Become A Know-it-oil

How to cook with olive oil, what to look for on the label, and what the heck “extra-virgin” means anyway.

- Jill Waldbieser

Olive oil could quite possibly be one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. Research shows that the fat, a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet, may help your heart, ward off cancer, and improve your body’s ability to absorb other nutrients.

But olive oil may also be one of the most confusing foods on the planet.

Give the language on a typical bottle a scan and you’ll find words like “cold-pressed,” “harvest date,” and the ubiquitous “extra-virgin.” Some of these phrases mean jack squat, some of them are supposed to mean something, and some of them mean everything if you’re looking for olive oil that is both nutritious and delicious.

To sort out some of this madness, turn to the advice of Meagan Cole, a certified oleologist (like a sommelier, but for oil) at Lucini, an olive oil brand.

“COLD-PRESSED” MEANS NOTHING.

Olive oil producers once extracted oil by pressing olives, often with large, heavy stones pulled by horses. But for the last 50 years or so, they’ve used centrifugal machines. These machines separate the oil from the olive’s solids and water. But “cold centrifuged” just doesn’t have the same ring to it, so the old term stuck.