The liquid gold of the Sorrento peninsula

Different countries, different olive oil!
Olive oil is a product of a thousand shades, which, like the wine, acquire smells and tastes of the area of origin.

How to recognize quality extra virgin olive oil

To recognize a quality olive oil it should not be an expert sommelier, but just follow few simple steps:

Visual test
The visual test, even if it seems trivial, can provide useful information about the strengths and weaknesses of the oil

Italian biological food

Milan, more precisely the Parco Sempione, from the 11st to the 13rd of June, will be the location of the "SaporBio" festival , an unmissable event for organic food and renewable energy lovers.
Event organizers, the bubbly showman Marco Columbro and Stefania Santini, his partner.
The purpose of the event is to bring more and more people to an healthy diet, informing them about the quality food, with a focus on important issues such as energy saving and the new design eco-friendly concept.
There will be also many stalls with food and wine tastings, wherein you can enjoy exclusively organic delicacies.
Not only food, SaporBio is a 360 degrees journey in the biological world and therefore in environmentally friendly clothing and in phytocosmetics.

Shine with the olive oil

The olive oil has many properties, even cosmetic. Do not think that the olive oil is only a good ally in delicious kitchen recipes, but this liquid gold is also a beauty friend.
In the past, when large cosmetic brands did not exist, only natural ingredients were used in the preparation of cosmetic, sensitive and effective recipes.
This is an old recipe for a timeless beauty, created just by the Queen Anne of England in 1700 to make silky, soft and shiny hair. If you have blond hair, add a little lemon juice; your hair will shine!


Balm with honey and olive oil
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of liquid honey
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract

Before to apply the balm wash the hair and blotted them with a towel, then proceed to mix all ingredients. It is important to mix the ingredients after the shampoo, otherwise they will separate again.
Once prepared the balm, spread evenly on hair, cover your head with a headset and switch the hairdryer for a couple of minutes. Hold still on for about fifteen minutes and then rinse the hair with a little bit of shampoo.

Olive oil benefits

Recent studies have shown that the right variety of foods may reduce the risk of cardio-vascular illness. Mediterranean diet foods, such as olive oil, cereals and fruits are essential to the hearth illness preservation.
According to the study of a Spanish university in Cordoba, phenols, micronutrients in which is rich the extravirgin Italian olive oil, have the ability to counteract the genes responsible for body inflammatory processes, contributing thereby to a sort of prevention of cardiovascular disease.
Professor Francisco Perez-Jimenez, head of the researchers team, conducted a study on a sample of twenty patients with metabolic syndrome, also said as insulin resistance syndrome. This special clinical condition carries a high cardiovascular risk, linked to a range of risk factors closely related to a sedentary lifestyle or pathological conditions such as obesity or high levels of blood cholesterol.
To twenty volunteers were asked to make a breakfast rich in extra virgin olive oil, removing for six weeks all medicines and vitamins.
At the end of the experiment, have been identified 98 different genes which engage in greater or lesser extent on the amount of phenol employed.
In addition to the goodness and wholesomeness this is another reason to enjoy the Italian extra-virgin olive oil!

The sweet side of the olive oil

The extra virgin olive oil is healthy and tasty oil. The 'liquid gold "is in fact rich in polyphenols, vitamins and carotenoids. It protects against free radicals and aging skin, decreasing the level of blood cholesterol and aiding the digestion.
Contrary to popular thinking, it is not a calorific food, a teaspoon contains only 90 calories!
Extra virgin olive oil is used in the preparation of savory food but it is also irreplaceable in cakes recipes, giving it softness and crispness extra touch. It is an excellent substitute for the butter!

Extra virgin Olive Oil cake

Ingredients:
3 eggs
250g. sugar
250g. flour
1 cup of yogurt
1 packet of baking powder
1 peel lemon grated
Fill the jar of yogurt to ¾ of extra virgin olive oil

Procedure:
Beat the eggs with the sugar and with the grated lemon. When these are well blended add the yogurt, the extra virgin olive oil and the packet of baking powder.
Bake at 180 degrees in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes.

National Award Hercules Olivario

The "Hercules Olivario" was born at the beginning of the 90s in a climate of skepticism when he was still growing olives in Italy was not a source of income for producers and aims to reward the quality of extra virgin olive oil. The objective of the National Award Hercules Olivario is precisely to enhance the quality olive oil emphasizing its nature as a distinctive feature of the Italian countryside and at the same time typical product of Italian agri-food sector. The competition will take place in Umbria 22 to 27 March 2010 and may only participate growers producing their own oil, oil and producer organizations, such as consortia, cooperatives and business networks, and finally to the subject's system of checks with certification of designation of origin on their area of origin. During the final day of the National Jury Prize finalists selected sampling oils from each region and then deliver the certificate of participation and the small temple of Hercules Olivario to the winners of the regional selections. In 2006 the Sorrentolio, that produces the best italian oil, has obtained the certificate as the final producer. The last day at the Teatro di Spoleto held a ceremony to announce the winners of the contest: the best package in terms of aesthetics and the information content of oil samples win Prize Amphora Olearia, also be awarded the first two classified in categories of light , medium and intense fruit oil.

Delight yourself whit the olive oil!

The olive oil is an healthy and genuine food that has a prominent place in the Mediterranean diet. Its colture has ancient origins; so much as Homer called it “liquid gold “for its preciousness.
It is a simple but rich in essential elements food. It was cultivated starting from the beginning of the fifth century B.C., in the east of Mediterranean area, to moving through West and through the Mediterranean basin. In the first century B.C. Plinious affirmed that the Italian olive oil was the best of the Mediterranean”.
The different olive oil typologies are distinguished on the basis of the olives pressing processes, if they are virgin or obtained from chemical and physical processes. An olive oil can be defined as “virgin” only if mechanical methods are used for its squeezing outs.
Needless to say that the final olive oil taste depends from various factors, such as olive harvest method and the fruit ripeness degree, but the most important factor is represented from the origin olive place. Mainly this last factor is the main principal way to characterize the olive oil and that has made of Sorrento and the Sorrentine Peninsula famous in all over the world.
It is really in the Surrentine Peninsula, precisely in Sant’Agnello, that the Gargiulo family, produces, whit engagement and commitment, from about one hundreds of years, extra-virgin olive oil. In the 70s Gargiulo’s family founded the Sorrentolio society. Initially it exercised only the oil mill activity, to expand later the extra-virgin olive oil packaging and commercialization. To keep walking with the times the Sorrentolio society has transformed itself in an e-commerce, able to offer you one of the most famous Sorrentine Peninsula product directly from your home whit just a click away! In addition to the traditional olive oil Sorrentolio also offers spices aromatized oil, orange or lemon aromatized oil, d.o.p. olive oil and biological oil. In short, Sorrentolio offers a range of products that can satisfied even the finest and demanding palates!Buying on line Gargiulo oil is easy, fast and convenient, moreover Gargiulo oil offers also elegant gift-boxes, to bring on the table the Sorrento’s tastes, directly from the producer to the consumer! Taste also the aromatized white or black truffles oils to delight your palate.
How can you resist to the mill flavors such as honey, vegetables in oil or syrup fruit? For all the gourmets Olio Gargiulo offers many ideas, to gift someone or to yourself! Please yourself whit Sorrento flavors!

Extra virgin olive oil: guardian health

In 1952, the American physiologist Ancel Keys during a trip to the south of Italy noted that diet in Naples was low in fat and that only rich people suffered heart attacks." He called this regime "Mediterranean diet". In fact, the Mediterranean diet is devoid of animal fats such as butter, lard and animal fats invisible olive oil, representing almost the only seasoning and it is an essential and indispensable ingredient. Since then he began to study the beneficial effects of olive oil.The healthy qualities of the oil were already known in antiquity and Galen prescribed to treat the "evils of stomach," while others indicated as the treatment of stomach ailments, skin diseases and as an ointment. For years now, nutritionists recommend to prefer the extra virgin olive oil to the seed or animal fats. Being rich in unsaturated fatty acids increases the colestorolo good and maintains a low level of bad colestorolo thus exerting a preventive action for cardiovascular disease and alteriosclerosi.The extra virgin olive oil also contains a number of antioxidant and unsaponifiables substances that slow down the aging process, improve the intestinal absorption of calcium and play a protective action on 'digestive system. Finally thanks to the presence of vitamin E treatment inflammatory diseases, particularly rheumatic diseases.In short, the oil is a healthy irreplaceable as a nutrient in our diet and our table as a condiment for its organoleptic characteristics. Preferably be consumed raw to preserve its elements intact, but may be taken with sauces or fried, and how food is always preferable to seed oils or animal fats.

Oil's Sommelier

Not everyone knows that in addition to the wine sommelier there's olive oil sommelier. Yes the organoleptic analysis is divided into three phases: visual, olfactory and gustatory. Through the visual inspection is possible to appreciate characters such as density, clarity and color. With the sniff test, demonstrate the intensity of the smells and the peculiarities related to single cultivar, with hints that can range from fruity to herbal to floral to spicy and complex. The Taste defines the intensity of flavor, structure, and additional awards. The final points-determinants of the combination are connected with the balance, the mouth and final state of evolution. The balance, as for wine, is given by the balance between the hard parts (determined among others by the pleasurable sensations of bitter and spicy) and soft, and it is very important to evaluate the possible presence of imbalances to note the hard or soft purpose of more accurate matching with food. The fruity oil, light, you can combine dishes simple, uncomplicated, like steamed fish, fried, garlic bread, soup of rice and pasta and beans, cooked vegetables. The oils most incisive, bitter, with awards of artichoke or walnut, are perfect for seasoning fish or grilled meats, fish soups, salads, vegetables. Spicy or bitter oils are suitable for preparing very tasty and rich in complexity, meat, tuna, pizza and focaccia.

Campania: land of oil DOP

In Campania, the fourth Italian olive-growing region for quantity and sixth for olive grove area, introduction of olive cultivation is dated thousands of years: the work of spreading is the most conspicuous of this plant is attributed to the Phoenicians and the Greeks ports in all not colonized territories and not only for producing oil for food but also for obtaining unguents and perfumes, or to be burned in homage to the deity. It is in Campania that the olive tree has found its ideal habitat, characterized by a limited annual rainfall, hot summers and dry winters tempered by intense light, often from volcanic soils, permeable and well ventilated.


Campania's Olive is very diverse in different areas of cultivation. There are many environments, as many oils are produced each with its history and its peculiar, and more and more manufacturers are committed to promote, through the DOP the use of innovative techniques, aimed at improving product quality, the unique resources, history and tradition. The Dop of Campania are 5 , of which three "Sorrento Peninsula", "Cilento", and "Colline Salernitane", recognized by the CE and the two "Colline Beneventane" and "Sannio Caudino Telesino" approved by MiPAF. Taste the olive oil dop and understand the difference.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: fat better?

According false rumors Extra Virgin Olive Oil is an enemy of the heavy diet, but relying on the opinion of experts discovers that it is not. In fact, as the prof. Galvano, nutritionist and professor of nutritional science at the University of Catania, "the italian extra virgin olive oil for its nutritional and organoleptic characteristics is probably the best of the fat that nature gives us."

One peculiarity is the presence of polyphenols, compounds that in addition to being powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory have important organoleptic properties and consequently protective properties. The extra virgin olive oil, in fact, has "a preventive effect against many chronic degenerative diseases, including cardiovascular disease and some cancers."

"This oil stings me in the throat". The sensation of hot, not to be confused with the acidity, is a valuable parameter for evaluating the sensory quality of ' olive oil and is given by the polyphenols. Addition, the extra virgin is the presence of monounsaturated fatty acids which reduce the so-called bad cholesterol and increase good one.


So do not delete the extra virgin olive oil from your diet because in the right amounts is a friend and not an enemy.

Old Oil New Wine

A famous proverb says new oil, old wine: unlike wine aging becomes better, the oil is more flavorful when young. The olive harvest takes place between late October and early November, the olives are then taken to the mill for pressing, and so you get the 'new oil. The freshly-pressed oil has a bitter taste, a slightly spicy flavor, an intense aroma and a yellow / green colour. The best way to taste new oil is on the bread: there is just the rite of bread and new oil, new oil and bread. Over the following months, the flavor begins to be more gentle, their nutritional qualities but still fruity loses its intensity, which means that began the process of oxidation and that within a few months the oil will change the structure . The Act states that ' olive oil should be consumed preferably within 18 months after bottling, but in reality after two years is still edible but loses flavor and color, and after three years is no longer advisable. Sample a bruschetta with ' extra virgin olive oil again and don't forget the unmistakable flavor.

The extra virgin olive oil and the real Neapolitan pizza

King of the Mediterranean diet olive oil has an undisputed nutritional value besides being a tasty topping for our dishes and it's one of the essential ingredients if you want to taste the real Neapolitan pizza. The European Committee for geographical indications, protected designations of origin and specialty products, has determined that the real Neapolitan pizza will be protected from the EU against imitations and fakes. In other words, the Neapolitan pizza has obtained European recognition of the traditional specialty guaranteed (TSG) and is important because in the middle of the Italian pizza using ingredients imported from abroad. TSG Neapolitan pizza, as established by the Coldiretti, "will have among its essential ingredients tomato, mozzarella TSG, extra virgin olive oil and oregano and have a diameter not exceeding 35 cm, the cornice of 1 to 2 cm and a consistency with soft, elastic and easily foldable". This will avoid the risk of eating a pizza made with tomato Chinese, Ukrainian or Canadian flour and Tunisian or Spanish olive oil.

Olive Oil Dop Sorrento Peninsula: history and production

Olive oil , the main cooking oil in countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, takes on different characteristics depending on the area of production.


The Sorrento Peninsula is characterized by climate mediteranneum, from volcanic soil, from traditional terraces, all right conditions for the cultivation of olive trees dating back to ancient times. Punta Campanella was dominated by a temple sacred to the goddess Minerva and the pilgrims bought the oil on the spot to make it available to the deity who already was considered by the Greeks invented the olives and oil. They are in 13 countries in the Sorrento Peninsula and of "Monti Lattari", and the island of Capri, to be the area of production and work ' olive oil DOP of the Sorrento peninsula. The olive harvest in olive groves, which extend on terraces sloping down towards the sea, is strictly by hand and must be made no later than 31 December each year. Milling, however, must be made no later than the second day of collection. The oil, which thus obtains, has a color from green to straw yellow, more or less intense, a smell of fruity olive oil and herbs and a sweet taste with a slight feeling of bitter and spicy. In addition to the renowned extra virgin olive oil dop you can buy delicious varieties: lemon olive oil of Sorrento, spicy oil, truffle oil.

The old tradition of olive oil in South Italy

The tradition of olive oil in Sicily and Italy throughout the South has its roots in myth: It is said that the settlers of Magna Graecia were used to bring a gift to the goddess Athena amphorae filled with olive oil. The land of Campani and the rest of the South is ideally suited to the cultivation of olives. In the following centuries olive oil has remained the cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet, for its extraordinary organoleptic properties.


The oil of South Italy has become famous worldwide for his goodness and wholesomeness, keeps intact over the centuries, bringing forward the ancient methods of collecting and crushing. In Sicily, Puglia and Campania, the oil is still collected by hand, using long wooden stairs to reach the highest branches of olive trees. This allows the fruit to harvest the olives for their integrity and purity, avoiding contamination with other items that may be present in the ground and would make the smell unpleasant. Very important is the method of storage of olive oil, which must be stored in special boxes areata. The olives must then be subjected to crushing by a maximum of 24 hours of collection to preserve intact their purity. That said, it is clear that there are many mills capable of providing an industrial process, however, reflect the standards of tradition. That's why the South Italy, and not only in Sicily, is a widespread tradition of "buying oil from the farmer." But today you can buy olive oil on-line, assuring the same genuineness of the oil of the peasant.


Oil is produced Gargiulo skillfully combining old and new technologies, the result is a fragrant oil, ideal accompaniment to traditional recipes. Sorrento Oil on the site, dedicated to the online sale of oil, you can buy extra virgin olive oil, olive oil DOP and many other varieties of citrus oil as the oil of Sorrento, the truffle oil, oil with garlic and many other varieties, all to discover to enrich the best Mediterranean recipes.

The italian olive oil: the base of Mediterranean diet

Who says olive oil is the enemy of health and fitness? At the base of


Mediterranean Diet, dietary pattern of most industrial countries, there is precisely the ' extra virgin olive oil that being rich in natural antioxidants slows the aging process of cells and also plays a protective role for our organization.


And not only! The olive oil is known as the most digestible of fats, As characterized by 75% from monounsaturated fat, and 9% from polyunsaturated fat ones to avoid a health-conscious diet and body. The monounsaturated instead stimulate the production of bile and aid digestion by increasing the immune system.


So many reasons to enjoy the olive oil: stimulates metabolism, promotes digestion, prevents cardiovascular disease, eliminate toxins and prevents skin dehydration


So we should not feel guilty if one wants to a good bruschetta topped with olive oil virgin and fresh tomatoes. And for those who are not satisfied with the lemon oil , truffle or spicy oil with the taste for novelty that makes them even more good.


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