The Extra Virgin Olive Oil

The season to make olive oil has arrived. Most Italians buy their oil at the store. But in my area, outside of Rome, there are a lot of olive trees that many people use to make their own extra virgin olive oil.  The olives are usually picked in the month of November and taken to a place called a Frantoio, where they are cold pressed to extract the extra virgin olive oil. The last year I helped  harvest some olives, and I was immediately in love with the oil that we got. Its color was a green-yellow so intense and deep; it was so healthy, rich, flavorful and delicious that I named it “drops of gold”! However, I use a lot of extra virgin olive oil in my recipes.  I often like to use it raw because its taste is stronger and delicious.  Regular consumption helps the body and its functions, making the skin soft and elastic. At the grocery stores in Italy, it is easy to find very good and high quality extra virgin olive oil.