Why is the best olive oil like Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil found in the best kitchens?
Updated February 1st 2022
SUMMARY:
- More and more celebrity chefs are using extra virgin olive oil
- Incredibly versatile, extra virgin olive oil can be used in baking, stir-frying, roasting and marinating recipes alike.
- Extra virgin olive oil can add layers of flavour to both simple and complex recipes.
- Extra virgin olive oil is healthier than other oils because it’s low in saturated-fats, making it an ideal cooking choice for today’s health-conscious foodies
CONTENTS:
- Why Celebrity Chefs Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Not All Extra Virgin Olive Oils Are The Same
- Which Is The Best Olive Oil?
- How Do I Choose The Right Kind Of Olive Oil?
- Why is Extra Virgin Olive Oil So Special?
- Why Buy New Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil?
Why Celebrity Chefs Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Celebrity chefs around the world are known for creating delicious, gourmet dishes that pull from all sorts of cultural influences. But one of their most prized ingredients is extra virgin olive oil, and for good reason.
Extra virgin olive oil has a unique flavour profile that adds complex depth to any dish without overpowering other ingredients. It’s also incredibly versatile. Extra virgin olive oil can be used in baking, stir-frying, roasting and marinating recipes alike. The best olive oils like Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil are deemed extra virgin because they have undergone minimal processing, with no chemicals or heat involved in making the product.
This means that Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil is exceptionally pure and full of antioxidant polyphenols. No wonder celebrity chefs swear by extra virgin olive oil when cooking up something special!
Celebrity chefs have relied upon extra virgin olive oil for centuries in the pursuit of preparing perfect dishes. With its varied and flavourful palette, extra virgin olive oil has become a favourite among many celebrity chefs because of the layers of flavour it can provide to both simple and complex recipes.
Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil is recognized as one of the best on the market and oftentimes, the only extra virgin olive oil that celebrity chefs buy. This premium extra virgin olive oil adds a special something to each recipe, elevating it in ways that other oils simply cannot. From salads to desserts and everything in between, cooking with extra virgin olive oil allows for a full exploration into flavours by allowing them to breathe and interact freely. Plus, extra virgin olive oil is healthier than other oils because it’s low in saturated-fats, making it an ideal cooking choice for today’s health-conscious foodies
It’s no wonder why so many top celebrity chefs use extra virgin olive oil!
Not All Extra Virgin Olive Oils Are The Same
It’s a truth universally acknowledged by lovers of the Mediterranean Diet: Not all olive oil is the same. Morocco Gold is proud to produce the very best extra virgin olive oil and we work hard to lay claim to this exclusive label.
Our fresh harvest is bursting with the same distinctive green fruitiness, hints of sweet almonds, fresh turf and herbs with a distinct ‘pepperiness’ – the mark of the finest extra virgin olive oil.
Some of the world’s top celebrity chefs agree that choosing to use genuine extra virgin olive oil in your cooking is a great way to guarantee quality of flavour in your dishes. It is an extremely versatile cooking ingredient and can be used on salads, as a dip, for roasting or for adding finishing touches to hot food.
Extra virgin olive oil has been around for centuries but has never been more popular among sone of our most respected celebrity chefs.
Many think the British celebrity chef, restaurateur and media personality, Jamie Oliver, is responsible for the skyrocketing popularity of extra virgin olive oil in the U.K. over the past ten years. Jamie Oliver has even admitted to using extra virgin olive oil, not just for his cooking, but as a body moisturiser.
Many other celebrity chefs who use extra virgin olive oil like Morocco Gold are quick to defend the use of this versatile ‘liquid gold’ in their kitchens:
“I love fresh citrus and always keep lemons, limes, and oranges on hand; they come in handy for spritzing up quickly grilled meats, seafoods, and vegetables, especially when followed up by a quick drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I always have a good quality extra virgin olive oil. A cheap quality oil will end up cheapening your dishes. And I love sweetening my dishes with maple syrup. It has a bit of a bitter kick at the end that works wonderfully in savoury dishes.”
Nadia Giosia
“I use a lot of spices, fresh veggies and fruit, extra virgin olive oil, nuts, avocado, soybeans and organic ingredients as often as possible. We need fat in our diets and using the healthier fats is key.”
Todd English
“I always have parmigiano-reggiano, extra virgin olive oil and pasta at home. When people get sick, they want chicken soup; I want spaghetti with parmesan cheese, olive oil and a bit of lemon zest. It makes me feel better every time.”
Isabella Rossellini
Which Is The Best Olive Oil?
But with so many olive oils to choose from – which one should you buy? Supermodel, force in the kitchen, best-selling author and TV personality Chrissy Teigen has the answer.
Question: Hi, Chrissy! Whenever I need to buy olive oil I end up standing in the grocery aisle staring at my phone trying to figure out what the is the difference is between them all. Extra Virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil or just OO? Is there a light too? I saw that you get fancy adopted olive tree oil from Tuscany, but what can I grab off the shelf that would be good for cooking on the stovetop, tossing with veggies in the oven, and mixing in with some sauces?
Answer: Olive oil’s quality is measured by its acidity; the lower the acidity, the more “extra virgin” it is. You can use extra virgin oil for all kinds of cooking where olive oil is called for, but if it has a really strong flavor – grassy, peppery, etc – save it for drizzling on veggies or salads. Use the less-virgin oil for cooking and sauces.
She goes on; “Oh man, this is gonna sound very ridiculous but someone actually gifted John (Legend) and me with an adopted olive tree in Tuscany and they press the olives and send you the marked bottles of your tree’s oil a few times a year. Depending on the weather there, some batches will be super peppery, some sweet and mild. I like it all”.
Chrissy Tiegen is no stranger to Morocco having visited with husband, singer John Legend, in 2015 and again in 2017. In 2016, she published ‘Cravings : Recipes For All The Food You Want To Eat’ which became a New York Times best-seller. This was followed in 2018 by ‘Cravings : Hungry For More’ which coincided with the launch of her collection of cooking and serve-ware called (you guessed it!) – Cravings.
A real force to be reckoned with in the kitchen she has admitted to being obsessed with Moroccan dishes.
How Do I Choose The Right Kind Of Olive Oil?
There are different grades of olive oil and associated standards are defined by the International Olive Council. In summary there are five different types of olive oil:
Why is Extra Virgin Olive Oil So Special?
Extra virgin olive oil is the highest quality, best extra virgin olive oil you can get. Genuine extra virgin olive oil is rare and as a result is slightly more expensive.
The chemical characteristics of extra virgin olive oil (as with all vegetable oils) give an indication of the care with which it was made and stored: how the fruit was grown, transported and harvested, how it was pressed into oil, and how the oil was packaged and bottled. Stringent chemical analysis also helps to determine if the oil is adulterated in any way. The chemical standards for extra virgin olive oil are the highest of all the grades and, as such, offer a guarantee of quality.
The definition of extra virgin olive oil is very precise regards production methods, taste and chemical composition. To be certified as extra virgin, an olive oil must:
- Come from a single source, it is not mixed / blended with other olive oils, even if they are of extra virgin quality
- Come from the first pressing of fresh, young olives, normally within 24 hours of harvesting
- Be extracted purely by mechanical means at temperatures specifically below 28C.
- Have free fatty acid or acidity level (normally measured as oleic acid) of less than 0.8%.
- Be defect free and have a perfect taste and aroma.
Extra virgin olive oil is the highest grade and best tasting olive oil. The organoleptic (taste) characteristics of a high-quality extra virgin olive oil are typically:
Fruity
- It has pleasant spicy, fruity flavours characteristic of fresh ripe or green olives. Fruitiness varies with the variety of olive. Green fruit yields olive oils that are grassy and herbaceous.
- More mature, ripe fruit yields olive oils that are milder, aromatic, buttery and floral.
Bitter
- Creating a pleasant acrid flavour or sensation on the tongue
Pungent
- Creating a peppery sensation in the mouth and throat.
High quality extra virgin olive oils also contain the antioxidants and polyphenols that give the health enhancing qualities associated with olive oil.
According to another celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay (at gordonramsayrestaurants.com):
“What we’re really looking for in extra virgin olive oil is low acidity (1 per cent or under) and a high rating (6.5 plus) for organoleptic qualities – meaning how good it smells, tastes and looks. If an oil only scored 3.5 or 4 on the organoleptic scale and had an acidity of 3 per cent, it would qualify as virgin oil rather than extra virgin.”
Gordon Ramsay
The acidity level of Morocco Gold’s latest (2021) Harvest is an impressive 0.2%!
Why Buy New Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil?
For us at Morocco Gold, providing the freshest extra virgin olive oil to our customers is vital. Freshness is key to the wonderful intensity and richness of flavour, also to providing the health enhancing polyphenols within Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil.
That is why as a matter of policy, we only sell extra virgin olive oil on our website that is from the latest years harvest. By doing this we are guaranteeing the freshest extra virgin olive oil we have available.
