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Maria Carla Squeo
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Of oil and other condiments. For the palate & the mind
An original, unusual way of telling the story, from every point of view, of an as yet unexplored world
The mill and the sea
Many may find the mill/sea association unusual and probably a bit pushed too. Yet, it has wellestablished sense and history in southern Italy. Many of those who made a living fishing in hot months of the year had to find different jobs in autumn and winter
Mills of Italy
During the climax of olives harvesting there are many gathering opportunities in mills, even though these places can actually be used every day of the year, with several original initiatives
A Blending Experience
In other words, when everyone, consumers and professionals alike, has the chance to create their own blend, enabling them to become familiar not only with the different oils available on the market but also to go home with their own extra-virgin olive oil, crafted according to their own personal taste
Mills are agoras
If olive groves are considered as the core of everything, as no olives and consequently no olive oil can be obtained without olive trees, mills are certainly no less, as they are universally recognized as the place where everything takes place. Olive pressing indeed gives us the long-awaited […]
The WOOE’s success
“The 7th World Olive Oil Exhibition tends to be the Fair’s consolidation as the world’s reference for olive oil. The Gourmet Area – claims José Luis Murcia, the executive director of the exhibition – is an invaluable asset because it allows us to widen the gastronomic possibilities offered by such a delightful and versatile product as the olive oil. The trade – adds Murcia answering to our interview – is always the key objective of the Wooe, which concentrates its work on increasing business contacts among purchasers and sellers”
2018 Le Forme dell’Olio Contest: Awards
Winners of the different categories of the fifth edition of the olive oil packaging and visual design contest have been decreed. Among categories appear “gift packaging”, “retail oils” and, for the very first time, “travel oils”. Beauty and functionality have played the lion’s share, leading to a number of special awards and commendations. Overall, the quality of containers has significantly grown. Even ways to present and tell the story of oil and of companies have remarkably improved. The Le Forme dell’Olio Award aims at paying tribute and awarding the most innovative and bravest companies
The mill is Fico
There is an original and unusual thematic space centred on extra virgin olive oil in Bologna. What is Fico? It is not only something very very cool, but also the acronym of Fabbrica Italiana Contadina (Italian Farming Factory). Indeed, there is a dedicated area, called "Ulivo Bistrot”, where olives are milled to extract oil, which is immediately packed and sold to those who want to purchase it
Christmas at the Mill
On Christmas Day, December 25th, especially in the past, when olives harvesting lasted until January or longer, olive oil mills were in the middle of oil production and often celebrated while working 24/7, uninterruptedly. Some olive oil mills still work on Christmas Day and people can still make a toast with friends, exactly the way they used to do in the past, sometimes with bruschetta seasoned with freshly-pressed oil
A postmark for Pantaleo oil
The most attentive collectors managed to get the special edition of a stamp cancellation celebrating the “Selezione Oro” bottle of the well-known oil producing company from Fasano, Apulia, including a postcard illustrated by artist Doriano Strologo
OOF 2018 is getting closer
I am a tree. This is the main theme of the seventh edition of Olio Officina Festival, which will be held from 1st to 3rd February 2018, once again, in the halls of Milan historic Palazzo delle Stelline. The postcard and poster have been designed by artist Doriano Strologo, from the Italian region of Marche
Immaculate labels
Innovation. In the era of visual and tactile communication, Arconvert provides the most effective materials to trigger stimuli and emotions, depending on the relevant target. Interview with marketing manager Chiara Tomasi
New ways to communicate
For years, extra virgin olive oil bottles have been austere, but they have slowly and progressively changed, so much that they have reached the segment of luxury, as high fashion has done
Great expectations for the WOOE
Special report on the WOOE. On March 29th and 30th, Madrid will host the sixth World Olive Oil Exhibition. An event devoted to premium olive oils, with the most illustrious representatives of the oil-making art world-wide. A festival open to every enterprise, large and small
An exciting oil from Coratina olives
Not all extra virgin oils made from Coratina olives can be placed at the same level. Corona delle Puglie, made by Covan, an olive mill in Andria producing Terra di Bari – Castel del Monte PDO oils, is the proof that single-varietal oils obtained from the most renowned and popular olive cultivar grown in Italy can be strikingly different and original. Here are three oils with different degrees of fruitiness
The olives on the market
Many are the types of olives lining the supermarket shelves or on sale in the stands and stalls of country markets. They come in all shapes and sizes: cured, uncured, dehydrated, dried, black and so-called special olives
Tips for using flavoured oils
Flavoured and infused extra virgin olive oils are all the rage now, but at the end of the day, do we really know how to use them? How can we get the most out of them, so that our dishes become pure, dazzling pleasure?
The future of oil
The fifth Olio Officina Festival, taking place in Milan from January 21 to 23, will be avant-garde. Being avant-garde means being at the forefront, in front of everybody before anybody else, hence becoming a guide and leader. Often we fear the unknown, but as we should all know, the future provides nourishment for tradition. Among the novelties of next year’s festival there is a sector devoted to books on gastronomy, agriculture and the environment
The 2016 Olio Officina Festival
The first of many postcards that will be issued from now until next January, to promote this great event. We are getting ready for the fifth edition of the festival, and many are its novelties: the theme (Avant-garde: the oil of the future), the logo, more modern and stylized, and the elimination of the word “Food” from the name of the festival
A holistic view of oil
Nourishment for the body and soul. We tend to consider olive oil as something we use with our food. But it is not so: oil can change our approach to life
Notes of flowers, apple and artichoke
Italian oils. Made from Bosana and Semidana olives, Domenico and Pasquale Manca’s “San Giuliano” Sardinia PDO oil is one of the best examples of the extra virgin oils produced on this island
Unprepared
Exactly: we have been caught off guard. We are incapable of dealing with all the problems that have been plaguing Europe for a number of years now, the countless migrants reaching our shores and the hundreds, if not thousands of deaths at sea, which continue to fill us […]
Olive oil seen as never before
The fourth Olio Officina Food Festival has just ended and already the organizers are working on next year’s edition, which will take place in Milan from January 21 to 23, 2016. The theme chosen is the future, hence the name “Avant-garde, the oil of the future and the future of oil”
Morocco’s olive oil
Morocco was the “Country of honour” at the fourth Olio Officina Food Festival. It has adopted some very effective policies, and is now launching excellent olive oils on the international market
Oil-tasting in ten steps
The basics of oil tasting. If you wish to assess an extra virgin olive oil with the aid of your sense organs, you must observe a few, essential rules. There is in fact a ten-step procedure that we should follow in order to discern the quality and peculiarities of oils made from olives
The fats to avoid
What fats should never be used for frying? Our choice of oil is often dictated by habit, and we risk using products that are not suitable for cooking at high temperatures. Many believe that when it comes to frying, all fats are the same, but it is not so.
Milan, capital city of oil
What's going to happen at the next Olio Officina Food Festival, which will be held in the year of the Expo? This meeting will take place at the Palazzo delle Stelline in Milan, Italy, from January 22 to 24, 2015. A vast and remarkable array of events, some of which are presented below, before the more detailed, official programme is released.
Olive oil, the most digestible of oils
Exactly: extra-virgin olive oil is the most digestible of dietary fats. We should keep this in mind when choosing what to use for cooking or dressing our food. Many consumers however are often unaware of this undisputable fact.
A fine, delicate oil with a personality
“Il Roccolo”, a Garda PDO oil produced by Andrea Bertazzi, has a light fruity flavour that reveals its composition, a blend of Casaliva, Leccino, Pendolino and Moraiolo olives.
Working in the oil sector
Two roles are usually acknowledged, namely those played by the farmer and the miller. These are indeed two key professions in the field of oil, but they are not the only ones. Of equal importance are the agronomist, the agriculturalist and the agro-technician. And what about the food technologist? Finally there is the oil specialist, who may encompass all these professions or be specialized in only one of them.
The Mediterrean heart of olive oil
It ended in Morocco, after three days entirely devoted to olive growing and olive oil processing technology, the seventh edition of the Olive tree Mediterrean Days in Meknès, organized by Agro-pôle Olivier, the Ecole Nationale d'Agriculture de Meknes, in collaboration with the International University of Andalusia. The initiative highlighted all the innovations, as well as the most recent projects, in olive oil sector.
Oil nourishes love
It's a revolution in the language, which calls into question the idea that each of us has of olive oil. A syncretism of languages and styles that is renovating the entire sector, spurring us to reconsider and reassess the role of extra virgin olive oil
100% Grignano olives
An extra virgin oil made only with Grignano olives. This single-variety oil deserves to be better known: it is made from olives grown in Nesente Valpantena, a village near Verona famous for the quality of its crops. The producers are Giovanni Salvagno and his family.