Ingredients
Tuscan extra virgin olive oil: how to recognise the real thing
Tuscan DOP extra virgin olive oil is among the best in the world. How to recognise it, the olive varieties, the harvest and why it costs more than others.
Tuscany and the olive tree: a landscape that is also culture
The Tuscan landscape and the olive tree are inseparable. The hills of silver and green from the rows of olive trees along the slopes of Chianti, the Val d’Orcia and the Lunigiana are not only beauty - they are the result of centuries of cultivation that has transformed the landscape into a productive system.
The olive tree has been present in Tuscany for at least two thousand five hundred years. The Etruscans cultivated it in the coastal areas; the Romans spread it into the inland hills; medieval monasteries kept olive groves alive through centuries of political disorder; the noble families of the Renaissance cultivated it as a sign of status and economy. Every great Tuscan villa had its olive grove - the oil mill was an integral part of the estate, not an external service.
The special character of Tuscan oil compared to southern Italian oils is in its flavour: where Sicilian or Apulian oils tend towards sweetness and softness, Tuscan oil is green, bitter, peppery. It is an oil that makes itself known - that perfumes the palate with intensity and leaves that pepper sensation in the throat that tasters call piccante and that is the sign of the freshness of the olives and the low content of oxidised saturated fats.
Tuscan olive varieties: Frantoio, Moraiolo, Leccino
Tuscany cultivates dozens of native olive varieties, but three are those that define the profile of quality Tuscan extra virgin olive oil.
Frantoio: the most widespread variety in Tuscany, with medium oval-shaped fruit. It ripens in the first half of November. Its oil is green, very fruity, with intense bitterness and peppery notes. Frantoio is the engine of the character of Tuscan oil - without it the oil would be more neutral and less identifiable.
Moraiolo: small fruit, tough skin, ripens late (December). It has a very high polyphenol content - the antioxidant compounds that give very fresh oil that almost phosphorescent green colour and that almost pungent sensation of bitterness and pepperiness. Oil from pure Moraiolo is very intense - almost aggressive for those unused to it - but very long-lived.
Leccino: large fruit, ripens early (October). It produces a sweeter and less bitter oil than the other two - it is often used in blends to balance the intensity of Frantoio and Moraiolo. In pure form it is easier to drink but less distinctive.
Most quality Tuscan extra virgin olive oils are blends of these three varieties in variable proportions, often with the addition of minor local varieties that give specific aromatic notes to the territory.
The harvest: when and how it is done
The timing of the harvest is the most determining factor in the quality of Tuscan oil. The olives must be harvested before full ripeness - the so-called invaiatura, the moment when the colour of the fruit changes from green to dark purple - to have the maximum concentration of polyphenols and minimum oxidation of the fats.
Early harvest (October-early November in Tuscany) produces green, intense oils with high bitterness and pepperiness, very rich in polyphenols. These oils are less sweet than those produced from olives picked later, but more long-lived and more characterful.
Late harvest (December or beyond) produces sweeter oils, with less bitterness, but fewer polyphenols and less longevity. This is the oil easiest to like immediately, but that ages faster.
The harvest is traditionally done by hand or with the brucatura (mechanical combs that detach the olives from the branches). Olives are never left to fall by themselves - fallen olives oxidise and produce low-quality oil.
The time between harvest and milling is fundamental: olives must be pressed within 24-48 hours of harvest. Those who bring olives to the mill after three or four days find a quality degradation that cannot be recovered.
How to recognise a quality Tuscan extra virgin olive oil
The tasting of extra virgin olive oil has its specific techniques, similar to wine tasting but with a different vocabulary.
The colour: a fresh Tuscan extra virgin oil (first or second year) is intense green or yellow-green, never pale yellow or orange. The colour fades with ageing - after two years it becomes more golden.
The aroma: green fruit (cut grass, olive leaf, artichoke, green apple) is the sign of quality. Smells of rancidity (wet cardboard), mould, or wine (acetic) indicate defects.
The taste: bitterness and pepperiness are virtues, not defects. A quality Tuscan oil leaves that pepper sensation in the throat that frightens the uninitiated - it is the signal of fresh polyphenols. Sweetness is allowed but must not dominate.
The consistency: dense at room temperature, fluid after a few minutes in the warm palm of the hand.
Tuscan olive oil DOPs: what they are and what they guarantee
Tuscany has seven DOP denominations for extra virgin olive oil, each with distinct geographical and organoleptic characteristics.
Chianti Classico DOP: oil from the Gallo Nero hills, intense green, fruity and peppery. The olives must be grown in the same zone as the wine.
Lucca DOP: more delicate oil, with almond and artichoke notes, less peppery than Chianti. The prevalent varieties are Frantoio and Grossolano.
Seggiano DOP: monocultivar Olivastra Seggianese, an almost disappeared and recovered variety in the Seggiano area on Monte Amiata. Sweet and fruity oil, almost unique for aromatic complexity.
Terre di Siena DOP: oil from the Sienese hills, with an intense character but slightly softer than Chianti.
How to use it in cooking: raw always, cooked with judgement
Great Tuscan extra virgin olive oil is used raw - drizzled on ribollita, on bruschetta, on bistecca just off the grill, on panzanella, on bean soup. Heat destroys some of the most volatile aromatic compounds and polyphenols that give the oil its character.
In cooking it can be used, but you do not necessarily need to use the best - it is a bit like cooking with prized wine. For the soffritto, for cooking vegetables, for marinating meat, a good but not outstanding quality extra virgin olive oil is more than sufficient. The great oil is kept for the finishing.
At Ristorante Alcide, Tuscan extra virgin olive oil is used raw on almost every dish that comes out of the kitchen - from the initial bruschetta to the fish soup, from the salad to the grilled meat. It is not a detail but a structural ingredient.
Want to taste it for real?
At Ristorante Alcide you will find it on the table - made the right way, with fresh ingredients and the care of the Ancillotti family since 1849.
