Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil

A fascinating book about the olive oil world, a place as murky as a balsamic vinaigrette.

It is fascinating and disheartening that the, apparently, most regulated food product in the world has the most rampant corruption and false-labeling issues. Issues that have been documented in Roman times and earlier cuneiform tablets. The American market appears both particularly rife with this potentially dangerous issue. However, the size and vibrancy of the same market offers the hope of redemption in the same way wine was: quality-conscious buying and legally verified/validated labelling.

The fact that quality food needs to be sought recalls to me In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto and the economic angle, cheap olive oil begets show more adulterated and falsely labeled products, recalls the motivations that led inexecrably to factory farms as laid out in Eating Animals.

At the end there is a lengthy and detailed glossary and resource listing of Web sites and blogs. Probably a great addition to the physical copies, this doesn't make for compelling listening on an audiobook. show less

Like many books of this genre, your mileage may vary: there are parts of this book that are fascinating and parts that really drag. I was much more interested in the modern-day fraudulent olive oil trade than in the history of olive oil's popularity in the Mediterranean, which I was already familiar with. Although there is a lot going on in each chapter of the book, I found it easy to skip sections I already knew about (for instance, olive oil in religious ceremonies) and get back to more modern stories. It's worth a read if you buy olive oil for home cooking. I do, and I am now very intrigued about what I'm actually getting from Trader Joe's. I'll be watching this topic in the future to see if the European Union starts enforcing its show more rules around olive oil labeling. show less

This book is going to end up costing me an arm and a leg, I'm sure. I learned a lot, much of it disheartening. That extra-virgin first-cold-press olive oil you bought at the supermarket? Is most likely fit only for burning in a lamp. It's almost certainly not extra-virgin, and it's quite possibly not even OLIVE oil. *sigh*

Fortunately, Mueller does provide links and resources to help a person get hooked up with the real deal.

The book itself is interesting but feels padded- the story could have been told in a feature article, though I did enjoy getting to know some of the olive farmers and their opinions.

Books, they change your life.

I can tell already that this is going to be one of those books that makes me look suspiciously at everything on a supermarket shelf.

In the end, after this fascinating glimpse into the shadowy, often bizarre world of olive oil, I came away with one relief: Zingerman's is still safe.

Being an experienced cook and farmer, I always wondered how grocery stores could afford to sell extra virgin olive oil at such low prices. Thanks to Mr. Mueller I now know the answer and the news isn't pretty.

I loved this exhaustively researched book about olive oil, its history, its production and producers, its scientific compounds, its regulation (or not), its adulteration, and the benefits of seeking out the pure and real thing. There is also a lot in this book to consider on he issue of food regulation and food safety that applies to more than adulterated oil! With a cast of characters that range from monks to mafioso to boot.

While I found a great deal of interesting information about the olive oil industry and the ubiquity of fraudulent oils buried in the text, the generic prose and clichéd characterizations (does every small olive oil producer have an engaging smile, folk wisdom, and a family kitchen run like a Manhattan bistro?) dilutes the book's message and, in the end, eroded my patience. Still, it is an honest account and the author is able to communicate an admirable passion for his subject. It's worth reading by anyone with an interest in the present state of the olive oil market.