Liquid Gold: Olive Oil
Israel and olive oil
According to a survey, the Jews have begun to squeeze olive oil as early as 8,000 years ago in Israel.The researchers found an essential element of the Mediterranean diet-the remains of olive oil-on a 6,000-year-old pottery jar.
"This is evidence of the earliest use of olive oil in Israel, and even throughout the Mediterranean basin," Ianir Milevski and Nimrod Getzov of the Israeli Antiquities Bureau said in a statement. Archaeologists speculate that in the northern part of ancient Israel, there was a thriving olive oil processing industry.
The ancient Hebrews believed that the king had to apply olive oil then he is the king in every sense; In the New Testament, the Green Olive branch was a sign of Noah's return from Noah's Ark. It is a way to tell people that the flood had receded. So since then, the olive tree had been endowed with the meaning of life's revival and peace.
The "Hanukkah", which lasted for thousands of years, was also associated with olive oil.
Hanukkah was set up to commemorate the victory in an aggressive war where the ancient Israelis fought against the Greek invaders and won. In the 168 BC, the Greek invaders declared Judaism illegal, erected the altar of Zeus in the Temple of Jerusalem, and sacrificed pigs that were thought unclean by Jews.
The Jews resisted and repelled the mighty Greeks, recovered the temples and repaired and purified them, and prepared to the sacrifices. But at that time, they found that the Greeks defiled the Holy olive oil in the temple, leaving only a bottle of holy oil sealed. The Jew lighted the golden lamps in the temple with that bottle of holy oil and it gave light in eight days. The Jews believed it was a testament from God for a new country. Therefore, in later generations, Jews celebrate the festival in the winter and named it the Hanukkah.
When the festival comes, Israeli family and synagogues lit the lamps with nine candlesticks in front of door. Especially, the lamp-oil is made from olive oil.
Israel's extra virgin olive oil, ultra-low acidity (less than 0.8%), hits taste buds. Mediterranean climatic conditions, fertile soil, advanced harvesting methods, contribute to the superior the fineness and quality of oil.
There is a wide variety of olive trees in the Holy Land, and each kind of them is with heavenly elegance. Israel's olive oil as well as the salt of the death of sea are two major export commodities, and indispensable souvenirs when you travel Israel.
Liquid Gold
Olive oil in the Mediterranean coastal countries have thousands of years of history, in the west, it is known as "liquid gold", "Vegetable oil Queen", "Mediterranean dew”. The reason lies in its excellent natural health care efficacy, beauty efficacy and ideal cooking use.
The International Olive Oil Council divides olive oil into virgin olive oil and refined olive oil (lamp ante olive oils or refined olive oils) in two categories, five levels.
Virgin Olive oil
Virgin Olive oil, also known as natural olive oil. Directly cold-squeezed with fresh olive fruit by machinery, then filtered and complete other processing to remove foreign bodies, at last some oil remains. That is olive oil.
The acidity can be divided into three levels:
Extra virgin olive oil: This olive oil is in highest level with the highest quality and is pure natural product. It has excellent taste, elegant and pleasant plant fragrance, with its acidity no more than 1%.
Fine virgin olive oil: With slightly higher acidity, but no more than 2%, it tastes pure and aromatic.
Ordinary virgin olive oil: It has proper taste and flavor, whose acidity is no more than 3.3%.
Refined Olive oil
Refined olive oil, or "two times oil", is the olive oil that is obtained after refining the first virgin olive oil with a acidity of more than 3.3%.
Refined olive oil can be divided into two levels:
Olive oils: Mix refined olive oil with a certain proportion of virgin olive oil, reconcile the taste and color. Its acidity is under 1.5%, appearing transparent pale gold.
Refined Olive-pomace oil: An olive oil extracted from a diesel residue by dissolution and refined. Not edible, only for the beauty industry.
Three major types of olive oil in the market
Regional Oil
The selected olive fruit is derived from a planting area of a country. The product label will generally indicate its use of olive fruit varieties and specific planting places. Some plantations have been designated for the protection of EU origin by their unique fruit and geographical features and strict processing methods.
This kind of oil tastes unique and smells fruity. So, the price is higher. The oil is usually sold in olive oil stores and is loved by the middle class.
Bulk Oil
Most of sales in supermarkets are these industrial oils. Italy and Spain are the biggest sources of production of such industrial oil. They bought large barrels of crude oil from the world's major producing areas and then blended them.
This type of olive oil’s label is indicating only the origin of the bottle but no planting places.
Because it is according to the uniform formula for blending, the general taste of industrial oil is more uniform. But due to its low price, it is welcomed by the general consumer.
Estate Oil
Estate Oil, like its name, derives its olive fruit from its plantation. Hand-picked, on-site oil, immediately filling the bottle, so the manor is the best olive oil because of its superior quality.
This kind of oil is basically sold by the plantation itself. Although the price is extremely high, but it still receives the olive oil lover's hot pursuit.
In general, the Estate Extra virgin olive oil is the best oil, and its acidity is no more than 0.8%. In the market, it is also the most expensive one. In addition, despite the above classification, in terms of use, olive oil is also divided into edible olive oil and beauty olive oil. We need to pay attention to the distinction when purchasing.
The effect of olive oil
Olive oil can not only be divided into edible olive oil and beauty of olive oil in terms of its use, from the effectiveness of the view, but also into health care efficacy and beauty efficacy. It is multi-purpose.
Health function
Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fatty acid - oleic acid, as well as vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin D, vitamin E, Vitamin K, antioxidant and so on. Olive oil is the most suitable oil for human nutrition so far.
For those who like to eat meat and have too much cholesterol intake, choosing olive oil as cooking oil can effectively reduce blood lipids, prevent hyperlipidemia, fatty liver, lower blood pressure, coronary heart disease, cerebral apoplexy and other rich occurrence probability, protect the heart.
Women who often eat olive oil can enhance skin elasticity, receive the effect of moisturizing beauty: Greece has a Mediterranean island called Crete Islands.
The island residents 's stroke, cancer, Alzheimer's disease incidence is the lowest in the world, and almost no heart disease happens here, and life expectancy is so long.
One reason the World Health Organization has investigated is that the island is rich in olives, and residents are known for olive oil as a daily edible oil.
Nowadays, the most admired healthy dietary model of foreign nutritionists is "Mediterranean diet”. An important ingredient of the Mediterranean diet is the daily consumption of olive oil.
Beauty use
For girls, the use of olive oil is much more. It can be used as a make-up remover, or as a daily care for the lips, hair and dry areas of body. Many beauty salons used it as spa massage oil. It has a charming fragrance, but not too greasy.
Wash the face skin surface with olive oil, gently massage the face, then it can be fully absorbed, conducive to maintaining moisture and nourish the skin, and then use hot towel for surface application can remove the dirt inside the pores, can make skin luster delicate and elastic, eliminate wrinkles and color spots, slow skin aging.
Food Guide
The character of olive oil is closely related to the oil-making process. And the high-quality olive oil is extracted by cold pressing method and needs to be carried out from low pressure to high pressure. Low pressure first squeeze olive oil appearing light yellow, is the ideal salad oil and cooking grease.
Olive oil Identification Tips:
1. There are mainly three kinds of methods to identify olive oil, "view", "smell" and "taste".
2. Good olive oil, oily body translucent, dense, pale yellow, yellow-green, blue-green, blue, until blue and black. Have fruity flavor, smooth taste, a faint bitterness, and spicy taste. After tasting it, the posterior part of our throats will have obvious feeling, and spicy feeling lags.
3. Bad olive oil, lack of translucent luster, light color, feel very thin, not thick, stale taste, musty tide taste, mud smell, wine sour, metal taste, rancid and other peculiar smell; taste smell, or tasteless.
Olive oil has a wealth of edible methods:
Fried with olive oil: Because of olive oil’s antioxidant properties and elevated levels of unsaturated fatty acids, its chemical structure remains stable at feverish temperatures. Therefore, comparing to ordinary oil, olive oil can be used repeatedly without deterioration, and will not produce carcinogens. It is the most suitable frying oil.
Make sauces and condiments with olive oil: olive oil is the best grease ingredient for cold sauces and hot sauces, which protects the color of fresh sauces. Olive oil can be directly mixed with several types of vegetarian dishes and pasta, can be used to make salad and a variety of mayonnaise and smeared bread and other food. Food mixed with olive oil has bright color, smell fragrance, and a strong Mediterranean flavor.
Baked in olive oil: Olive oil is also suitable for baking breads and desserts. Olive oil is much better than butter and can be widely used for any dessert or bread.
Boil rice with olive oil: When cooking, pouring in a spoonful of olive oil can make rice more fragrant and grain full.
Drinking: When you get up every morning or go to bed at night, directly drink a tablespoon (about 8 ml), is good for health, especially for the elderly, high blood pressure and heart disease patients. After several weeks of eating, some of the physiological indicators that were not normal were significantly improved.