Olive Oil-Lemon Cake
Europe on a Plate - Fourth Course
Some questions are easy to answer. Of course, we wanted to see how the family produced the olive oil. We had tried it, and it was very good. Organic, too. It's one of the benefits of staying in what the Italians call an agriturismo: a holiday home on a farm. In this case, a farm with olive trees in the southern part of Tuscany.
We learned that after careful picking, the olives were pressed to squeeze out the first oil. This is a mechanical process using only pressure. It yields what is known as extra virgin olive oil, used from the Iberian peninsula to the Dodecanese islands. It is said to play an important role in the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet. That has to do with the fatty acids in it that help reduce cholesterol, as long as it is not used in cooking at high temperatures for a longer time.
Anyway, back to the pressing. In our agriturismo, they only did the first pressing. The result is a delicious oil and a disc of pressed olives. These discs are sold on to factories that use them to produce more olive oil. For that, the discs are heated and pressed again to get the second yield of olive oil. This is a different quality than the extra virgin olive oil, and is better for use at higher temperatures, although the health benefits are not the same anymore. Finally, the pulp that comes out of this process as a by-product, is treated with chemical solvents to extract the final bit of oil know as pomace. This is the lowest quality and basically a waste product. Maybe best used as fuel for lamps.
Speaking of which, olive oil is not just good food, it also is said to have great skin care applications, and is used in soaps and creams and so on. I once visited a little factory-with-shop on the Greek island of Crete that uses olive oil as one of their main ingredients, but there are probably many more like that.
Most obviously you will find olive oil as dressing on your plate. It brings taste and a beautiful golden-green colour to dishes. For example on an insalata caprese. But did you know you can also use it to replace butter when baking cakes? It keeps the cake moister, adds a taste dimension and the fats from the oil are better for you than the fats from butter. I made a cake for this course of the Europe on a Plate series, as you can see in the picture. An olive oil-lemon cake. It was quite good.
How do you use olive oil?
This post is part four in the series Europe on a Plate, in which I try to show how our food connects us Europeans. The menu so far:
First course: blue cheese and pickles sandwich
Second course: veal ragout
Third course: asparagus
If you have suggestions for a dish (or ingredient), let me know in the comments!
I like mixing olive oil, with a little balsamic vinegar and Parmesan cheese, and use it as a dip for various breads.