Corsican olive oil in the limelight at Paris International Agricultural Show

The prestigious International Agricultural Show took place in Paris from February 21 to March 1. Foodies were once again delighted by tastes, flavors and culinary delights at this 52^nd International event.

A Corsican village, represented all the wonderful products such as honey, wine, chestnut, cheeses and olive oil products making  pavilion 3, a delightful stop but noticeably this year for those  in the business of olive oil   was a change in  labeling of Corsican Olive oil  with producers adding information  to their local treasure.

Besides the protected designation of origin (PDO) Corsican Olive Oil producers can now include additional information .   Were the olives ripe and were they   allowed to be dropped into nets or were they picked green from the tree?

But how is this helpful to the consumer?

With all the recent talk of fraud, olive oil consumers are on their guard.

 What does “picked off the tree or picked off the ground really mean?”

Although in depth labeling is key for this high quality product, consumers need to understand the two very distinct tastes and aromas that the two methods will have on the resulting oil.

They need to know that when olives are picked green and processed within 24 hours, you get a more bitter oil with herbaceous aromas and flavors like cut grass while ripe fruit will produce a sweet delicate taste.

As Union President Don Jean Santaluccia   said “the olives that fall into the net are much milder than those picked off the tree and are much more fruiter.”

Surely this would be more helpful to the average consumer.

Facts and figures for Corsican Olive Oil—Olio di Corsica

·         Corsica produces some of the most delicious olive oil.   Many producers like to wait until their olives are fully matured, then let them fall quite naturally onto carefully laid out nets usually between November and May.

·         Two types of plantations exist on this sundrenched island --old orchards with old trees some more than 2,000 years old which survived two terrible fires in 1957 and 1985 and relatively young olive orchards tendered by young producers.

·         The island boasts 28 approved mills for olive oil production and 194 member producers.

·         In 2014, Corsica celebrated their tenth anniversary of PDO.

·         The average price per liter of Corsican Olive oil -- 20 euros per liter.

Olives from Corsica