Bitter is good in oil

There are terms that, when used with food, can lose their customary meaning. For example, did you know that the more bitter the oil is, the better it is? This never happens with any other food.

Normally, bitterness is something the body instinctively avoids. It is also the primary sense that lingers the longest and is located at the back of the tongue.

Well, there are two characteristics that are important for oil: bitterness and pungency. Bitterness is the most important and is always strongly perceived if the olives were harvested while still green or moderately ripened, if they were taken immediately to the mill, and if they were pressed using continuous systems in the absence of oxygen.

In short, bitterness defines the unsaponifiable fraction contained in the oil, which is linked to polyphenols and tannins that represent the true integrity of the product. These are also substances with antioxidant properties that qualify the oil from a nutritional point of view. This bitterness is particularly found in Umbrian oils, in those from the north, in the Tuscan Chianti Leccino, in some oils from Cima di Melfi olives in Puglia, and in Sicily, in the DOP Monti Iblei oils.

Those who are not accustomed to quality oils may see bitterness as a negative element in oil...well, know that anything that tastes like nothing is worth nothing in the world of food. And all the low-priced oils on the market today are nothing more than lubricants for salads...completely neutral but at the same time useless for good cooking and maintaining health.