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www.gourmetnews.com Gourmet News • Oli e Aceti 11 Spanish Olive Oils that Marry Traditional Purity with Modern Science BY LORRIE BAUMANN "Sometimes you stop looking, and your passion finds you," says Tom Sutherland, Co-founder and Brand Manager for The Olivique. "That would be the definition of how olive oil came into my life." It happened one day at the elevator in his apartment building in Madrid. Suther- land ran into a neighbor there, who told him, "Now I know why I met you," Sutherland tells the story. "We're going to conquer America." "I said, 'Wow! I thought Christopher Columbus did that," he replied to his friend. "He said, 'Don't be silly. I'm talking about olive oil.'" From that casual conversation sprang The Olivique, a two-year-old company that came to the Winter Fancy Food Show this year to launch four varieties of Span- ish extra virgin olive oil as part of a dele- gation of food producers sponsored by Spain's National Trade Commission. The Olivique oils are each made from a differ- ent olive varietal: Picual is a unique oil that rich in oleic acid and has a strong fla- vor with notes of wood and fresh herbs. Koroneiki, an olive that's native to Greece but is now also being grown in Spain, pro- duces an oil with full body and robust taste with a peppery finish. It's also very rich in oleic acid. Cornicabra is a milder oil with note of fresh herbs and tomato that pairs beautifully with salads or vegeta- bles. Finally, Arbequina is the olive that produces the oil that's most familiar to many Ameri- cans. It has a delicate, grassy taste with notes of apples and al- monds that enhances subtle fla- vors without overwhelming them. Each of The Olivique products is pure extra virgin olive oil, Sutherland says. "Some folks are adding cayenne and lemon, not only to olive oil but to balsamics. We don't do that," he says. "Our slogan is truth, simplicity in olive oil." He points out that infused oils may actually be blends that disguise bad characteristics, such as age. The Olivique, by contrast, depends on transparency, ver- ification and certification by third-party laboratories and customer education to sell oils that each have a portfolio of documen- tation that's available to the company's dis- tributors from its web site. "We wanted to have as much documenta- tion as possible, so that people can ac- cess as much docu- mentation as they wish," Sutherland says. The Olivique oils are produced in the region around Toledo, Spain, which is not the highest-producing olive oil region in the country. "We went to Toledo because we wanted to participate in newer denomina- tions that are producing oils that are very interesting, young and fresh," Sutherland says. The olives come from family farms that haven't been in large commercial produc- tion in the past and have trees that may be up to a hundred years old or more. The newer orchards, in which the trees were planted in straight rows, are harvested with modern machines, but the older or- chards, in which there are no straight lines, are harvested by one of the last migrant olive-picking families on the Iberian peninsula. They spread cloths on the ground beneath the trees and then shake the branches with long poles until the olives tumble down onto the cloths. "Our olives don't sit on the ground, not even for a minute," Sutherland says. "The olives fall onto a cloth, and then the olives go straight to the mill. That's been from the beginning of olive trees, and that's how it still happens. W h e n they fin- ish, it g o e s straight to the mill for crush- ing." "It's also beneficial to collect the olives under a full moon. It helps to make it much more ro- mantic, and it affects the flavor somehow," he adds. "We're starting to work with the moon cycles. I do believe it has an influ- ence. Fortunately for us, we're very grate- ful to have a scientific mind in our romantic quest." The Olivique oils are currently being sold in Zabar s in New York, Jimbo s, Bay Cities and Vicente Foods. Distribution is through Gourmet Merchants American (GMA). For more information, visit www.olivique.com. GN

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