With a few days of delay I’m going to write about the London Olive oil competitions award ceremony
It was celebrated in central London last 13th May and I went to collect 4 awards on behalf of Mas Auro, one of the farmers I’m stocking extra virgin olive oil.
LOOC is a very young competition celebrated in London to promote the participation of olive oil farmers from all over the world and market their products in the UK.
This year 21 countries participated with 381 samples and awards were given for health claims, quality and packaging.
A panel test is formed with professional tester from several countries all over the world.
They meet for 3 days in a hotel and taste all the samples received which are hidden so they can’t recognize the brands or origins of the samples, they come in bands and are codified.
4 tables, 4 judges from 10 countries with the constant assistant of a panel leader assess the quality of the samples by its positive and negative attributes.They assess orthonasal sensations, after taste and harmony evaluation and each aromatic profile.
Awards are classified as platinum, gold, silver and bronze
At the conference Mr Emanuel Salivaras reminded us some of the factors which affect the quality in the elaboration of extra virgin olive oil: olive grove location, climatic conditions, variety of olive, cultivation techniques, maturity of the olive at harvesting, olive handling and transportation. He also indicated us that the time and temperature of all the environment ( day harvesting or night harvesting) , temperature at the mill, cleanliness of the olive mill machinery, crusher type and malaxation process contribute to the elaboration of premium oils. Every farmer aims to produce a tasty and healthy e.v.o.o. and love to see the efforts awarded at international competitions.
Dr Simon Poole mentioned that extra virgin olive oil is at the heart of the Mediterranean diet and consuming it reduces the chances of suffering an stroke as per the results obtained from Premided studies carried out in 2010. It is the right fat to consume as it’s monounsaturated and three quarters of a table spoon contain only 300-400 calories.
If the terminology I’m using is new to you and want to learn more about these concepts, feel free to join us on one of the courses run at Spanish Olive Oil School in London and you’ll have the chance to taste Mas Auro and other premium oils and standard ones to assess its qualities and enjoy learning more about one of the healthiest fruits from the Mediterranean trees.