You Probably Haven't Had Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Have you had real Extra Virgin Olive Oil? Probably not. And the real stuff is expensive for a good reason...

About:
Johnny Harris is an Emmy-winning independent journalist and contributor to the New York Times. Based in Washington, DC, Harris reports on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe, publishing to his audience of over 3.5 million on Youtube. Harris produced and hosted the twice Emmy-nominated series Borders for Vox Media. His visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways.

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[mostlikelyaperson]

*grabs my extra virgin olive oil bottle, marks out "virgin" with a sharpie and writes "slutty"*

[gaghhuh]

So when I was a kid my parents took me to Greece once and they somehow befriended an old man who owned a restaurant and he just decided to give us stuff for free ALL THE TIME.
His family made their own olive oil from the trees up in a hill close by and it was just the best thing I have ever tasted in my life. Like I would just pour it on a plate and take the bread they were baking for us each morning and dip it in that liquid gold and it would be the only thing I would eat for the whole week weve been there. Maybe sometimes a bit of their feta cheese and homegrown tomatoes.

Like... I dont know if you ever tasted the sun... But this made me feel like greek gods were probably the real deal.

And it was ALL for free. We felt so bad but they just wouldnt take our money and they were still giving us food even when we didnt order it just because they knew we wanted it but didnt want to ask as they wouldnt accept the money for it. These guys were really really rich and they just decided to make the best they could with it and I can safely say that making such a great food was actually the best thing you can do with your money.

[beetlebg]

My olive oil is not virgin?! I have been lied to, backstabbed, and quite possibly bamboozled too!😢

[AJ.]

Middle Eastern here.
Alot of us have our own olive trees here in jordan.
My family does .we pick the olives our selves and then we take it to this place where we squeeze the olive oil out of it.
We usually consume like four or five 9 liter tanks every year and what ever we harvest more than that we sell .
It costs from 75 to 90 Jordanian diners for each one .and it tastes amazing our families in the us asks us to send them some all the time .

[dessyquainoo]

As an extra virgin myself, I thank you for covering this topic.

[zurhilik]

Special tip from the knowing, premium olive oil will only come in a metal, or green glass bottle (sometimes even pottery), never clear glass. That’s because olive oil is sensitive to light.
Green bottles are more expensive (by far) so low quality brands will save on the bottle

[HeisenbergFam]

If I had a nickel for every scam like that, I would be a billionaire

[cfc]

He just described how olive oil is made but tried to make it sound hard

[Garlic_Bread_Supremacist]

Luckily, I have a neighbour who gives my family 2 bottles of proper extra virgin olive oil from Greece every summer, and it pairs amazingly with minced garlic and smoked salt. I usually have it on some homemade bread, and it makes a brilliant summer breakfast.

[cqammaz]

You reminded me when I lived in Jordan we would go to the farm to pick the olives and spread them out on some clothing the flat roof top to dry. Once dry we would take them to the refinery to cold press them into oil.. Thanks for the good memories

[Antelope-jmjx]

As a Greek i can confirm your olive oil is as virgin as the islands after colonialism

[kz.productions]

Both my grandparent sets make their own olive oil and I can confirm it’s a very time taking process collecting the olives

[aristo]

As a greek, who from a young age, has been spending her Christmas holidays picking olive trees and roaming around the crops, it is indeed a delicacy.

[skyleonidas]

Extra virgin olive oil, the normal one, not the boutique hand made pesticide free etc, that is 8 euro per liter this year, which is particularly expensive compared to other years, here in spain, I guess you need to pay shiping fees and tariffs to get it to the us, so at most it should be 12 dolar per bottle, not 30 for that tiny ass bottle, you are probably beig ripped off. Also, olive oil is not that hard to make, if you have an olive tree and normal kitchen utensils you can make olive oil

[antreaskonstantinou]

30$ for that bottle? Where im from you get it directly from the producer for 5-8€ a liter for a 20 liter jug

[rising_rads.for]

I work at Costco and I always make sure to unvirgin the extra virgin olive oil before we put them on the shelf

[LUNUSt]

Extra virgin just refers to the oil being from the first press of the fruit. Youre conflating artisan oils with extra virgin when the two things are not mutually inclusive. Olive oil thats not extra virgin is usual unappetizing, olive oil thats not at least virgin(second press) is inedible with an incredibly bitter taste and often fine debris.

[nathanbyrne]

Also most olive oil companies in the US mix it with cheaper, unhealthy seed oils to increase volume

[BigBoss]

Makes me feel lucky that I get my olive oil from my olive trees in the farm each year

[fuzzles]

fun fact, Im From Tunisia, and literally my family produce manual, organic, traditional olive oil, since 200 years, and YES its very very hard, seasonal, and expensive. and Yes Since I began to travel around the world and buy some olive oil, and all taste so fake.

If anyone want to buy real olive oil? dont buy brands, and no it does not have to look green, real olive oil look golden. (well there are few types of olive oil, like sour geen, squeezed early, and taste hot, or virgin olive oil, sadly its the most faked one around the world, and the normal olive oil, well can be cold pressed or hot pressed, which is golden color).

Sadly its a phenomena around the world, most americans or some europeans, dont really know how true exotic foods taste like.