A Conversation with
“The Olive Oil Hunter,” T. J. Robinson
Let
me start out by saying this is a long interview but if you are into
food, especially olive oil, you are going to want to read every word.
Who is The Olive Oil Hunter?
T. J. Robinson is one of the world's most respected
authorities on olive oil. He travels around the world tasting and
looking for the finest selections of olive oils available on the planet.
As one of the few
Americans asked to serve as a judge in
prestigious Italian olive oil tasting competitions, he has been
described as having a "platinum palate."
His specialty is knowing which specific olive varieties, growing
regions, and little know estates and family-owned groves scattered
throughout the Mediterranean and elsewhere produce the most heavenly,
flavorful, and healthy olive oils.
It is my pleasure to introduce you to T. J. Robinson, aka "The Olive Oil Hunter".
RG: Thank you, T. J., for giving me the opportunity to
share your vast knowledge of olive oil with my readers. And thanks again
for sending me samples of your fresh-pressed olive oils from the
Spanish harvest. They are so different—much fresher and more
flavorful—than any olive oil I’ve ever tasted. What’s their secret?
TJ: As I tell all my foodie friends, if you
want to experience the world’s most flavorful olive oil, there’s just
one three-word secret to remember—fresher is better.
Olive oil, unlike wine, does not improve with time. Just the
opposite. Olives, after all, are a fruit. And just as with fruit juice,
olive oil is at its zenith of flavor and nutritional goodness
immediately after it’s pressed.
This is why the locals in the olive-growing
regions of Italy,
Spain, Greece, and other
Mediterranean countries go wild—as do I—for
fresh-pressed oil.
In many of these regions, the growers throw big parties at
harvest time to celebrate the pressing of their new oil. The locals
adore its vibrant, youthful bloom of green, fresh flavor and abundant
health benefits. These marvelous qualities start to fade within three to
six months after bottling. This is true of all olive oil, even the most
expensive, which is why fresh-pressed oil is superior to any other
olive oil you’ll ever taste.
RG: Why don’t the oils in my gourmet store or supermarket taste this fresh?
TJ: The big problem for us in America is that
only a precious trickle of fresh-pressed olive oil ever makes it to our
shores. The vast majority of olive oil that finds its way to the U.S.
gets shipped months—maybe even a year—after pressing, and travels here
by slow cargo ship. As a result, the oil’s fresh, bright flavor is
already on a downward spiral by the time it is unloaded at our docks.
And then it may languish additional months on store shelves, losing more
flavor and growing more stale.
This is why most olive oil companies don’t put a harvest date
on their bottles. They may put a “best used by” date, but not a harvest
date. They don’t want you to know how old the oil is. Savvy olive oil
lovers know that if an olive oil is already nine months or older when
they buy it - as most oils are—its healthy polyphenols and antioxidants,
and above all, its fresh flavor, are already degraded or largely
destroyed.
By contrast, my unique mission
is to race our
hand-picked estate and artisanal oils “from tree to table in 30 days or
less” —that’s our motto—at the peak of their harvest-fresh flavor.
RG: Please go on - you were talking about the problems with store-bought oils here in the U.S.
TJ: The overall problem is that for years
America has been a dumping ground for some of the world’s worst oils.
Unfortunately, many international producers believe that American
consumers will buy anything as long as it has a fancy label, a pretty
bottle, or a well-known brand name.
RG: What’s wrong with the oil inside many of those pretty bottles?
TJ: I’ve already mentioned there’s a universal
lack of freshness, which means the oils are at best quite dull when
compared with fresh-pressed oil. At worse, the oils are so stale that
they’re even turning rancid, which means you’ve lost out not only on
taste but also on the oil’s health benefits. Rancid oil is one of the
unhealthiest foods you can put into your body. There are other problems,
as well.
RG: Such as?
TJ: Many oils available here—especially those
labeled “light”—have actually been chemically stripped to eradicate any
defects that would normally disqualify them from being labeled “extra
virgin.”
Also, many of the large olive oil companies, because they
require so much oil for the mass market in the U.S., collect their
olives from hundreds or even thousands of growers. Then they transport
the oils pressed from this amorphous mass mixture, devoid of singular
character or taste, via container ships. These ships often travel from
port to port for a long time while the oils slosh around in hulls that
are not temperature controlled. Heat and cold damage olive oil’s flavor
and nutritive value.
Adding insult to injury, when these oils eventually hit the
supermarket and gourmet stores, again they are often stored at
less-than-optimum temperatures, which only hastens their deterioration.
Once on the shelves, they are exposed to fluorescent lighting all day
long. Light is murder on olive oil and takes a heavy toll on taste.
This is why you should always store olive oil in a cool, dark
place and should never buy olive oil in a clear bottle!
Another problem, though not as common, is dilution with less
expensive oils. I’m sure you’ve read about the adulteration scandal in
the Italian olive
oil industry.
Olive oils destined for the American market, in many cases,
have been found to contain oils other than olive—rapeseed, for example,
or cheap nut oils from other countries.
To its credit, the
Italian government has taken steps to curb
fraud in its olive oil industry, but the problems are still widespread.
It’s easy to understand why. On one hand, the popularity of olive oil
and the
Mediterranean diet are soaring worldwide.
On the other hand, the money that unscrupulous producers can
make by diluting olive oil with cheaper oils can be huge. Because of the
vast quantities involved, authorities say that the counterfeiting of
olive oil can actually be more lucrative than the drug trade. It’s much
easier to get away with, the risk of getting caught is low, and the
criminal penalties are relatively minor.
RG: How do you avoid these evils with the oils you import?
TJ: Let’s take them one at a time.
First, freshness. Our oils are insanely bright, green and flavorful, which you can taste for yourself.
RG: Yes indeed!
TJ: This is because we race them here by jet
straight from the harvest. We completely bypass the usual months-long
distribution channel that other oils must navigate—from olive grove to
the pressing mill, then to overseas warehouses, then to ships, then
across the oceans, then to U.S. warehouses, then to regional
distribution centers where they may languish additional months while
stores sell off old inventories.
Store owners are loath to throw out expensive olive oils, so
they keep them on the shelves until they sell. Only then do they
reorder.
In
contrast, our custom-selected oils are raced, as soon as they are
pressed, from the mill to a waiting jet plane that whisks them to the
U.S., where they are transferred to rapid delivery trucks and rushed to
our Club members’ doorsteps.
As for our other quality controls, I am a fanatic, a certifiably
neurotic perfectionist about every stage of our Club’s selection
process.
It helps enormously that, unlike the mass marketers of olive oil,
our Club is so small and exclusive.
We represent a relatively tiny number of highly discriminating
olive oil lovers.
Since we don’t need massive quantities of oil, we have the
luxury of handpicking our oils from the finest boutique producers and
traditional family-owned estates around the world. From my many contacts
in the industry and years of globetrotting, I know who the
highest-quality artisanal producers are.
These artisans and families are fiercely proud and protective of
their names and reputations.
They wouldn’t dream of dishonoring their good names with
inferior oil.
Even so, I don’t take chances. I personally visit these premier
growers during their harvest to personally inspect and taste their
latest offerings. I also run spot-check lab analyses to confirm absolute
purity. But believe it or not, the human palate—and I’ve got a
well-trained one—is still the most reliable way to assure purity and
extraordinary taste.
Also, while I taste for myself every oil under consideration, I
also bring other highly trained independent tasters with me to verify
my impressions. Moreover, many of the oils I select are the top award
winners in their regional olive oil competitions, independently
acclaimed as the best that a given region has to offer.
Almost all of these award-winning artisanal olive oils are of
such limited vintage that they are never shipped to America, with the
sole exception of our Club.
On my recent trip to Spain, one of the growers said, “T. J.,
nobody does what you do!”
I asked him what he meant. He said, “The other olive oil buyers
in America never visit us and taste each oil before making their
selections. They do everything by email and phone from the States.”
He admired my fanatical dedication and confided that it inspired
him and his local artisanal competitors to vie with each other to give
me their very finest and most flavorful blends, as they know that I am
their toughest judge and the one American buyer who would most
appreciate their best oils.
They also know that we deal with some of America’s most
discriminating olive oil lovers, including well-known chefs, prominent
restaurateurs, and influential food writers, and they want their oils to
reach and impress such people.
After I’ve selected my favorites from the many exceptional oils
offered, I have them bottled on the spot and shipped by jet to our
fulfillment center in America. When they land, we run a series of tests
once again to be sure the oils we selected are indeed the ones that have
arrived.
Once we’re totally satisfied, we race these treasures to our
members by rush delivery so they can experience the extraordinary
fresh-pressed flavors with their family and friends.
Because I am so hands-on at every step, and because I deal
exclusively with boutique artisanal producers and respected family
estates who are fiercely proud of their heritage and reputation, our
members get to enjoy the finest, most flavorful olive oils on the
planet, oils that suffer none of the multiple indignities heaped upon
mass-market olive oil.
RG: Let me now ask about you, T. J. How did you come to
be doing this? Surely as a child you didn’t look in the mirror and say,
“When I grow up I want to be ‘The Olive Oil Hunter.’”
TJ: No, not exactly. But I’ve always been
extremely passionate about all things edible. I grew up running around
my grandparents’ garden barefoot, plucking the ripest and tastiest
heirloom cherry tomatoes I could find. Later, after dropping out of what
I called “real” college, I went to culinary school to further my
passion for wonderful food.
I excelled quickly and in spite of my young age became the chef
at the Biltmore Estate Winery in Asheville, North Carolina, in the town
where I was born.
While at the Biltmore, I met visiting Food Network celeb and
über-talented food and wine journalist David Rosengarten. After working
together over the weekend, he invited me to New York City to become his
assistant.
Moving to New York to work with David was one of the best
decisions I have ever made. I spent most of my seven years with
Rosengarten tasting the very best in food and wine, in New York and
around the world. I’ve visited close to forty countries in my search for
the absolute best gastronomic experiences.
Along the way I got to enjoy items that were completely
unavailable in America.
One item I discovered in Sicily was fresh-pressed olive oil.
With one sniff, I fell madly in love and could not imagine living
without it all year round. So I worked diligently and creatively to
bring fresh-pressed olive oil to America on a regular basis.
RG: What exactly are your qualifications to be “The Olive Oil Hunter”?
TJ:
I would say the most important qualifications are a passion for great
olive oil, a well-trained palate, and a love of adventure. I seem to
have been born with all three.
First, I truly have a passion for great food. And since I have
devoted my life to finding the world’s most flavorful olive oils, my
passion for fresh-pressed olive oil has grown into a glorious obsession.
I’m thrilled and grateful to be able to work at something that
makes me happy, and I’m proud to share my discoveries with fellow
foodies and friends.
As for my palate, I was born with a good one. As my food mentor
David Rosengarten would describe it, I seem to be a natural-born “super
taster,” someone who experiences the sense of taste with far greater
intensity than average. But I have also worked hard to train my palate
to detect the fine points of olive oil appreciation.
As part of my training, I’ve taken olive oil appreciation
classes in California at UC Davis. And when we first formed the Club, I
hired a highly respected olive oil expert, the British writer Judy
Ridgway, to travel with me and teach me the ropes. Judy taught me the
secrets of what to look for and how to taste like a professional when
selecting the very best, freshest olive oil.
Finally, as for the love for adventure, my suitcases are always
packed and I’m ready to vagabond over mountains, oceans, and whole
continents to find the freshest and most flavorful olive oils on the
planet for my Club members, whether in rural Tasmania or along the
Israeli border.
RG: I’m sure many of my readers are thinking how great
it must be to travel the globe sampling the world’s best olive oils, but
I’m sure there is a lot of work involved and it isn’t as glamorous as
it sounds. Can you speak on that subject?
TJ: The worst parts are the jet lag,
challenging flight schedules, and amazing meals I must endure while
visiting world-class producers around the world (wink, wink.)
Being in the fresh-pressed olive oil business is my life’s work,
my passion and pleasure, but there are many stresses, especially due to
the unique way I do it.
In addition to gallivanting all over the world, I’m often up
all hours of the night making sure our producers are on track with our
order. Leaving nothing to chance, I personally shepherd every aspect of
the oil's rush delivery to America, including booking the jet service,
transportation to the airport, clearance through customs and red tape,
and so on.
From the moment our prized olive oil flows from the press, it’s a
race against the clock to get it into my members’ hands and on to their
tables for enjoyment.
We strive to deliver the oil “from tree to table in 30 days or
less,” while the oil is at its peak of freshness and flavor. That puts
pressure on me during our shipping cycle.
By the way, this peak of freshness and flavor for the oils we
ship will last from three to six months, after which even the best olive
oil starts to decline.
RG: What makes a great olive oil?
TJ: I taste mostly for three things:
fruitiness, bitterness, and pepperiness. Actually, the most important
part of my selection process is screening out what I don’t want. I’m
always looking for telltale defects.
When I taste, I “listen” with my palate and the olive oil always
tells me its story.
It tells me with honesty and openness if the olives were
plucked from their tree early, late, or at the right moment of the
harvest.
It tells me if the olives were plucked tenderly by hand or brutishly by machine, resulting in damage to the fruit.
It tells me if the olives were rushed to the mill at their
peak of freshness or if they had to sit and wait too long before the
pressing, causing some off-tasting fermentation to set in.
It tells me if the equipment the olives were pressed on was pristinely clean or not.
Letting the olive oil privately confess its story to me,
including any and all flaws, is akin to how a trained wine critic
listens to the wine.
In tasting, I focus not only on detecting subtle defects, but
also on what I and most foodies, chefs, and olive oil connoisseurs look
for.
That is, we want olive oils that are “ALIVE” and have an aroma
reminiscent of rolling around in a field planted with green grass and
culinary herbs. I like my oils to be well-balanced and light in
viscosity with pleasing flavors that linger and make me swoon.
RG: When I first tasted the Castillo De Canena and
Portico Dela Villa that you gave me, I was surprised at how incredibly
fresh they tasted. I was struck by their greenness and their smell of
sweet hay or grass. To be honest, I was at first confused by their
flavor because I’m not used to such youthful olive oil. I’m wondering if
this is a common reaction from people you meet who are not accustomed
to fresh-pressed olive oil?
TJ: Yes, it is a common reaction from people
who have never had fresh olive oil. Some people, once they’ve had their
first taste, describe it as an epiphany. It’s as if they’d been cooking
with dried herbs their whole lives, and then suddenly replaced them with
fresh herbs!
The truth is, people often hold preferences for familiar
flavors—their mother’s chicken soup, for example—or even poor quality
olive oil, oil that’s dull and past its prime. Sometimes the bitterness
or pepperiness associated with really fresh olive oils and high
polyphenol levels surprises their palates, as do the flavor nuances like
hay or grass that you mentioned.
But their palates quickly grow accustomed to this awakening,
this explosion of freshness and flavor. And then they crave it. From
then on, they find they cannot go back to consuming inferior oils. They
become addicted!
RG: For those first-time tasters who may be startled by the freshness and the lush herbal nose, what would you tell them?
TJ: Sometimes people ask if our early harvest
oils are “infused” because they’re so green and flavorful. I have to
explain that the only thing in the bottle is fresh olive juice. Like
wine grapes, olive varieties have different flavor profiles which can be
influenced by soil, climate, date of harvest, etc. And like wine, there
is a certain vocabulary that has evolved to describe those flavors.
One oil might be reminiscent of culinary herbs or green tomatoes,
while another might be more fruity or buttery. We also look for balance
and a good mouthfeel or viscosity.
RG: After tasting the two oils straight off the back of
my hand, I decided to sample them with some roasted potatoes and
tomatoes we were having with dinner. The vegetables cut the bitterness
and all I could taste was pure olive flavor. The oil seemed to bring my
vegetables to life and gave them a whole new unique taste. Can you speak
a little about how fresh-pressed oils bring out food’s flavor?
TJ: We humans are conditioned to crave fats—we
love oil-rich dressings on our salads, butter on our potatoes, and
where I’m from—the South—bacon with everything! I’m sure you’ve heard
the phrase, “Fat equals flavor.” And it’s true. Olive oil is a flavor
carrier, and when it’s exquisitely fresh, it’s a seasoning in its own
right. It’s the perfect “mother sauce” for food.
A bold oil, for example, is sensational when splashed on a
char-grilled steak. It emphasizes the steak’s meatiness and tones down
the bitterness of the char.
A more delicate oil can be the perfect complement to roasted or steamed vegetables, mild fish, white beans, rice, or potatoes.
When the oils are as fresh as these with flavors at their peak,
they can be used just like a condiment. When we send our Club members
their fresh-pressed oils, we include suggestions for flavor-enhancing
ways to pair them with foods and use them in traditional recipes.
RG: I’ve experienced how these fresh-pressed olive oils
can be perfect for dipping and finishing dishes, but can I cook with
them?
TJ: Absolutely. I cook with fresh-pressed olive oil
almost every day. I cook my morning eggs in it, drizzle it over toast,
mash potatoes with it, and marinate meats in it. Cut it with a little
fresh lemon juice, and it’s perfect over salads or roasted vegetables.
You can even bake with it.
The only thing I would not use it for is high-heat frying or sautéing.
It has a lower smoking point than peanut or other vegetable oil, and
the heat breaks down the flavor and healthy qualities of olive oil.
RG: A question on terminology: Does “fresh-pressed” olive oil
have to be “extra virgin” olive oil or is there such a thing as
fresh-pressed “virgin” olive oil?
TJ: Any olive oil, regardless of quality, can be
described as “fresh-pressed.” The term is not a formal classification.
Only oils that are free of defects and that satisfy the quality markers
established by the International Olive Council can be called “extra
virgin.”
We would never consider oils for our Club members that didn’t meet the
high standards of the IOC. Our fresh-pressed oils are exclusively
extra-virgin, meaning we deliver to our members the freshest, most
flavorful, and highest-quality extra-virgin oils available on earth.
RG: When you are at an olive oil grand tasting, what
specifically are you looking for? Please describe your procedure for
tasting olive oil and how home cooks can follow the same approach when
judging their own oils.
TJ: First, I’m looking for a glorious “nose”—an
aroma that leaps out of the glass. The oil should smell fresh and green.
I shouldn’t detect any indication of defects either on the nose or the
palate, signs the olives were mishandled at some point. Mustiness would
be a red flag, for example, as would a “winey” smell.
On the tongue, I’m looking for a bouquet of harmonious flavors and
nuances. Is it fruity? Well-balanced? Too bitter? Peppery? Earthy? Does
it have a lingering, interesting finish? A pleasant mouth feel?
Some olive oils taste too heavy and, well, oily.
Everything has to come together as in a great wine that just knocks
your socks off.
Contrary to popular belief, color has very little to do with an oil’s
flavor profile. A yellowish oil, for example, does not mean the flavor
will be buttery. In fact, professional tasters use special olive oil
tasting glasses—blue or brown—to mask the oils’ hue and prevent
judgments based on color.
Members of the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club receive instructions for
hosting an olive oil tasting party with each shipment. But tasting oils
at home needn’t be a complicated process.
Simply pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a brandy snifter,
cover the top with one hand, cup the bowl in the other, and swirl the
oil to warm it and aerate it. Then remove your hand from the top of the
glass and immediately smell the oil.
What associations does it trigger?
Then taste the oil, letting it reach all parts of your tongue and
taste receptors. Record your impressions, if desired.
Professional tasters usually cleanse their palates between tastings by
drinking water and eating wedges of green apple. But I also like to try
the oils with simply prepared foods—bread, cheese, a green salad,
potatoes, or roast chicken. You will be surprised at how the oils change
when paired with food!
RG: You mentioned color. With wine I can look at the color
and know if it is young or old. Is there a way to tell the age of olive
oil by looking at it?
TJ: Unfortunately, there is no definitive way to
tell the age of an oil by looking at it, although a greener oil may be
an indication of olives that were harvested early.
Some unscrupulous producers even add chlorophyll to their olive oil to
make it greener, tricking consumers into believing they are buying a
young, polyphenol-rich olive oil.
RG: What about smell? Is there a distinctive bouquet
associated with fresh-pressed olive oil that is different from oils that
are six to nine months old or even older?
TJ: Definitely. The oil should smell fresh and
bright and should evoke associations with newly mown grass or freshly
cut hay or even green tomatoes—all indicators of fresh oil and high
polyphenol levels.
Older oils might smell rancid or musty or even vinegary—meaning what’s
in the bottle is sure to disappoint. Most of the oils on American store
shelves have been warehoused for months in tanks, then sent to the U.S.
via cargo ship, meaning they can be “elderly” even before the price
stickers are slapped on.
RG: Once I open one of these fresh pressed olive oils, how
much time do I have before it loses its exquisite qualities? Or, phrased
differently, how soon do I have to use it up?
TJ: Unlike wine, olive oil does not age gracefully.
Fresh olive oils have high antioxidant and polyphenol levels, which help
protect them from degrading. That’s why they are so healthy for us!
These are Mother Nature’s healthiest preservatives and they help to
“preserve” us in good health as well!
Ideally, you would use the oils within three months of receiving them.
We send three bottles per quarter. Some Club members open one bottle
at a time, because oxygen, like heat and light, is an enemy of flavor.
I usually advise people to open the most delicate oil first, as
indicated by the tasting notes that accompany the shipment. However,
many members cannot resist opening all three bottles at once in order to
compare their unique qualities. I cannot blame them because I do this
myself. I love comparing the different flavors.
RG: I hear foodies talk about different olive oils going
better with different foods. They say some are better for dipping while
others are better for drizzling and yet others are better for
vinaigrettes. What’s your opinion on this subject and how do you
recommend pairing food and olive oil?
TJ: I usually have several oils in my pantry —
a bold, assertive one for bitter greens or char-grilled meats or tuna.
Then I have a medium one for beans, potatoes, and pasta.
Finally, a delicate one for foods that require a lighter touch, like eggs, tender lettuces, soups, mild fish, or roast chicken.
Generally, my advice is to use what you enjoy. Olive oil is similar
to wine in that there is great latitude in using and consuming it. No
rights, no wrongs.
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