On today’s show, I’m joined by olive oil expert extraordinaire, David Garcia-Aguirre from Corto Olive Company with a primer on extra virgin olive oil, which he says is “the ingredient that farm-to-table forgot.” Discover how olives are grown, harvested and pressed, how to choose the freshest EVOO at the market, how to cook with it, and get recipes galore … and hear why David wants us all to think of EVOO as the “fresh-pressed juice of olives.”
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David Garci-Aguirre is the Vice President of Operations and Master Miller at Corto Olive Company in Lodi, CA. With a focus on serving independent restaurants throughout the US, Corto uniquely harvests and produces fresh, premium-quality, award-winning extra virgin olive oils that enhance the flavor of foods. David is an olive oil guru who is dedicated to the advancement of high-quality olive oil production, research, and education.
He’s educating us today about what to look for at the market to know you’re buying the freshest oil, how to store it at home to keep it fresh, and why heat, light, and air are the three biggest enemies of your bottle of olive oil. He teaches us about the latest innovations in packaging, how to use EVOO to elevate everyday cooking, and why it’s a nutritious addition to your meals. David busts myths about olive oil and take us behind the scenes at Corto to highlight their gorgeous olive groves and their harvesting, milling, storing, and packing processes.
Giveaway: We are giving away a 3-liter Truly 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil, California Grown, Flavor-Lock Box from Corto. I don’t know about you, but I go through a lot of EVOO in my house, so I can attest that this oil rocks. I use it every day … all day. To enter for a chance to win, post a comment telling me how you use olive oil in your everyday cooking or why you want to win this bag-in-box EVOO from Corto. (PS: US only giveaway.) (PSS: If you have an awesome recipe for olive oil lemon cake, please share it with me. I’ve been on the lookout for a new one!) Giveaway ends on Sept. 15th.
This is the book David talked about on the show.
Show Highlights:
- David’s life and work in Lodi, CA
- Why olive oil is the ingredient that “farm to table” forgot
- How olive oil is different from all other edible oils. Essentially, it’s fresh-pressed juice that retains its flavors and nutrients
- Why all olive oils are NOT created equal; most olive oil in the supermarket is already rancid before you even get it home
- How Corto focuses on a new technology called vineyard-style” planting that allows mechanized fall harvests of the fruit when it’s perfectly ripe
- How most olive oil is produced with olives harvested by the old-style “tree-shaking” method that yields poor quality fruit not at the optimal ripeness
- How to tell if your olive oil is fresh by its smell and flavor
- David’s overview of the milling process: The fruit is crushed into a paste that’s mixed together and then separated with a centrifuge to obtain the oil at cold temperatures; the oil goes straight into stainless steel casks where oxygen can’t get to it.
- How the “Extra Virgin” olive oil designation is reserved for a natural, unrefined product (CA has the tightest legal standard for EVOO in the world!)
- Tips for buying olive oil: buy local, if possible, from a reputable company; make sure the oil is in dark glass, stainless steel, or a bag-in-box package, and always check the harvest date
- How flavor-lock (bag in box) packaging protects the oil from light and air
- David busts the most popular myth regarding olive oil, which is that you should never sauté or use high heat cooking
- Because of the many healthy compounds unique to olives, olive oil is the #1 food item studied for nutritional health in medical journals
- Easy salad dressing ideas using olive oil:
- David keeps it simple with salt, citrus, and an oil variety that pairs with his food
- Liz relies on the standard go-to of olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, shallot or garlic, and salt and pepper
- Unusual ways to use olive oil: drizzled on ice cream, as a dip for dark chocolate truffles, poured on popcorn, and homemade mayonnaise
- How Liz used it to make Ina Garten’s Gazpacho (with a few tweaks, of course)!
- How to introduce kids to the wonders of olive oil with creative thinking
- David’s final words: “Rethink how you think about olive oil. Think of it as a fresh-pressed juice.”
Website: www.corto-olive.com
IG: @Corto_Olive
FB: @CortoOlive
I use olive oil to make dressing and mayo and to drizzle on top of soup.
I grew up near Little Italy in San Francisco. Instead of butter & sourdough French bread, we used olive oil.
I love using olive to sautee my veggie, it makes them so much more flavorful!
I use olive oil and balsamic to top many of my salads; I also use it in pesto and chimichurri. I haven’t been using it to sautee or roast veggies, but after listening the to podcast I may have to re-evaluate! I’d love to win this olive oil so I can do a taste comparison with the kind I’ve been buying (spectrum organic extra-virgin)
I use olive oil to sauté delicious fresh vegetables like broccoli, eggplant, and carrots.
I use olive oil as the only oil in my kitchen. Growing up Italian-American, I didn’t realize there were other oils till I was in college.
I use it in the typical way for frying and salad dressing but also for baking and in place of butter. That unique flavor makes others stop and take an extra taste.
I use extra virgin olive oil in so many things! Salad dressings, tossed in pasta with Parmesan cheese, as a dip with red pepper flakes for good crusty bread, and to sauté veggies. Lemon olive oil cake….I might have to experiment with that!
I too use olive oil in everything! Eggs to salad to cake! My husband’s HDL came back low despite significantly increasing his exercise level. We are going to up his game with the olive oil as a next step! Thank you for such a great podcast!
I like to say that olive oil runs in my veins as I eat it daily with multiple meals. My favorite salad dressing consists simply of olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and fresh herbs (basil, parsley, etc.). I regularly sauté my omelette vegetables in olive oil, as well as poultry and for a stir fry. Without oil olive, I would be lost in the kitchen! I would be so excited to win Truly 100% extra virgin olive oil as I crave to try the flavorful olive oil for myself. I may just try a drizzle on some ice cream! Thank you for all the great olive oil information!
I’m excited to taste fresh olive oil
I use olive oil about every day. I keep a small (4-oz) bottle with spout on the counter (away from heat) that gets used daily. I drizzle it on roasted veggies, sauté vegetables with it, add it to chicken dishes and salad dressings. We enjoy pasta Aglio e Olio more often than tomato sauce.
I need this olive oil. We go through SO much olive oil – to saute “everything”, to roast vegetables, to use in special pasta recipes, to dip homemade bread in. Would love to try this new one.
I use EVOO to make my tomato and cucumber salad, pickled eggplant, and mozzarella capers.
I loved this episode so much! I didn’t realize that non-virgin olive oil was basically the same as a refined oil. I’m definitely going to stick to extra virgin from now on and look for California origins, as David said. I’ve pretty much switched to all olive oil rather than canola, etc, so this would be a great addition to my kitchen!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the show. I learned a lot too!!
How do I not use olive oil??? From the typical uses in salad dressings and marinades to slow-roasting veggies, it is a staple in my kitchen. Except for high-heat applications where avocado oil steps in, I substitute olive oil for veggie oil in baked goods and use it instead of butter on fresh bread. Yesterday I seasoned a new skillet with olive oil and I rely on it as a topical agent in the winter when my hands tend to get dry and crack. I recall using it on one of my kiddos’ scalps when they had “cradle cap”!
I took Ina Gartens advice a long time ago and started using California olive oil exclusively. I am dying to try Corto olive oil as David made my mouth water when explaining the taste! PLEASE pick me:)
……..even if I don’t win I will purchase on line. Thanks for a great episode. Nancy
Olive oil is my go to oil! I use it on everything…..dressings, roasted vegetables, gazpacho, avocado toast, to baste my Thanksgiving turkey,…and in stove top made popcorn! I love the Corto packaging….very clever!
Olive oil is our favorite for roasting vegetables and making hummus/bean dips.
I use EVOO every day but recently I have been using it on my salad with balsamic vinegar.
Olive oil drizzled on tomatoes in the summer are a favorite. Such an interesting show. Learning about the smoking point of olive oil was new information for me! Thanks!
I use EVOO for EVERYTHING including salad dressings, roasting veggies, and any time I need to sauté something. Now that I know I don’t have to worry about the smoke point, it would become my #1 choice even on my cooktop, which I have to say I was hesitant to do. Was so glad to learn how and why this product is so superior to the olive oils I have been purchasing. Would love a chance to try this oil and compare the taste to my usual choice. And won’t the bag in box olive oil look SO good on my kitchen counter beside my bag in box wine??? Imagine cooking with wine and David’s olive oil? As they say “I love to cook with wine, I sometimes even put it in the food”! As for the olive oil, it will always go into the food!
I use olive oil for EVERYTHING! Cooking, dressings, baking, salads, dips – it works in “olive” it!
I use olive oil as part of my home made dressings, to roast veggies on a sheet pan, as a dip to eat with crusty bread. I also use it to liven up the flavor in my hybrid egg salad /avocado-egg salad on multigrain toast.
I totally experienced the olive oil over ice cream at a local ice cream parlor and I was completely blown away!!! My college aged daughter literally had to pack up spices and olive oil to take back to college with her so she could have her crusty bread “dip” while away. We love making fresh dressings with olive oil, roasting our veggies, and general sauté. This episode was so eye opening that I must try new ways to love olive oil even more. Thank you for the episode!
I still need to try that ice cream / EVOO combo 🙂
I use olive oil every day! I love to use my refillable oil spray bottle filled with olive oil in place of a one-time use aerosol can of cooking spray.
That was a great episode’! And yes, would love the savory cake recipe also! Fascinating as I’ve whittled down my oil choices to olive, avocado only except finishing oils like sesame but I completely didn’t put 2 & 2 together regarding the freshness of the olive oil , the higher the smoke point!
Anyway, I use olive oil foe all the things esp thinking about my kale miso vinaigrette salad.
Oooh. Tell me more about that kale miso salad!
This episode was TRULY (pun intended) very informative. I never knew that the ripeness of the fruit dictated the freshness of the oil. I have been to a few olive oil tasting events, but nobody has ever explained the juicing process to me. Thank you for this episode!
I love olive oil. I use it it so many things but mostly when sauté ing veggies.
I use olive oil to make vinaigrette, sauté veggies and sometimes to make an olive oil yogurt cake, among other things. Based on recommendations by ATK I have been using California Olive Ranch. I am now interested in Corto.
I use olive oil for just about everything except baking. Should I use it for baking as well? Would love to try his olive oil, I use Calif Ranch after ATK recommended it.
I use it in baking from time to time. In fact, I’m on the lookout for a new lemon olive oil cake. If I find a good one, I’ll let you know!
My favorite daily way to use olive oil is for sauteed veggies. It adds such amazing flavor. Really loved this episode. Thank you!!!
I use olive oil every day to make a simple vinaigrette for salad: One part olive oil, one part Regina red wine vinegar and some Lawry’s seasoned salt- perfect every time! Would love the opportunity to try a different oil when making my dressings for salads!
We use olive oil for dipping bread and also all pan-frying. We would love to taste the Corto olive oil!!
I use olive oil to saute veggies, dip in bread, and in baking. I am excited to taste the freshest olive oil around!
I have a pressure cooker and I love the “Brown/sear” function to sautee my veggies in olive oil before adding ingredients for a soup.
I use Evoo every day in everything . Cooking basmati rice with crispy bottom is great with olive oil . Roasting vegetables potatoes and fish chicken . Stir fry , soup pasta Persian stews Use it in salad dressing making hummus and pesto sauce . Switching to only using Olive oil 10 years ago helped my elevated parathyroid hormone to decline significantly and it has been within normal limits !
I love making Greek salads with olive oil
We use olive oil for all of our cooking. Whenever oil is called for we use olive oil!
I use olive oil for all of my cooking and like to make homemade salad dressings with it also
Hello! I use olive oil for all things – baking, sautéing, roasting, salads…. Thank you for the podcast!
We use olive oil in everything from salad dressing such as our favorite Middle Eastern dressing. We also love to use it for cooking and baking, even making over 100 muffins for a party this week with it. Not one person noticed the difference and complimented all the food. It is my go to oil in the kitchen.
I USE olive oil after my food is cooked, as I was told heating Extra Virgin Olive Oil can be harmful. That’s my preferred way plus I love that container
I use olive oil in every sauté no matter what the recipe calls for. I also add it to my pizza sauce and of course toss my veggies in it when I roast them.
This episode was great (as are all the episodes!!). I use olive oil for all my cooking but haven’t used it in my baking. I will give it a try!
I learned so much from this episode! I’d been afraid to use EVOO for cooking due to its low smoking point, but after listening I will be using it more. I primarily use it to make delicious salad dressings and as a topping for cooked vegetables.
I use it for everything. Soups, salads, meats, etc.