June 19/22 - How to make sure you buy the right olive oil...with the health benefits

Pula, Croatia - Who knew Croatia has PREMIUM olive oil?
The thumbs down on the left is a massed produced olive oil from Italy.
Very little antioxidant benefits!

Croatia has been eye opening! I am down at the tip of the peninsula in Croatia known as Istria and so far my favourite part of Croatia. There are olive groves, vineyards, fig trees, oceans and beaches, it’s beautiful! BUT the most SHOCKING thing I learned here about the olive oil is that it is supposed to smell and taste like fresh cut grass!! WHAT??? I've never EVER had olive oil that smelled and tasted like what I've had here. It's literally so strong it burns your throat at first. At our tasting we were given store bought oil to try too and it was smooth and floral like I'm used to. I thought it was good apparently this is “crap” olive oil that has no value whatsoever. This is the olive oil we buy in Canada. I have never tasted olive oil that tastes like fresh cut grass…

WOW...right???

For the "tasting" it was like a wine tasting, she put the different oils in little blue glasses, had us warm them with our hands, then smell, then taste, breathing in through our teeth while we swallowed. To be fair to all the olive oil companies out there, this tasting we had was at the Olive Oil museum in Pula that doesn't favor any one plantation. Just educating people on olive oil! 

So apparently we have just sh*t oil in our stores!! I've learned I have NEVER had pure extra virgin olive oil!

I don't know how you are going to be able to "taste" or smell before buying but look for Croatian olive oil or ask your higher end Mediterranean stores to bring it in. It's worth it for your health. The antioxidant value is off the charts and for heart health, an ounce a day has been studied to significantly reduce heart disease.

The yellow bottle in the picture is from the company Brist
and their Delicato label won best in the world, so I was told!
www.briar-olive.hr
Brist, which has a plantation 15 min outside of Pula had their olive oil tested as having the absolute highest rating of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the world with a value of 0.1grams per 100 grams.

I thought Italy or Greece was the best but this area produces olive oil so full of antioxidants it can't be touched by any other area. I was told the producers still produce olive oil the traditional way in small batches. That might be the key over the big producers so when looking to buy olive oil, go for the smaller companies and (EVOO) is the highest grade of Olive oil so please buy the good stuff and make sure it tastes like grass!

Thank you for following my journey to writing a book series!
Stay balanced,
LeeAnna