PDO - Kalamata Olive Oil

Here in North America we have a good variety of extra virgin olive oils (EVOO) but local demand prefers lighter and more bland ones.  Growing up in Italy we had nicely "spicy" and flavorful examples from the southern provinces like Molise.  Finding extra virgin olive oil that matches this profile has not been that easy.  The large exporters from Italy like to blend Mediterranean oils from different countries with a golden color and sweet, light and often boring taste.

In recent years supermarkets have gone through a phase of offering more special and expensive, single origin oils.  Undiscerning consumers might think that if the olive oil is $30-$50 for 1 liter it must be good.  This is not always true.  Money pays for something that is rare and special but not necessarily better tasting.

On a recent trip to Milan the Esselunga Supermarket regular line EVOO was strong and flavorful and affordable.  I think that this kind of flavorful oil is only recently getting sold outside of Italy and now Whole Foods sells a 100% Italian EVOO but I still need to try it.

My search stopped when I bought Kalamata EVOO from Greece.  This oil has a dark yellow color leaning towards green, a sweet and fruity flavor with a fresh richness that is difficult to find. The oil is not too acidic or too strong but still super flavorful.  I bought the one marketed by Krinos - see picture.  It's EFFING GOOD!

The good thing about this EVOO is that it is a PDO product - Protected Designation of Origin so in theory the product comes from a specific area and you know what to expect.  If you buy a 100% Italian origin olive oil it does not guarantee much as Italy produces oils of very different flavor profiles.

Kalamata olive oil is from the Messinia prefecture in the south Peloponnese where the city of Kalamata overlooks the sunny Messenian Gulf.  Here the landscape is as warm and beautiful as the olives. At the same latitude of Sicily the climate is optimal for growing olives and the hills allow good aeration of the trees.  The soil is light and calcareous and the terrain forces some growers to use traditional methods of cultivation.  The plots are small and farmers take great care of their trees.  They are very experienced: more than 3,000 years of olive cultivation history.

The olives used are of two varieties Koroneiki and Mastoeidis.  The first is native to Messinia.

Kalamata olive oil stood the "bread test."  Pour some oil on a plate and use a piece of baguette to soak it up.  If the flavors and sweetness of the oil stands out when you eat the bread it means it's a very good olive oil.

This EVOO is quite strong so it's best used for cold food preparations, salads or added to hot dishes at the end of cooking.  You can use it also to pan fry white fish or chicken or on a fresh piece of cheese.

Acorns and Dotorimuk

This is a short post on acorns.  I was recently walking down a boulevard lined with oak tress and noticed a person with a plastic bag that was collecting acorns! Yes like those collected by squirrels.  I needed to investigate more.  What can you do with them? What's their place in the history of food?

The Grandpappy website contains a lot of useful information on the history of acorns and how to collect and process them for eating.  To be brief, the acorn was eaten since the beginning of time by populations living close to oak trees.  Apparently more acorns have been consumed over history than rice and wheat!

Acorns contain many nutritious vitamins and proteins and of course carbohydrates.  They also contain tannins which need to be flushed out before cooking.

It's quite a process to prepare acorns but if you are adventurous enough you can use acorns to make grits, bread, tortillas, and cookies.

However, the person that I saw collecting them was going to make Dotorimuk - acorn jelly.  This is a traditional Korean recipe that is regaining popularity as a health food.  Dotorimuk is commercially available in powder form that is ready for home use.  I'll see if I can find it at the local Korean supermarket.  If my search turns out empty Debbie Lee of the New York Times describes Dotorimuk as "a silk jelly that tasted faintly of chestnuts and artichokes."

Chanterelle - Girolle - Pfifferling - Finferli - Лисички

It's the season! Wet soggy autumn days followed by a few rays of sun. The right temperature and the woods are dotted in yellow.

The mornings start to be a bit foggy. The neighbor is testing the fireplace. The red wine choices are a bit richer and luscious. It's the time of chanterelles.

This is a very delicate and sophisticated mushroom, rich in vitamins and other healthy things to make you feel better. But let's be honest, we eat chanterelles because they are so delicious.

When dried they loose most of their flavor. They need to be as fresh as possible. They keep pretty well in the fridge for a few days in a bowl lined with paper towels to absorb moisture.

We like to do our own mushroom hunting.  This year it's been an amazing one and as the pictures show we were super lucky to find a lot of excellent chanterelles.  We pan seared them somewhat slow to keep them nice and soft, with shallots or onions, butter, black/white pepper and salt.  We added a smidge of white wine et voila - done! Super easy and the best way to showcase that saffron-like sweetness of chanterelles.

They pair nicely with a juicy steak.  Or we cooked them in a savory quiche with leeks and bacon.
A great way to eat them is to sautee them and add them to a cream sauce for nice egg tagliatelle. And don't be shy with the Parmesan.