A Corsican village, represented all the
wonderful products such as honey, wine, chestnut, cheeses and olive oil
products making pavilion 3, a delightful
stop but noticeably this year for those in the business of olive oil was a
change in labeling of Corsican Olive oil with producers adding information to their local treasure.
Besides the protected designation of origin
(PDO) Corsican Olive Oil producers can now include additional information . Were the olives ripe and were they allowed
to be dropped into nets or were they picked green from the tree?But how is this helpful to the consumer?
With all the recent talk of fraud,
olive oil consumers are on their guard.
What does “picked off the tree or picked off the
ground really mean?”
Although in depth labeling is key for this
high quality product, consumers need to understand the two very distinct tastes
and aromas that the two methods will have on the resulting oil.
They need to know that when olives are
picked green and processed within 24 hours, you get a more bitter oil with
herbaceous aromas and flavors like cut grass while ripe fruit will produce a
sweet delicate taste.
As Union President Don Jean Santaluccia said “the olives that fall into the net are
much milder than those picked off the tree and are much more fruiter.”
Surely this would be more helpful to the average consumer.
Facts
and figures for Corsican Olive Oil—Olio di Corsica
·
Corsica produces some of the
most delicious olive oil. Many producers like to wait until their olives
are fully matured, then let them fall quite naturally onto carefully laid out
nets usually between November and May.
·
Two types of plantations exist
on this sundrenched island --old orchards with old trees some more than 2,000
years old which survived two terrible fires in 1957 and 1985 and relatively
young olive orchards tendered by young producers.
·
The island boasts 28 approved
mills for olive oil production and 194 member producers.
·
In 2014, Corsica celebrated
their tenth anniversary of PDO.
·
The average price per liter of
Corsican Olive oil -- 20 euros per liter.
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| Olives from Corsica |
