This week there’s been a big hullabaloo about claims around coconut oil, approaches to healthy eating and a celebrity chef. I love culinary oils and have many to hand like sesame, macadamia, avocado, linseed and yes even coconut oil. Heck, if I’m really honest I love to slather on cocoa butter moisturiser too. But the idea that coconut oil is something to have by the tablespoons full everyday, I’m just not convinced. Not yet, anyway. So I’m here with a healthy shift in focus and one of my food loves, Australian extra virgin olive oil.
Recently Nutrition Australia and Australian Olive Association held a lunch symposium with beautiful oils from Cobram Estate. Olive oil clinical researcher and dietitian Mary Flynn from the USA presented an update on health benefits. And international olive oil expert judge Richard Gavel talked to quality, food chemistry, busted myths and more with equal passion.
And then I was very lucky to be invited to join the Nutrition Australia staff on a roadtrip to Boort to see Cobram’s largest farm and processing plant, Boundary Bend. You may think that Italians do it better. But olives start to oxidise as soon as they are picked. And that means the phenol antioxidant content starts to drop. So when it comes to quality olive oil it’s about a fast harvest and fresher is better. So how on earth do you fast harvest 2.5million trees?
Meet the Colossus. Cobram Estate have built 30 of these car wash style giant movers that suck up the leaves and yield 93% of the tree’s olives. Colossus is a beauty. It can whip, gently through 100 trees and produce 3-5 tonnes of olives per hour. And best of all it allows olives to get from the tree to beautiful, golden oil in less than 1 hour.
Once the olives have bumped along and dropped into the waiting truck, they are off to the processing mill right on site. First they are washed and blown to remove leaves and debris. Then a hammer mill crushes them, pips and all, to form a paste. Kneaded and warmed to only 28 degrees Celsius to release the oil, they are finally spun through a centrifuge and separator to produce the golden goodness. Cold pressed, extra virgin, fresh olive juice. No nasty chemicals or solvents. No delay in processing. And no icky pomace process like bulk imports dried in kilns.
Cobram Estate market on taste profile and flavour blends from eight main varieties of olives for their supermarket oils, but you can also purchase limited edition premium range, single variety oils like Reserve Hojiblanca or the stunning deep green 2014 Ultra Premium First Harvest. They have a growing export business with 30% of the harvest now enjoyed by countries like the USA and China. Make sure you buy an olive oil that labels the date of harvest and use within 12months. Care for it at home away from heat and light. And definitely do NOT leave it out next to the cooktop.
Now I don’t need to recap on the health benefits of the Mediterranean Diet. I know you are up to speed….and we have another post on that topic very soon. But I do have to bust a final myth around cooking. You CAN cook with olive oil to a high temperature. If it’s the right type. And it doesn’t turn into some harmful or “toxic” substance in the process. You see a quality EVOO will be low in free fatty acids (FFA). And the lower the FFA content the higher the smoke point. Around 180 degrees Celsius for quality Australian EVOO which is higher than a deep fryer temp. Richard has laid out the facts in this excellent post and you can purchase his tasting wheel if you’re serious about flavour. And always choose an EVOO that meets the code of practice.
At our farm gate lunch we enjoyed handmade, fresh pasta drizzled in goodness. Some of us, including myself and Claire above, enjoyed well, let’s just say, a little more than a drizzle.
To fit this month’s Recipe ReDux theme of edible flowers I came up with this twist on traditional Italian chestnut flour cake, Castagnaccio, using dried chamomile flower infused EVOO. I’m sworn to secrecy with our family recipe so I will send you here for the base recipe – all you need to do is steep your olive oil in dried flowers for at least 2hours before getting started. Why chamomile? Quite frankly we all need to calm down, share an olive branch in peace and join together to help people on the path to healthy eating. If we could at least get in an apple or 5 serves of veg a day for all Australians…….
Thanks to Ryan and Fi from Cobram Estate for hosting us so well. And to Nutrition Australia for the invite. Love you guys. And thanks everyone in advance of your sharing of this post. Let’s make sure the coconut oil craze does not mean people are skipping out on stunning Australian EVOO or a varied diet with a range of nutrients. Dr Joanna McMillan APD covers the scientific evidence on coconut oil very well here and so does Harvard . As a passionate healthy cook, to me it’s so much more about food variety, flavour matching and not being evangelical about any single food. What say you?
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. The writer received transport to Cobram and lunch at the farm. All EVOO was purchased. Emma is a volunteer committee member of Nutrition Australia Vic board.
