Our Arbosana Olive Oil Named Best of USA in Global Competition
Time to share some big news: Our robust tasting Arbosana extra virgin olive oil was named Best U.S. Oil at the TerraOlivo international olive oil competition in Israel. It’s a big deal for us. (To celebrate, we’re offering a 20% discount on all online purchases of Arbosana this month; just type in the coupon code GRILLING when you check out.)
More than 400 extra virgin olive oils from 18 countries were submitted for the competition. The judges, from 10 countries, analyzed the oils for attributes like aroma, flavor, harmony and complexity.
Bob Singletary, our Master Miller, says the weather last year was “perfect” for Arbsoana.
“The lack of rain later in the season meant that we didn’t lose any intensity in the flavor of the olives. We also didn’t have any cold snaps or rains,” Bob says.
“The good weather last fall also meant we could harvest the Arbosana olives at the perfect time.”
Our Arbosana, by the way, pairs well with grilled food (among other dishes, like soups and chocolate). Drizzle it on a grilled rib eye steak, for example.
“A robust extra virgin olive oil holds its own against the intensity of the meat,” olive oil aficionado Fran Gage notes in The New American Olive Oil (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2009).
Arbosana is milled from the Arbosana olive, a green olive originally from Spain.
This little olive yields oil that gives the back of your throat a very noticeable tickle when you taste it.
Hence the robust flavor.
In addition to a grilled rib eye, we like to drizzle our Arbosana on bruschetta and atop soups. In terms of chocolate, try it as an ingredient, say, in chocolate almond torte or chocolate biscotti.
Our Arbosana olive oil is a more complex, robust tasting oil than our Arbequina, which is more delicate. And while Arbequina delivers flavors of tropical fruit and fresh artichoke, our Arbosana delivers flavors of fresh tomato and almonds.
In addition, the Arbosana olive is our No. 2 olive, accounting for 19% percent of the 12,000-plus acres of trees we have under cultivation. (Arbequina accounts for 78%.) Arbosana also is California’s No. 2 olive crop.
Getting back to food, here are Fran Gage’s suggestions for pairing food with robust oils, like Arbosana:
- Brushed atop bruschetta
- In the almond-laden Spanish sauce known as romesco
- With soups in general, as an ingredient and/or drizzled on top
- In the Spanish seafood medley paella
- With garlic mashed potatoes
- Drizzled on top of a grilled and sliced rib eye steak
- In biscotti as an ingredient
- In olive oil ice cream
- For all things chocolate – although chocolate is actually a special case, according to Gage. It pairs well with all types of olive oils. (Is there anything not to like about chocolate?)
Your friends at California Olive Ranch
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