Our friend Keith Richmond has a thousand olive trees in the Tuscan hills, south east of Florence.
Keith shows off tomato bruscetta at a local restaurant in Radda in Chianti.
Every November he harvests his olives and wins prizes with the rich green oil they produce.
He recently picked up a gold medal in Los Angeles and another important prize in Germany.
We first met him at an olive oil tasting demo in Florence and were smitten with his passion for this miraculous product and his beguiling way of expressing it.
He knows his subject.
I thought I’d ask him to write a brief note about the tricky task of choosing a good olive oil.
He obliged with this:
It occurs to me that, since you mention extra virgin olive oil so often in your recipes and recently extolled the virtues of the Mediterranean diet in your blog, some of your readers may like to have some pointers on how to select an olive oil of good quality.
The supermarket shelves are loaded with olive oils of questionable quality, many of which may be suitable, I imagine, for frying or cooking in general. Price is certainly an important first indicator: cheap oil is, well, cheap oil – and you get what you pay for!
When taste and flavour are indispensable you have to go to the top of the range. Ideally you should know the grower and how the olives are processed. Obviously that is seldom possible, so the best alternative is to head for the more expensive olive oils on the shelf. You are more likely to find an olive oil of good or even exceptional quality in that way, especially if the label indicates that the olive oil is organic (‘biologico’ in Italian, for example) and that it is (for Italian olive oils at least) IGP or DOP, a sort of appellation controllée. This means that the olive oil has passed rigorous olfactory and chemical tests and is reliable.
Pay attention to the ‘best by’ date. This should never exceed 18-24 months after the year of production. Oils can still taste good after that date but will have gradually lost most of the characteristics beneficial to health. Also, you have no idea how the olive oil has been stored, so keep your distance from ‘old’ olive oils.
Your readers in North America would do well to consult a web site and blog run by Tom Mueller (www.truthinoliveoil.com). He gives a lot of sensible advice on a variety of oils that are available in the US especially.
I’ll be happy to answer any queries. Keep cookin’, best, Keith
This is meant as an introduction to his excellent site–which is worth a visit.
Keith and Helen Richmond also offer excellent holiday accommodation on the farm.
http://www.boggioli.com/the-farm/hospitality/
Consulting the oracle…
Robin Ellis 
Thank you Robin for the article and pics. I am taking note address of your friends: probably we will spend a week end there next month or in Septmber. I love olive oil ever, above all with our bread, tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper and basil….yes, bruschetta. But is very delicious with spaghetti, parmesan, basil, pepper and parsely…simple and taste 😉
Many years ago I did a big trip crossing trough Italia.Remember the good olive oil just on bread with a little salt.If you can do that with oil, then you find out that it is the good one,yummy!
I prefer olive oil to butter on everything…currently on steamed English asparagus at almost every meal! Keith’s looks grassy and delectable. His words are very useful…there are so many types available, it’s quite discombobulating! Happy weekend both x
Hey Robin I was watching an episode of Sherlock Holmes, the Jeremy Brett version of course, when I suddenly realized.. hey I know that guy 🙂 It was the episode you were in. I had seen the episode several times but had not made the connection before.
“discombobulating”, what a fantastic word, first time I heard it. What does it mean? Confusing? I really like that last photo!
Have just read about the new EU Directive which will require olive oil to be served in sealed, tamper-proof packaging. This means no more little bowls of it on tables with delicious bread to dip in. It is expected to have an enormous detrimental effect on small oil producers. Britain voted against the ruling, but it has gone through anyway. More red tape and interference……Can you imagine much notice being taken of it in Italy?
Is his oil available in the U.S.? One tip I picked up from somewhere is to look for oil from one country only and not blended oil from several places. There are great organic olive oils from California as well. I am in the process of trying different brands from different places, and so far, have found the California oil the best available where I live.
Thank you for all the wonderful info on buying olive oil. Answered a lot of questions. I will check out the websites. Someday I would love to visit their farm.