Le coeur du Pays Corse

The olive tree, just as the vine and the chestnut tree, is part of the traditional and ancient times culture. People say this tree, which symbolizes peace, is everlasting. Some regions are better than others for this farming. The Balagne region is the most famous one. Here they grow the Sabina variety, which is harvested from March to June. You can also find the Germaine, which is a earlier variety.
You can also find other olive varieties practically everywhere in the island, but in less quantities: for exemple the picholine, the biancaghja and the zinzala.

The harvest is generally done by natural fall in nets that are disposed under the olive trees (the nets do not touch the ground). In this way, we are sure the harvested olives are ripe (black). This is the reason why the Corsican olive oil is beautifully gold-colored, fruity and very light. You can, thus, use it in raw dishes (salads) or in cooked dishes (fried food, sauces, baked food or food cooked in stewpans).

Olive oil is produced in small quantities. The oil-mills belong to private people or to cooperatives. After the olive crushing, the obtained paste is pressed in order to extract all the olive juice (water and oil). Then, the oil will be taken and filtered, and in the end, it will be bottled. Thus, it is free from artificial colors and preservatives. It's a 100% natural product.

This oil can thus be called virgin olive oil (pure fruit juice). Afterwards, they join it other terms, which will give you further information about the oil's acidity percentage. Extra virgin olive oil has less than 1% of acidity, virgin olive oil has less than 2%, common virgin olive oil has less than 3,3%. Beyond this percentage, oil is called paraffin oil and cannot be for sale. This oil must be refined in order to decrease the acidity rate and when mixed with some virgin olive oil, it can be sold as olive oil.
Thus, you need to know that a virgin olive oil will always be a cold-pressed oil. But, be careful, this mention is an indication about the production method and not about the oil quality.

Flavors and colors

There is a multitude of flavors and colors as far as olive oil is concerned and they can be defined as follows.
Fragrances of fruits and vegetables as the almond, the lemon, the apple, the pear or the avocado. But also green fragrances as the cut grass or the salad leaves and some chocolate, anise or cooked meats flavors.
Colors varies from olive green to straw color.
The differences among all the oils are due to several criteria : the olive's variety, the olive trees' location, the way of harvesting, the olive ripeness.
A good olive oil will always have, in the first place, a taste of fresh oil. Then it's a flavor's and color's matter...

Olive oil and health

With 70% of non-saturated fatty acid, rich of vitamines and of linoleic acid, olive oil is recognized as being the best oil for health and also the most easily digestable.

Suggested by pediatricians for the children's brain development and growth, the most famous among its qualities is its heart's and arteries' protective role. But it also is a "fuel" for human memory.

As a result of a research on Cretan population's longevity, it has been shown that olive oil had a major incidence. That's why olive oil, which had lost for a long time its popularity on behalf of grain oils, has come back and has proved its worth again.
Olive oil is very rich in vitamines. So besides using it in the daily diet, it is also used as an ingredient in skin products, among which the most well known is soap.

Oil preserving

You can keep it 12 months. You need to know that it's not like wine and it doesn't improve with time. The ideal preserving conditions is a storage screened from the light and located in a temperate place.