Five Days to Release of CSOO

Today's Fun Fact from The Chemical Story of Olive Oil (CSOO)
It is best to buy olive oil with a harvest date on the bottle and make sure that date is as close as possible to the current date!  Olive oil tastes best and is most healthy within weeks-months of harvest. It is sad but true that some oils travel in tankers around the world for months to years waiting till the price of oil to rise at which point it is off-loaded, packaged and delivered to consumers. 

Tank Farm with Millions of Gallons of Monovarietal Oil

Standards Testing Lab in Australia

In "Getting the Oil to You" Chapter 6 of CSOO,* we address many of the challenges and responsibilities that surround keeping and preserving the high quality of this liquid gold until it gets to you, the consumer.  Void of preservatives, additives, or stabilizers, the oil must be treated with care and thoroughly tested and indexed to assure quality and authenticity.  We guide you through the alphabet soup of assays, FFA, PPP, DAG, DeltaK, and introduce the polyphenols that make the oil both bitter and healthy.   

*You can pre-order The Chemical Story of Olive Oil now from The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Six Days to Release of CSOO

Today's Fun Fact from The Chemical Story of Olive Oil (CSOO) 
Many of the fruity aromas of a delicious olive oil are not present in the original fruit but are developed enzymatically during the processing of the oil.

A 100 year old Stone Mill still in use in Belianes, Catalonia

In "Processing" Chapter 5 of CSOO,* we follow the olive into the olive mill where the magic happens.  Olive fruit is offered up to the stone grinders, steel malaxers, or centrifugal separators in a series of steps designed to coax each of the plant cells to give up their precious stores of oil.  One goal is to process the fruit mash as quickly as possible to separate out the multiple components without allowing degradation to occur. Here is where the true artistry happens and the mill operator acts on instincts and experience.   Our chemical story in this chapter features the development of the flavor and aroma compounds that we enjoy so much in a high quality extra virgin olive oil.   

*You can pre-order The Chemical Story of Olive Oil now from The Royal Society of Chemistry. 

Carefully adjusting the wash water in Crete

Two horizontal separators in Crete

A small press in Waikeke Island, New Zealand

A modern site in Australia for processing on an industrial scale

Seven Days to Release of CSOO

Today's Fun Fact from Chemical Story of Olive Oil (CSOO) 

Tree Shakers Harvesting in New Zealand

Did you know that olive oil is really a fruit juice?

In "Harvesting" Chapter 4 of CSOO,* you will celebrate with the farmers and producers as they finally bring in their harvest.  Timing is critical and much can happen during the weeks, hours, and days up to harvest to ruin a year's worth of work.  From hand-picked to machine harvested, methods of harvest are as varied as the cultivars themselves and as old as the pyramids.  Our chemical story in this chapter features the glorious liquid gold oil itself.  You will learn how the plant can cleverly make the oil from a cyclic process in which the carbons, like the animals on Noah's ark,  are added two at a time until the long chain carbon fatty acids are produced.

*You can pre-order The Chemical Story of Olive Oil now from The Royal Society of Chemistry. 

Colossus Harvester in Australia

Hand picking in South Africa

Eight Days to Release of CSOO

Today's Fun Fact from Chemical Story of Olive Oil (CSOO) 
Oleuropein, a pungent tasting molecule that discourages pests from feeding on the olive leaves or fruit becomes less bitter in the oil when it breaks down and loses a molecule of sugar.  
Yes, you read that right.

In "Growing," Chapter 3 of CSOO,* you will follow the trees from spring flowering through winter harvest.  Most modern cultivars do not self pollinate and so must be planted with other cultivars nearby to do that important task.  While drought and heat tolerant, most olive trees need about 7 inches of water per year and a few key minerals.  Our chemical story in this chapter features oleuropein, the bitter component of the leaves that breaks down and provides the prized health giving properties of olive oil that are not found in other plants.  


*You can pre-order The Chemical Story of Olive Oil now from The Royal Society of Chemistry. 

Nine Days to Release of CSOO

Today's Fun Fact from Chemical Story of Olive Oil (CSOO) 
Olive trees are rarely grown from seeds, but rather cultivated in nurseries from slips of parent trees.

In "Planting," Chapter 2 of CSOO,* you will read about the important work farmers must do in planning
for a successful olive grove.  The cultivar (cultivated varietal) must be chosen from over 1000 different varieties and must accommodate local soil, weather, and geographic constraints.  A most important consideration is the amount of sunlight the grove will get.  Our chemical story in this chapter focuses on Chlorophyll, the biological pigment that harvests energy from the sun and begins the process of photosynthesis, which ultimately creates the oil.

The trees are planted in roughly north-south rows, often in very beautiful places...




*You can pre-order The Chemical Story of Olive Oil now from The Royal Society of Chemistry. 

Ten Days to Release of CSOO

Today's Fun Fact from Chemical Story of Olive Oil (CSOO):   
Did you know that humans learned to press olives before they learned how to weave cloth?  

In "Olive Origins," Chapter 1 of CSOO,* you will read about the history of olive oil and the tight connection between the trees, the fruit, the oils produced and early human civilization.  You will be introduced to some olive trees that are several thousands of years old and to the stories of the origins of the olive itself that are almost as old.  Our chemical origin story starts with answering the most basic question that lays the groundwork for the rest of the chemistry in the book: that is, why do oil and water not mix?

*You can pre-order the book, The Chemical Story of Olive Oil now from The Royal Society of Chemistry.

To Celebrate the New Year, You Can Pre-Order Our Book!!

Announcing the Arrival of Our New Book

"The Chemical Story of Olive Oil: from Grove to Table"

The due date is Feb 21st and she is expected to be 343 pages.

The Print ISBN: 978-1-78262-856-9

You can pre-order the book now from The Royal Society of Chemistry.

The list price is £29.99 or just under $40.00. Shipping may be extra.

While there, you can click on the button that asks if you think the book should be available as an e-book.  The only answer to that question is YES!!

Contact us if you would like us to do a Reading, a Guided Olive Oil Tasting, or a Book Signing at blatchara@comcat.net in the US.  For contacts in Europe, email zeynep.delen@gmail.com.