsaturated fat and calories. It comes about by a very fine filtration process. And the extra light olive oil comes by the most highly processed way. Its flavour is very mild compared to the other three. The olive flavour depends on the colour. Deeper colour provides better flavour.
Storing process
The quality of olive oil is greatly affected by the process of storing this. Olive oil should not be refrigerated. It can be kept for up to 18 months in a cool and dark place. Refrigeration of olive oil deteriorates the flavours and also breaks the molecules in it. However, if the olive oil becomes very cloudy to pour by keeping it in dark and cold place, it can be turned into liquid again by keeping it at room temperature for a while.
Olive oil has several merits. It helps to prevent colon cancer. The best Croatian olive oil contains a great amount of vitamin e and phenol.
