Monday started week five of classes! Its scary to think that half the semester is over already and that midterms are right around the corner! Cooking class on monday we learned about the importance of olive oil. Olive oil production is similar to that of wine. It is produced during or after the grape harvest. Olive harvest takes place around mid October to mid November. If the region gets a lot of rain in the spring, the olive harvest begins earlier. Olive oil is classified into three different categories: olive oil, virgin olive oil. and extra virgin olive oil. The olive oils are classified based on the acidity level. The lower the acidity level, the better that it is for you. Extra virgin olive oil contains 1% acidity level. Virgin olive oil has an acidity level of 2.0%. Olive oil has an acidity level of 2.5%. Extra virgin olive oil is easy to digest, helps with inflamatory issues, mono saturated fats. Extra virgin olive oil is rich in vitamins A,B,C,D,E, and K. Just like wine production, olive oil has a consortium. The olive oil consortium controls production with a high level of guidelines, rules, and regulations. The date of production can be found on the bottle label. Olive is closed in dark green bottles to help flavoring protect flavoring. Olive oil tasting is very similar to the wine tasting process. Olive oil is tasted using a clear glass. It is done earl in the morning before you eat anything else. Once the olive oil is poured in the glass you cup your hands around the bottom of the glass in order to warm it up till its about room temperature. Next you should tilt the glass in order to observe the yellow translucent color. You should also twirl the glass around in order to observe the legs of the olive oil as it drips down the side of the glass. By doing so you can take notice to the consistency, density, and texture of the olive oil. Most importantly you should place you nose completely into the cavity of the glass to pick up the different aromas.
After learning about olive oil it was time to start prepping to make our two recipes of the day! The first recipe we made was bruschetta. Bruschetta is your typical Italian garlic bread. It is a good example of how the simplest food is often the best. Bruschetta is composed of tomatoes, garlic, oregano, basil, and tuscan bread. Typical tuscan bread is on the hard side and is salt free. First you must cut the tomatoes in half and remove the seeds and the excess pulp. Once this step is completed you must place the tomatoes upside down for at least a half hour allowing the remaining juice to be drained. In the mean time you can finely chop the garlic, basil, and oregano. After the half hour has passed, it is now time to dice the tomatoes. Once all the ingredients have been chopped you can mix them all together in one large bowl. Once all the ingredients are all combined in one bowl you drizzle extra virgin olive oil over it and mix it all together. The tuscan bread should be cut into small slices and be lightly toasted in the oven. After the bread was done toasting, you place a spoon full of the bruschetta on each piece and they are ready to serve! Before I came to Italy, I was never a fan of tomatoes. The deep red, fresh, juicy tomatoes have grown to my taste buds liking them more.
The next recipe of the day was Tapenade. Tapenade is an olive paste which typically comes from Greece. It is composed of black olives, green olives, capers, garlic, anchovies, olive oil, and a few drops of lemon juice. First we chopped the black and green olives, and the garlic. Once those ingredients were chopped we placed them in the food processor along with the anchovies, olive oil, and lemon juice. I was kind of nervous because of the anchovies that were used in the recipe, but you could not even taste them in the finished product! Just like we had served the bruschetta on slices of toasted tuscan bread, we served the tapenade the same exact way. I have never been a fan of olives either before coming to Italy, but I have grown to liking them as well.
After learning about olive oil it was time to start prepping to make our two recipes of the day! The first recipe we made was bruschetta. Bruschetta is your typical Italian garlic bread. It is a good example of how the simplest food is often the best. Bruschetta is composed of tomatoes, garlic, oregano, basil, and tuscan bread. Typical tuscan bread is on the hard side and is salt free. First you must cut the tomatoes in half and remove the seeds and the excess pulp. Once this step is completed you must place the tomatoes upside down for at least a half hour allowing the remaining juice to be drained. In the mean time you can finely chop the garlic, basil, and oregano. After the half hour has passed, it is now time to dice the tomatoes. Once all the ingredients have been chopped you can mix them all together in one large bowl. Once all the ingredients are all combined in one bowl you drizzle extra virgin olive oil over it and mix it all together. The tuscan bread should be cut into small slices and be lightly toasted in the oven. After the bread was done toasting, you place a spoon full of the bruschetta on each piece and they are ready to serve! Before I came to Italy, I was never a fan of tomatoes. The deep red, fresh, juicy tomatoes have grown to my taste buds liking them more.The next recipe of the day was Tapenade. Tapenade is an olive paste which typically comes from Greece. It is composed of black olives, green olives, capers, garlic, anchovies, olive oil, and a few drops of lemon juice. First we chopped the black and green olives, and the garlic. Once those ingredients were chopped we placed them in the food processor along with the anchovies, olive oil, and lemon juice. I was kind of nervous because of the anchovies that were used in the recipe, but you could not even taste them in the finished product! Just like we had served the bruschetta on slices of toasted tuscan bread, we served the tapenade the same exact way. I have never been a fan of olives either before coming to Italy, but I have grown to liking them as well.
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