La Amarilla de Ronda’s Organic Olive Oil
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 01.24.06
La Amarilla de Ronda, LA is a company from Andalucía, Spain, that produces a line of organic extra-virgin olive oil. According to their website, Spain is the largest olive oil producing country in the world, yet Italy has obtained greater exposure through major marketing campaigns. The partners of this company see close similarities between the worlds of oil and wine. Therefore, they have created two different ecological extra virgin olive oils with the aim of “bringing the well established wine culture to the world of oils: Mild and Intense ecological extra virgin olive oils, with different gastronomic uses, as is the case with white and red wine.” The team behind La Amarilla de Ronda is world-class and includes Cristino Lobillo (a top olive oil expert), Michel Rolland (respected enologist) and Philippe Starck (the designer who created the hip packaging). So on your next visit to Spain be sure to pick some up because, unfortunately, it isn’t sold anywhere else. ::La Amarilla de Ronda, LA
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Spain may produce more oil than Italy but Italian oil is of much higher quality.
actually, Zupan's markets in Portland, OR sells at least two types of this oil. (www.zupans.com)
Although Spain certainly produces some excellent extra-virgin oils, the fact that Spain is the largest producer does not necessarily mean quality. In fact, I would say the opposite is true. Tuscany and Umbria together only produce approx. five percent of Italy's olive oil with a significantly higher percentage of small producers and olive mills and, of course, completely different varieties of olives. It is important to sample many producers and a.) find one you trust (you rarely see anything other than extra-virgin in the store, yet it is the minority of oil produced, how can this be?), b.)find the flavor you like, whether it be from Crete, Liguria or the West Bank.
Olive University