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There are many different varieties or Olive oil and Extra Virgin Olive oil is the most pure and has a superior quality taste to it. Usually extra virgin olive oil is cold pressed and then stored in a cool location for two months or more, after which the oil is racked off similar to racking wine. This takes just the purest of the oil and leave behind the small particles of olives.
Extra virgin olive oil sounds exotic doesn't it? What comes to mind when you hear these words? I picture someone pressing olives that are barely ripe, how about you? In fact extra virgin olive oil means that the oil has less than one percent of acid. Essentially the acids reduce the flavor in the olives, whish is why they also subject the olive oil to blind taste tests as part of the certification process. The blind taste tests are similar to wine taste tests.
Olive oil is typically made by using large stones similar to a stone mill that grinds wheat into flour. The stones grind the olives and their olive pits into a mash. This mash is then place on very thin mats, stacked and put into a machine press that squishes the mash so hard that oil and other juice flows out and into containers. This method is called cold pressing and has been in use for thousands of years. After the oil sits long enough for the sediment to settle, the next step is to remove the water from the oil and this is done through decanting the oil or by spining it in a centrifuge.
An interesting fact is that the olives are still pick by hand just as they were thousands of years ago. Then after they are collected off of a tree the are bundled in nets and left at the base of the olive tree for a few days before being collected for cold pressing.
This recipe was originally form the oliveshack.com archive of August 18, 2007
Combine first 5 ingredients together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Mix well. Pour over cheese mixture and stir well.
Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours till flavors combine. Serve with tortilla chips.
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