I want to thank those of you that are Voyaging with us into the Italian Lifestyle. There have been thousands stopping by each and every day... we appreciate it. Mille grazie!

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Lisa and I have always loved the Godfather series of films. It's Shakespearean in its characters and has all the same pathos, murder, mayhem, family jealousies and political posturing as the old I Claudius  series about Roman Emperors on BBC and PBS years ago. But one thing had always bothered me... the out of sync chronological order of the plot line between Godfather and Godfather Part II. We don't get to know how young Vito dealt with his early life until Godfather II.

Back in 1977, NBC aired a 4 night mini-series called The Godfather Saga that addressed this problem.... putting the scenes in chronological order. The film starts with young Vito as a boy in Sicily in 1902 and moves the story along seamlessly until 1959. I loved that series but was never able to find it on videotape or disc.

Well, HBO has done something very special in offering The Godfather Epic, a 7 hour version which combines Godfather and Godfather Part II--chronologically.  As a bonus, there also "additional material" included in this release. I can't wait.

I've already kicked my HD Tivo unit into gear to record the show, with its second airing on normal HBO channels this weekend, but both HBO Go and HBO Now are making a new streaming offer (press releases are saying it's an "offer you can't refuse", but I won't go there.)

The Epic has already aired on HBO on Jan. 17, but is being shown again on Saturday, January 23rd at 9pm on HBO. Now, I'm not sure if it's the original version aired on NBC years ago, but on Friday night, January 29th at 9pm, HBOZ is showing The Godfather Saga. Since a 7 hour HD recording takes up a lot of hard drive space on my Tivo unit, I'll only record the Epic version. I wonder if they are much different anyway. Supposedly, Epic is remastered and re-edited with those additional scenes so perhaps the Saga is really the older, 1977 version.  In my opinion, either one is a better way to watch the Godfather story told in both films.

So, here's my challenge: Set aside 424 minutes this Saturday night (or Friday, if you're Saga-inclined) and see if you can make it all the way through the showing in one sitting. I have a feeling that many of you have honed your tolerance by binge watching multiple episodes of your favorite streaming shows anyway...

Afterwards, let us know what you thought about it!

--Jerry (Sleeps with the Dishes) Finzi



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If you want to get a good feel for what Rome looked like about 2000 years ago, check out this wonderful animation with architectural recreations of the city... some things look remarkably like the Rome of today while other things will surprise and delight you. Click the video to travel back in time...

This month, Bloomberg Rankings rated Italy as the second healthiest country in the world and the top ranked country for health in all of Europe. This health score is based on a multitude of things: mortality rates, number of people smoking, percentage of immunizations, percentage of population with healthcare, healthcare efficiency, healthcare satisfaction and life expectancy.

As it turns out, Italy has one of the most efficient healthcare systems in the world... they came in third for this ranking. And believe it or not, the Italian universal healthcare system has actually been getting better and better from year to year.

After World War II Italy reestablished its social security system including a social health insurance administered by "sickness funds". In the 1970s, the sickness funds nearly went bankrupt. In 1978, the government established the SSN (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale), the Italian version of a National Health Service, funded by taxes and including universal coverage--providing healthcare to all citizens and residents by a mixed public-private system. The public part is the national health service, Sistema Sanitario Nazionale (SSN), under the Ministry of Health, but administered by each region.Family doctors are entirely paid by the SSN, must offer visiting time at least five days a week and have a maximum limit of 1500 patients. Patients can choose their own doctor.

Prescription drugs are prescribed by the family doctor and are mostly paid for by the SSN with the patient paying only varied copay, depending on the drug and the patient's income. In most regions, poor people receive drugs for free. If a specialist or diagnostic tests are prescribed by their family doctor, the copay is only about $40 for most--once again, the poor pay nothing. Waiting times for specialists can be anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months, depending on the facility.

Surgeries and hospitalization provided by the public or private hospitals are completely free of charge for everyone, regardless of the income. For elective surgeries the waiting times can be several months in the big city centers.

Emergency services in Italy are provided by both volunteer and private EMS type services. You can receive emergency service in Italy by dialing 118. Ambulances and treatment are free. General first aid is provided by all the public hospitals and completely free of charge for everyone, citizens, vacationers, even illegal and undocumented immigrants. If the emergency is non-life threatening, a copay is required.

In the poorer South, some state ospedali (hospitals), can be considered substandard by U.S. standards. Italian state hospital rooms normally have three to six beds and have no TV or phone. This situation is slowly improving however, as southern regions get a bigger and bigger share of the Italian economic pie.

As good as the Italian healthcare system is, the most common complaint is the long lines and waiting times for special tests and seeing specialists. Most seem very satisfied with the actual care they receive from their doctors and the universal aspect of the system.

(Click HERE for a great Tripadvisor thread on one person's experience with Italian Hostpitals)

Other Reasons Italians are Healthier
Of course, one of the main reasons for Italians staying so healthy is the way they eat. There is the Mediterranean diet itself, fish, fresh vegetables, fruit and the use of olive oil in cooking. Meats in Italy are not eaten in large quantities as in the U.S. and the amount of fat in the meats they prefer is also less. Meat is eaten as a separate course in smaller quantities, if at all. Lean pork is popular.

Alcoholic beverages are typically drunk with meals and binge drinking is not a socially acceptable concept (although the young are going to clubs and bars more and more). And of course, there's the health benefits many studies have attributed to drinking a moderate amount of red wine in one's diet. In general, the Mediterranean Diet, especially with its use of olive oil (a mono-unsaturated fat) over butter, is considered Heart Healthy by most studies. People who use olive oil tend to have a lower risk factor of both heart attacks and strokes. Another healthy component in the Italian diet is garlic... and not just to keep vampires away. Garlic lowers the chance of heart disease, lowers blood pressure and prevents strokes. It also is very high in antioxidants, considered to aide in the prevention of Alzheimer's disease. 

Even pasta and pizza are eaten differently in Italy. Italians eat simple pizzas with healthier toppings--not overloaded like American pizzas. Pasta is not served in large servings as in the States, either. As important for relieving stress in life, most families in Italy eat the family meal together--at the same time. Perhaps this promotes a feeling of well being and affords a sense of comfort to la famiglia. 

One more reason why Italians might be living longer is the inherent exercise in their daily routines. Many Italians in towns throughout Italy take a walk after dinner, usually with their family members and children... the Passeggiata. Communing with neighbors and relatives while talking a leisurely stroll through town adds to one's well being.

In addition, the number of hills and steps the average Italian has to negotiate in their daily lives is much more than in the U.S. Most towns were built in an era of feudal warfare, causing them to be built on top of hills and cliffs for protection of their community. This means that most towns are very hilly and have thousands of steps and inclines. It amazed me whenever I saw octogenarians  with canes going to the local alimentari to do their daily shopping. Exercise is something they get, whether they plan on it or not. During my three week Voyage though Italy, I lost 18 pounds, even though I felt like I was eating everything in sight...

Consider this old Italian saying... La salute prima di tutto! - Health is first of all!

--Jerry Finzi

You might also be interested in this GVI article:
Emma Morano: Europe's Oldest Person is 116 Years Old!

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The Trinacria (or triskelion) is recognizable to every Sicilian and Sicilian-American. The ancient symbol represents the three sided island at the tip of Italy's boot (sorry for the metaphor). The word, from the Greek, means triangle and refers to the shape of Sicilia-- referred to by the ancients as the Star with Three Points. The three bent running legs represent the three capes of Sicily, Peloro , Passero and Lilibeo--all creating the points of the triangular island.

The three legs, like the beautiful legs of a woman,  are said to symbolize the three coastlines of white, sensual, sandy beaches that run along all three coastlines (nearly 1500 miles of beaches!) Perseus, after cutting off the snaked head of Medusa, gave the head to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. In the Trinacria, just as on Athena's shield, the head of Medusa wards off any invaders, lest they be turned into stone.  The three leafy flourishes intermingled with the legs represent the fertility of Sicily--stalks of wheat. At one time, Sicily was the bread basket of the Roman Empire.

Historians tell us that Spartan fighters carved a white leg bent at the knee (a symbol of strength) onto their shields. So perhaps there is also another meaning to the legs. Some say the legs are running while others say the legs are spinning.

The Trinacria has been on the Sicilian flag since 1943, when Andrea Finocchiaro Aprile lead an independence movement with the allies. After WWII, it was officially used in the design of Sicilian flag when the Republic of Italy recognized Sicily as an autonomous region.


The use of the Trinacria is much more ancient, however.... it appeared on Syracusan coins from the 4th century BC.

Just like the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, I'll prove to you that the word "Trinacria" is Greek: Homer, in the Odyssey, writing about Sicily's triangular shape used the the Greek word Thrinakie, which comes from the Greek thrinax (three peaks). This proves origins of the Trinacria is in ancient Greece. OK, enough the film's ideas from a Greek Dad. (Next I'll be telling you how spraying Windex on a pimple clears it right up!) The origin of Trinacria is more widespread and complex than that.  

The Trinacria's shape is often referred to as a triskelion; this shape can be found in many places among the general Mediterranean Basin region and in many European countries like France, Sicily, Crete, Greece, the North African coast, and the Isle of Man.  Celtics use a similar shape in their coins and decorative motifs. Ancient coins depicting Trinacria were found in present day Turkey. The symbol has also been found on many ancient Greek ceramics... in southern Italy and Sicily. Keep in mind that Sicily, along with Italy, was once part of ancient Greece. Some triskelions found in these locations date from as early as the eighth century BC. A modern day triskelion from the 1950s appears in that little plastic insert adapter needed to play large hole 45 rpm records on a thin spindled turntable.

Although the Trinacria appeared on coins and other archaeological artifacts in Mediterranean cultures for thousands of years, the Isle of Man has been using the symbol in an official capacity long before Sicilians.

The Normans arriving in Sicily in 1072, borrowed and modified the design of the the Trinacria and brought it back to the Isle of Man, and since 1270 used it to replace the Viking ship on their previous flag. Their similar three legs wear armor and the boots have spurs, but Medusa and the wheat are missing. The Latin motto surrounding the Trinacria on the Royal coat of arms for the Isle of Man reads, “Quocunque Jeceris Stabit”--“Whichever way you throw, it will stand”.

The true origins of the Trinacria are debated because of it's widespread use in some form or another in the ancient world. But there is no argument that this strange looking symbol has become emblazoned on the hearts and minds of every Sicilian.

Here's a little music video with cheery Sicilian music and a showcase of Trinacria of all types...

--Jerry Finzi

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Way back when my son, Lucas was in Kindergarten (he's 12 now), one of his projects was to learn about the environment and to "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle"--the Three Rs they called it. Ever since then, we have been recycling plastics, glass, metal and papers. Each week our large trash bin is nearly empty, but I'm constantly amazed at how full the recycling bin is. In fact, we are thinking of ordering the larger size bin from our recycling company. When you think about it, the landfill worthy trash we throw out can be very little when compared to the absolute glut of packaging that we bring into our homes each and every week: Cans, glass jars, plastic bottles, plastic jugs, cardboard boxes, plastic clam shells packs, milk containers, cereal boxes, foil containers...  and then there's Amazon deliveries with their over-sized cartons holding one or two small items!

We should stop and consider the multitude of packaging from things like pasta, rice, cereals, coffee, olive oil, cookies, dish detergent, laundry soap, window cleaner and more.  I used to be able to buy a large commercial size of Windex and would refill the same plastic spray bottle over and over. Lately I can't find large 2 gallon jugs of Windex anywhere and am forced to purchase the small spray bottle size once again. It's a shame... The two older Windex spray bottles have been refilled for over a decade!

To take it a step further, wouldn't it be great if we could just bring an empty container to a supermarket and refill my supply of Frosted Flakes, dish-washing liquid, olive oil or pasta? Well, you can.... in Italy and other countries...

 Zero-Packaging Shopping (also called Zero-Waste or Packaging-Free) is taking off in Italy and some other European countries. Customers bring their own empty containers to the stores to refill them from bulk dispensers. If you don't have a container, either they offer bins full of clean, recycled free containers or they offer new ones for a small fee. The consumer saves big bucks because the price of packaging--which can be a big chunk of the price--is gone. There's a lot of advertising and marketing dollars that we subsidize in all that packaging on the shelves of our supermarkets! Both smaller shops and larger supermarket chains are beginning to embrace this new green, pro-consumer concept. 

And you won't believe the range of products you can fill up on: pasta, candy, rice, cereal, cooking oils, soaps, cleaning products, detergents and yes, even wine! Picture the local upscale mall with it's bulk candy store where you buy priced by the weight and fill a bag--only the bins are much larger and the selection of what you can bulk up on includes just about anything you can buy in a bottle, box or bag. You buy only what you need--as much, or as little... For instance, instead of buying an expensive glass jar containing a bunch of vanilla beans or cinnamon sticks, you can buy just one one. Some of the stores even offer environmentally Greener services or are part of the Slow Food movement (the Local Food or Locavores movement) where most or all products come from local sources, drastically reducing the carbon footprint by lessening the carbon fuels needed for transportation in modern food supply chains.   

Here's a sampling of some Zero-Packaging stores:

Auchan
In Italy, Auchan is one of the largest of all supermarket chains and in 2004 added bulk products in dispensers to 48 of its stores throughout the country. They offer cereals, dried fruit, pasta and rice to detergents--a total of 800 products, including frozen foods, such as fish and vegetables. Customers purchase only the amount of product they need. Because these sales contain no packaging, it's estimated that Auchan alone keeps about 4,000,000 packages out of landfills every year--about 170 tons worth.

Negozio Leggero
Negozio Leggero has stores in many cities in Italy: Turin, Milan, Morbegno, Asti, Moncalieri, Rome and Novara. They offer rice, grains and cereals, pasta, eggs, and candy in bulk without packaging. The point of sale in Novara provides home delivery by bike. Moreover, all points of sale organize thematic courses and days dedicated to the world of food.

Crai Eco Point
Another large supermarket chain we saw in Italy, Crai's Eco Point chain, has 34 locations all over Italy. They offer bulk pasta, rice, cereals, legumes, dried fruit, coffee, spices, sweets and detergents, as well as pet food. Their efforts are saving an estimated 1,000,000 disposable packages each year.

Peso Netto
The Peso Netto (meaning, "Net Weight") store is located in Pesaro and reflects the “Zero Kilometres” and local food philosophy. You can find everything: fruits, vegetables, bread, oil, meat, wine and beer. All products sold are from local suppliers. The modern idea of packaging free combines with a feeling of shopping in an ols school local market.

Effecorta
Effecorta is a renowned store in the city of Milan. It is located outside the center because “we believe that Effecorta Milano should be a corner shop, where people can go to by bike or on foot”, the owners states. This point of sale offers home delivery by bike and it is furnished with bulk products, such as cereals, coffee, drinks and cosmetics. Points of sale are located in Capannori (the first one to be set up) and in Prato. 

Borgo Etico
Borgo Etico is a co-operative located in Cesena. It offers varied services, including a packaging-free supermarket. Over 900 products are sold, including vegan and gluten-free foods. All products come from a short supply chain and are sold with no packaging.

Bottega Origini
This is a local shop in Pavia, Liguria. The old style shop offers a lot besides its nostalgic charm, including wine and seasonal foods locally produced. The young, enthusiastic  people serving the customers are one of its benefits.

Bottega degli Sballati
This small shop opened in Ispra, Varese in 2013. It offers both bulk certified organic and Zero Kilometres foods. The origin is specified on every product, sometimes showing the pictures of who worked in the supply chain, such as farmers and artisans. It's got a strong following from the health and organic crowd.

Verdessenza
Translated, Verdessenza means Solid Green. The environmentally conscious owners strive to sell foods and other products with a low environmental impact. Even the materials used in the construction of the shop are "Green". Suppliers are selected depending on their ethical views on the environment with most products being certified organic, locally sourced and offered in bulk without packaging. "Bring your basket." They even offer bike tire repair kits and air pumps!

If you're a bit jealous and would like to see Zero-Packaging shops here in the U.S., keep an eye on Texas. There is already a store in Austin which that sells local and organic products, all Packaging-Free. It's called In.gredients the country's very first "package-free, zero waste grocery store". Mostly in the state of Arizona and in 2016 opening more stores across the U.S., there is Sprouts, a health conscious supermarket chain that offers over 300 products in its bulk bins. If the trend continues, perhaps you will see Zero-Packaging in a store near you! The benefits are many:

• Without packaging, the price is lowered for the consumer.
  
• Without packaging, much less plastics, glass, paper and metal go into landfills.
  
• Without packaging, there are less items that need to be recycled.
  
• Without packaging, you can buy only what you need--as little or as much.
  
• Without packaging, and buying only what you need, there is much less wasted food.
  
• Without packaging, you can be sure the products you buy are fresher.
  
• Without packaging, the cost of fuels to ship products to your local store is lessened.
  
• Without packaging, we can teach our children to make better buying decisions, based on quality and taste--not on flashy packages.
  

For the time being, the next time you're in Italy, bring your basket and see what you think of going au naturale...

--Jerry Finzi

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Ok, so maybe when I was a kid I was not exactly like other kids. I didn't really go for baseball or football. My Mother told me that I could draw long before I could talk. I was an artist and a sculptor my early life and then became a photographer. Art has always attracted me--good art, that is.

So what does this have to do with olive oil tins? Well, growing up we always bought our olive oils in metal, rectangular tin cans. Most of them had amazing beautiful graphics decorating them. Imagine that... the same thing that made my Mother's meatballs taste great, also had some dreamy, other worldly art on the outside of the tin. I couldn't resist. I loved the classical scenes or Old Italy, family crests and heralds, the fancy script fonts used in the words, the scroll work borders and those amazing, bold Italian colors. To me, the images spoke of far away places. Some of the artwork actually looked three dimensional to my young artist eyes... but I didn't know if they were popping out into my world or trying to pull me into theirs...

Here's a little sampling of some wonderful olive oil tins... Enjoy. 

--Jerry Finzi

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--Jerry Finzi

If you enjoyed this article, please SHARE it and LIKE it on your favorite social media site. Ciao!

We also have pages on:
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As a boy, olives were one of my favorite things. I especially loved black olives. I'd eat them at holidays, but I'd also have them for snacks. I loved black olives in the can mostly, but also loved those little green olives stuffed with little red sweet jewels of pepper. Then there were the special olives we'd get at the Italian deli--the wrinkled looking salty gems. Once in my awkward years of puberty when I had gained a bit too much weight, I fasted for two weeks doing yoga at the beach and eating nothing but black olives. It's no wonder they kept me alive (and allowed me to lose 22 pounds in 2 weeks)... they contain all the basics of life: fat (monounsaturated, the healthy stuff), sugars, protein, many vitamins and all sorts of minerals. Still today, olives are an important part of our pantry... we love them on pizza... of course, the pizza is also drizzled with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil...

Growing up in an Italian household, olive oil was King. Mom used it in her "Sunday Gravy", to fry meatballs and chicken, in salads... Dad fried his peppers and brains and liver in it. I can't remember a time when our kitchen pantry didn't have at least a few large, beautifully decorated rectangular cans of imported olive oil sitting inside the bottom cupboard.

Olives have a very long domesticated history going back over 6000 years. Humans didn't start to make olive oil until only 2500 years BC... it took about 1500 years for Man to figure out that pressing olives produced the nectar of the Gods--Olive Oil. The olive tree first was cultivated in the Middle East. From Greece it went to Spain in the 4th Century B.C. It was introduced to France around 650 B.C. and finally found its way to Italy around 550 B.C.

During the Renaissance, Italy became the largest producer of olive oil in the world, renowned for its rich and flavorful oils that graced the tables of nobles and royalty throughout Europe. In this same period, olive trees were brought to the new world, where the trees flourished in the California mild weather--a climate very similar to that of the Mediterranean. 

Early in history, olive oil was used for much more than cooking: lamp fuel, lubricant, to keep the body warm, perfumes, pharmaceutical ointments, anointing royalty and warriors, as a cleansing agent for the body and as a medium for long term food storage. Modern Palmolive soap was originally made from olive oil... it's even in the name! PalmOLIVE.

Cooking with olive oil began in the 5th century BC as talked about by Plato. Plato even taught his students under the canopy of an olive tree. The Roman historian Pliny wrote, "Except the vine, there is no plant which bears a fruit of as great importance as the olive." The Greek philosopher Democritus believed a diet of honey and olive oil would allow a man to live 100 years. Currently, the second oldest person in the world is Italian. (Click here to read about her) Perhaps there is some truth in that after all.

Is What We Buy Fake Extra Virgin?

If the recent 60 Minutes report entitled Agromafia is to be believed, the Mafia in Italy is taking cheap North African olive oil, sunflower or canola oil and modifying the oils to fake the taste of genuine Extra Virgin Olive oil. Some estimates say that up to 80% of all extra virgin olive oil sold in the US could fail to meet the standards of Extra Virgin olive oil. Italy has actually started investigations into seven of the country's largest olive oil producers for cutting their expensive exports with lesser oils.

There's lot's of money to be made by faking the real stuff... The best can sell for $50 per gallon, but a fake costs just seven dollars to make. The profits can be three times the profits made by dealing cocaine. More than 60 police officers make up a Task--or should I say--Taste Force to find, taste and stop the export of bogus oils.

Independent tests at the University of California found that 69% of all store-bought extra virgin olive oils in the US are probably fake. The following brands have been suspected of either trying to deceive consumers with deceptive wording on their packaging, or outright using lesser quality oils or blends and marketing them as Extra Virgin olive oil--shop carefully!

• Bertolli
• Carapelli
• Colavita
• Filippo Berio
• Mazzola
• Mezzetta
• Newman's Own
• Safeway
• Star
• Whole Foods
  
• Rachel Ray
  
• Safeway
  
• Pompeian
  
• Star
  
• Carapelli
  
• Mezzetta
  
• Mazzola
  

What?? We're being heated? Really? Say it isn't so Bertolli. Colavita? C'mon! Newman's Own? Oh... yea... he's dead and not watching over his brand anymore. In a world of shrinking candy bars and ice cream cartons could this really be happening? In a word... yes... and maybe no. You see, this report was a U.S. olive growers' sponsored report, so what it came up with has to be taken with a grain of salt. Of course they'd like to make Imported olive oils look worse than California oils.

The report form the University of California Davis Olive Center  (College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences) referenced an earlier report from April 2011 titled, "Evaluation of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Sold in California." This document provided the basis for the claim that 69% of store-bought olive oil is either fake or not made from olives.

The Olive Center's testing took place between 2008 and 2010 and examined whether oils labeled as "extra virgin" actually met the strict criteria required for that designation: 

"While there are many excellent imported and domestic extra virgin olive oils available in California, our findings indicate that the quality level of the largest imported brand names is inconsistent at best, and that most of the top selling olive oils we examined regularly failed to meet international standards for extra virgin olive oil."

"Extra virgin" is the top grade of olive oil according to standards established by the International Olive Council (IOC) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In addition to establishing chemistry standards for extra virgin olive oil, the IOC and USDA have established a sensory standard — the oil must have zero defects and greater than zero fruitiness."

While the tests in 2008 and 2010 revealed that many olive oils did not meet the criteria set by regulatory agencies for the "extra virgin" label, the testing did not determine that the oils were "fake" or not made from olives. The tested samples did not always meet the stringent extra-virgin standards for taste, aroma, and color, and the flavor profiles of some olive oils were likely overstated, but the samples were not oils produced from another source masquerading as olive oil, nor did the study raise concerns about purity, adulteration, safety, or substitution of various brands of olive oils.

Click HERE for the full report.

And Now for the Real Deal... How to tell if it's really Extra Virgin?

To start off, let's make one thing perfectly clear--light or extra light olive oil is just that--clear and light in color. It doesn't refer to calories. It refers to lack of color--and flavor. Extra virgin oil should be a strong color and flavor, and often has an opaque appearance. (See "cloudy olive oil" later in this article). This is because to be labeled Extra Virgin, an oil needs to be from the very first pressing. There are a lot of particulates that are in the first pressing that impart loads of flavor into the oil. Even when filtered, the micro-particles remain in Extra Virgin imparting more flavor. This first pressing is also commonly known as a "cold" pressing.

For Extra Virgin oil, you want the label to say "First Cold Pressed" to distinguish from oils (often sneakily labeled extra virgin) that are a heated pressing, where the mats are heated to pull more oil out of them. In fact, most later pressings are done using a heated pressing procedure. You have to be careful, though, because many larger producers add things to color and enhance the flavor of lesser quality oil.

Here's the bottom line:

• The word “first” refers to the olives being pressed on the first round of extraction.
• “Cold” refers to the olives being kept no higher than 81.9 °F
• “Pressed” refers to the method of extraction.
  

Unfiltered olive contains plant material in suspension along with micro-drops of vegetative and non-vegetative liquids forming a water-oil emulsion. As with other professional "studies", the studies of the effects of filtration on olive oil durability is controversial, with different studies coming to different conclusions. Still, some studies have found that unfiltered olive oil contains many chemical compounds that are healthier for us. It seems to be common sense that if you over-filter olives, you'll be removing some of what Nature put in their to benefit us. I can tell you from my own experience, the first time you taste an Extra Virgin olive oil that has some cloudiness to it, you'll more than likely be amazed at the different taste.  It's more fruity, less oily, can have herbal qualities and is something you never want to cook with, but instead want to top off bread, cheese, pasta and pizzas with it.

I just thought to mention here, that in Italy, no one puts olive oil in little plate the way Olive Garden (ugh) does... In Italy, the good oil goes on top of food. So, drizzle on your bread, don't dunk.

What is the Difference Between All Those Names?

The "pressed" method means that no heat or chemical additives were used to extract the oil from the olives, which can alter and destroy the flavor and aroma of the oil and that a centrifuge was not used. This does not mean that the oil was pressed in an antique wooden press--most pressed oils are done using modern presses. Without adding heat to the processing, the olive oil also retains its full nutritional value.

"Virgin" (without the word "Extra") olive oil has a slightly higher acidic level and does not meet the same requirements as "Extra Virgin" does.

Regular, or plainly labeled "olive oil" is a blend of slightly defective or low quality olives with much less flavor and color in the final oil produced.

"Light" olive oil has gone through even more processing techniques and contains little or no color or flavor. Once again, "Light" does not mean less calories. Oil is fat. Fat is high in calories. Period.

You also have to understand the basic culinary difference in the use of Extra Virgin versus other lesser grade olive oils. Extra Virgin oil is not used for cooking. It is used fresh... in salads, drizzled over pizza or steaks and pasta. You can drizzle it over crusty, toasted bread or cheese. Chefs use it to finish off a plate... to finish a soup or a stew. Extra Virgin olive oil has a very low smoke point... 320F as opposed to 420 degrees for a lesser graded olive oil. Basically, Extra Virgin burns too easily for cooking in.

Cooking Tip: If you are used to frying in olive oil, don't waste you're best Extra Virgin olive oil, but buy a higher quality "olive oil" grade to fry with... and to lower the smoke temperature, use half olive oil and half canola oil (a colorless, flavorless oil). You will have more success frying when using this olive/canola mix.

How Do I Find the Best Extra Virgin Oil?

To make sure you're really getting a high quality Extra Virgin oil, look at the labeling carefully. Check to see if it lists the region in Italy, not just that it was imported from Italy. Producers of high quality olive oil are proud of their regions and will definitely say where their oil originated. You should also see the harvest date somewhere... or in the least, an expiration date, but keep in mind, the oil might have been harvested a year before the expiration date. The next thing to look for is the type of olive the oil was made from. You want to see one cultivar of olive named... cheaper oils use a blend from many types--usually of lower quality--so they won't list all the cultivars used in the blend. You have to picture all the local olive growers bringing their olives to a regional production facility where their olives are graded and mixed with those of other growers. "Extra Virgin" from this type of operation will not be of high quality. 

If you look at the label on the supermarket brands you'll notice that most will saw "imported from Italy", but then list a bunch of letter codes for the countries the oil or olives came from. For instance, one Colavita Extra Virgin that I have in my pantry lists Italy, Greece and Spain as the countries where the oil came from, even though it says imported from Italy. And even though it lists "Extra Virgin Olive Oil" as the only ingredient, I can guarantee that this was not from a "first cold pressing"... the oil is clear and fairly flavorless. You have no idea if your "Imported from Italy" oil was grown and produced there, grown and bottled in another country but shipped from Italy, was grown in another country with the oil produced in Italy, or merely just shipped from there. Remember, Italy is part of the Euro zone, and as such, it's like saying a product was made or grown in one state in the U.S. while packaged and exported from another. 

Another gallon bottle I have labeled plain "olive oil" is even more clear with a brighter color, is almost flavorless, comes from 5 different countries, and lists "a blend of olive oils and extra virgin oil" as the ingredients. Note that "extra virgin" is listed last which means that it's the lesser ingredient--perhaps a little bit in large production runs to help add a hint of flavor and add validity by including a bit of Extra Virgin.

Now, about color...

Does the color of the oil matter? Yes and no. Olives harvested earlier in the season produce a greener oil because there is more chlorophyll in the fresher fruits. Olives harvested later will produce a more golden oil. Different cultivars of olives also can change the color of an oil. By the way, the dark colored green bottles do serve a somewhat good purpose too. They help prevent light exposure to the oil which can make it oxidize (and spoil) faster. It's a two edged sword... it tends to hide the true color of the olive oil inside the bottle from the consumer, but can make the oil last a bit longer in storage. (Still, most olive oils when stored properly last up to a year anyway). Beware though, that some unscrupulous makers will put leaves into the olive mash to release chlorophyll which helps color the lesser quality oils.

What About the Flavor?

Flavors of olive oil are all over the place. They differ because of cultivar of olive, where they ares grown, how they're processed, the methods used in storing the oil before it comes to your table... and of course, personal and cultural preferences. For instance, some cultures prefer a slightly musty flavor--something that most Westerners think is distasteful. It also depends on the variety of cultivar grown and the time of the harvest. Some olives are big, while others are small. Some have higher acidic flavors than others do. Tasting olives right from the trees in Puglia, we can tell you that they can be very acidic! Weather also plays a big part in the harvest time. And keep in mind, even the same tree can have many different colors of olives in varied degrees of ripeness... we saw this ourselves in Italy. Depending on the time the grower decides to collect the olives really affects the flavor of the resulting oil. 

It's best to think of olive oil--especially Extra Virgin--as a spice added to food to enhance the flavor. Olive oil types can be paired to foods, just the way wine is paired. For cooking, the lesser oils are better anyway due to their higher smoke point... I'd just recommend staying away from "extra light" because they might have remaining of true olive flavor. For Extra Virgin, read the labels and buy small bottles to experiment with. Find out what you like on various foods... pasta or salads versus fish or beef. A more delicate oil might go best on a white fleshed fish or salad... you might even like flavored oils for this... citrus, for example. I personally like more fruity flavors in my Extra Virgin for use on bruschetta or pizza.

The three flavor ranges of olive oil can be described as: delicate, medium, and robust. Fruity flavors tend to be more robust.  This is not something that can be labeled, however. The flavor of olive oil can change from harvest to harvest in the same way a variety of wine can change from vintage to vintage. The best thing to do is start buying Extra Virgin oils--the best you can afford--tasting and deciding for yourself.  Here's a guide listing the cultivars of olives and the flavor profile category:

• Delicate oil (made from arbequina, leccino, sevillano, taggiasca) is well suited for delicate fish.
• Medium intensity oil (ascolana, manzanillo, mission) is fine for salad dressings, grilled vegetables, soups, sauces and poultry.
• Robust oil (arbosana, frantoio, picholine) can be drizzled over steak with a spritz of lemon.

Is "First Pressed" Really a Good Thing?

Ok, now this is really going to confuse you. Earlier I talked about how a "first pressed" Extra Virgin is best. But there are those that debate whether this is really good for the overall health and longevity of the oil.

The words “cold pressed”, “first press” or “first cold press” sound great, and are a sign that the olive oil in the bottle is indeed Extra Virgin oil. The words paint a picture of the old world method of using a rustic wooden press, with olives between woven mats being lovingly squeezed until the luscious, iridescent green or gold oil flowed out the bottom. Families all over Italy have been making oil this way for thousands of years.

Up until about 50-60 years ago, most olive oil was in fact made by using vertical wooden presses with the olive paste spread on many layers of mats and pressed to make “first cold press” olive oil. This was the best Extra Virgin oil. After this, hot water or steam was introduced to the remaining olive paste and and the stack was compressed again to remove even more oil. This is the second pressing which produces a less flavorful--and some claim--a less healthy olive oil.

Nowadays, most olive oil is produced not in vertical presses, but in large centrifuges that spin at very fast rates of speed to get the oil out of the paste. It's similar to how beekeepers spin their honeycomb racks in a centrifuge to release the honey from the cells.

Some claim (probably the mass producers) that oil from presses are less quality than when made in modern centrifuges in large factories.  One reason they point to is that the mats are difficult to clean and can create off-flavors as the mats age. However, there are many high quality producers that still use the mat-press method and maintain meticulous standards of cleanliness in their smaller fattoria (a small farm "factory"). They also claim that vertical presses are open to the air and thus allow faster oxidation, creating an oil with less antioxidant content than in oils made with centrifuges--the oil is not as healthy and the shelf life is shorter. Understandably, the larger producers of supermarket olive oils insist that words “first press” on a label should be seen as a reason not to buy that particular oil. In both cases, neither process--press or centrifuge--tends to use any chemicals or solvents to extract oil from the olives.

The Final Word on Olive Oil...

The more I researched this subject, the more it sounded like lots of trade war organizations' hype and return fire between worldwide olive oil producers, California producers and smaller artisanal olive oil producers from Italy. In fact, if you look at vintage cans of olive oils from 50 to 100 years ago, you will see imported olive oils listing blends of all varied types of oils. So, I believe they've always been selling blended, mixed oils as "olive oil"... it's just nowadays, the marketing and labeling is less truthful... trying to trick the consumer into believing the descriptive wording on the labels mean the oil contained is higher quality than it actually is. The sad thing is, the prices are very high even for lesser quality oils. Hopefully, the research I've done will help you be a smarter consumer and select the right olive oil for your particular use. Don't fret too much... just be smart, shop around and buy at the best price. The highest quality Extra Virgin oils will cost more--that's a given here. If you find great tasting oil, buy it again.

And I'll be honest, I've also read that olive oils from Spain and California are beating Italian olive oils in taste tests. I'm going to open my mind to the possibility that Italian olive oil isn't the only type of oil I'd allow in my own pantry. I'll let you know when I try some...

--Jerry Finzi

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In Italy, the arrontino has a long history. You can even see a sculpture of L'Arrontino in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence from the days of the Roman Empire. For a few thousand years, people have needed their knives and swords sharpened--a skilled trade not everyone could do well. In many towns and villages throughout Italy, you can still see arrontini, some with their old grinder rigs, some attached to bicycles or mopeds or scooters and others with their grinders set up in the back of three-wheel vehicles, cars or small vans. 

Even in a neighborhood like Trastevere today, you might still hear chanting, "Donne!, E Arrivato... L'Arronto!" ("Ladies! The Knife Sharpener has arrived!") or simply shouting "Ah-ROO-TEE-nooo!" and see a man riding slowly through the streets on a bicycle with some odd-looking contraption jury-rigged to it. And often you might see an older casalinga (housewife) lower down a basket with her knives in it to the waiting arrontino on the street... there are still these touches of Old Italy if you just look for them.
 
Walking all day long, often through hilly, cobbled streets was hard work, especially while either carrying or pushing a heavy grinder--some having more than one polishing stone and a box to hold more tools of the trade. The push type rolled along inverted and pushed by holding wooden handles. Once the arrontino found customers, he would turn the grinder rig right-side up and start work. The sharpened kitchen knifes for the casalinga, scythes and butchering knives for contadini (farmers), knives for pescivendolo (fish mongers), cleavers for macellai (butchers), scrapers for stuccatori (plasterers), large knives for cacciatori (hunters) and pocket knives for gentiluomini (gentlemen).

The grinding wheel is attached to a rudimentary treadle board which he pumps with one leg to keep the heavy wheel turning. There are either ropes or rubber belts that attach to the various wheels and axles. A can of either water or oil is mounted above the working part of the stone to drip lubricant on the stone while sharpening.. 

In the old days, l'arrontini were vagabond craftsmen, going from village to village to find clients. He might set up in a village square and eat and sleep where he found food and a hay bed to lay down in. You can imagine that some of his best clients were farmers, not because they might be able to pay his fees, but more often because they could offer food and a comfortable place to sleep. Otherwise, he was mainly self-sufficient, carrying a craticula (an ancient type of BBQ grill), cooking simple meals during his voyages. He cleansed himself at public fountains or in a stream. He returned to his home several times a year, definitely at Christmas and Easter, when a child was born or a relative died, but also for harvesting crops (most in rural Italy still have olives, nuts or grapes to tend).

During the 1950s and 60s the advent of the bicycle grinder rig helped arrontini go further, get more work and return to home more often. The grinding wheel was mounted over the front wheel and attached to the pedals by a second drive chain that could use the pedaling action when a lever was flipped. 

Next came the Vespa scooter and the Treruote Ape (three-wheeled vehicle). In both cases, the motor also drove the grinding wheels. The rear compartment of the Treruote was large enough for arrontini to expand their services--refurbishing and refinishing traditional knives, selling new knives and scissors, offering repairs and parts for old style gas kitchen cookers, and selling and repairing umbrellas, of all things!

Some arrontini opened shops in busy shop areas of villages. When people came to do their daily shopping, they'd drop off their knives to be sharpened. By this time, these shops were offering more and more kitchen products and utensils... pots, pans, drain boards, towels, etc. Some have turned into workaday Drogheria (household & kitchen items) shops that are seen in most towns throughout Italy.

Still today, however, you will find that there are still arrontini performing their craft old school style, usually on a bicycle rig, but more often you will see a car driving slowly through a neighborhood with a loudspeaker on it's roof, announcing:

"Donne! È arrivato l'arrotino! Arrota coltelli, forbici, forbicine, forbici da seta, coltelli da prosciutto!
Donne è arrivato l'arrotino e l'ombrellaio; aggiustiamo gli ombrelli.
Ripariamo cucine a gas: abbiamo i pezzi di ricambio per le cucine a gas.
Se avete perdite di gas noi le aggiustiamo, se la cucina fa fumo noi togliamo il fumo della vostra cucina a gas."

Translation:
"Ladies! The Grinder is here! Sharpen knives, scissors large and small, sewing scissors, prosciutto knives!
Women, the Grinder and Umbrella Repairman is here; we fix your umbrellas.
We repair gas cookers: we have spare parts for your cookers.
If your gas is leaking, we'll fix it,  if your kitchen is smoking we remove the smoke from your gas cooker."

I don't know about you, but I sense a little naughty double entendre in the wording of the announcement... Perhaps the arrontini have sharpened some of their other skills and offer even more personalized services to le donne over the years... putting out the smoking fires in the kitchens of casalinga all over Italy... 

Sharpening blades, indeed... Reminds me of that old blues song: "Yea, Babe, I'm your Handyman..."

--Jerry Finzi

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