Freshly harvested olive oil is one of life’s simplest pleasures, and the time to enjoy it is now
A few years ago, we were lucky enough to meet Maggie and Martin, the wonderful couple behind Mother’s Garden, an olive grove in Catalonia, whose adventures were documented in the Channel 4 series No Going Back. And during that meeting, they crystallised something for us that we had never properly considered before: an olive is a fruit, so olive oil is, essentially, fruit juice.
Think of a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, how bright and alive it tastes, bursting with fragrance and flavour. Now think of that same juice after a few days in the fridge or poured from a carton. It still tastes of oranges, yes, but something is missing. Olive oil is much the same, although, being oil, it tastes more stable. Fresh olive oil hums with flavour, plays tricks on the tongue and is bursting with layers. In fact, it is a completely different experience from the regular stuff.