Tag Archives: artisan olive oil

“Under the Tuscan Sun” Olive Oil

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Extra-virgin olive oil from trees growing on the estate made famous in the best-selling "Under the Tuscan Sun.''
Extra-virgin olive oil from trees growing on the estate made famous in the best-selling “Under the Tuscan Sun.”

If you fell under the romantic spell of the memoir, “Under the Tuscan Sun” you’re sure to appreciate a chance to enjoy your very own taste of sorts of that escape-to-Italy life that author Frances Mayes wrote so lovingly about.

The book chronicled Mayes’ fraught escapades in restoring a Tuscan countryside home known as Bramasole that had been abandoned for 30 years.

In addition to renovating the house to new glory, she and her husband Edward Mayes also brought back to health the property’s olive trees.

Each October, the olives from these centuries’ old trees are pressed for olio nuovo, new oil with the freshest taste that’s meant to be used immediately.

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Time to Treat Yourself

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Kokak Chocolates -- the tiny treats with huge flavor.
Kokak Chocolates — the tiny treats with huge flavor.

Kokak Chocolates

Carol Gancia gave up a gig as producer of KQED’s “Check, Please! Bay Area” for an even sweeter assignment — chocolate maker.

In June, she opened her Kokak Chocolates in San Francisco’s Castro District, specializing in small-batch, single-origin heirloom chocolates.

And what phenomenal chocolates they are — as I recently discovered when I received samples to try.

Gancia crafts her confections with a rare heirloom cacao variety in Ecuador, known as “Nacional,” which traces its origins to the earliest-known cacao trees 5,300 years ago. These old-grown trees are now protected by the Cacao Preservation Fund.

Complex and boasting a long buttery finish, the chocolate stars in truffles made with thin shells and incredibly silky fillings. The Mango Lemongrass, decorated with a Mondrian-inspired design, explodes with profound floral notes. The Passion Fruit made me think I was in Hawaii for a second with its taste of the tropics. The Hazelnut-Caramel tastes like a pound of hazelnuts was somehow squeezed inside a two-bite bonbon. Its flavor is that intense.

These are elegant truffles that will make your eyes and taste buds pop with surprise and delight.

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The Time Is Right For Séka Hills New Tribal Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil

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Liquid gold -- Séka Hills' 2019 Tribal Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Liquid gold — Séka Hills’ 2019 Tribal Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

These days when we are all cooking from our pantries so much more, it really does pay to have some stellar olive oil on hand.

Just a drizzle can turn grilled bread, simple salad greens, or even a tub of store-bought hummus into something special.

And if you can get your hand on a bottle of the new limited-edition 2019 Séka Hills Tribal Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil, then you really have struck gold.

Fortunately, a sample landed in my mailbox recently, and I’ve been using it liberally on thick asparagus spears, summer squash, and even fresh popped popcorn (for all those Netflix nights, of course).

The olive oil is made by the Yocha Dehe Wintuan Nation, which sustainably manages more than 22,000 acres on its tribal land in the Capay Valley.

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California’s Olive Queen Olive Oil

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You might just feel like a queen when you taste the Olive Queen's extra virgin olive oils.

You might just feel like a queen when you taste the Olive Queen’s extra virgin olive oils.

 

California produces 3.5 million gallons of extra virgin olive oil annually from more than 400 growers/producers, according to the California Olive Oil Council.

Rob Akins and Mark Berry of Olive Queen Olive Oil in Forestville are among the smaller growers. But they make up for that in quality. The oils they produce are exceptional, as I found out when they sent me some samples to try.

Akins and Berry moved from Southern California to Sonoma County to buy an old, forlorn apple orchard, which they replanted with olive trees.

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