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Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 11:13 pm
by liberty
I have lately taken up cooking. Today I fried some potatoes and notice that the olive oil was green. This don’t seem right; a oil that is green in color. Is this some kind of communist plot?
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 11:23 pm
by Crackpot
Not really. If it was a communist plot it would be red
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 11:53 pm
by Gob
Ok, and Sister Mary may correct me on this, but olive oil comes in various colours from light yellow to dark brown and all colours in between.
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:37 am
by Guinevere
Yes, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil has a greenish color. But be careful cooking with it -- cook with a lower grade olive oil which has a higher smoking point. The extra virgin is best used for salad dressings and other instances where you are not heating it.
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:46 am
by Gob
Always use old oil for chips (freedom fries) and par boil them first.
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:51 am
by liberty
Crackpot wrote:Not really. If it was a communist plot it would be red
No, that would be transmission fluid.
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 3:06 pm
by loCAtek
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:45 pm
by @meric@nwom@n
Olives being green and all you do have to wonder that the oil would be green. I would have figured for blue or purple.
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:28 pm
by Guinevere
Hey, some of them are black, too. And the kalamatas sometimes have a dark deep purple-y kind of look to them
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:04 pm
by Sue U
Crap, now I have to go over to the olive bar at Wegman's. You people!
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:31 pm
by @meric@nwom@n
Guinevere wrote:Hey, some of them are black, too. And the kalamatas sometimes have a dark deep purple-y kind of look to them
The black ones are ripe , says my limited knowledge.
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:02 pm
by Guinevere
Sorry, nope. There are green, black, even brown olives. Green does not equal unripe.
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 11:59 pm
by @meric@nwom@n
The only difference between green olives and black olives is ripeness. Unripe olives are green, whereas fully ripe olives are black.
http://homecooking.about.com/od/fruit/a ... ieties.htm
I await your humble apology.
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:48 am
by Guinevere
Sorry, "homecooking.com" is wrong too.
The California rare fruit growers state:
Fruit: The olive fruit is a green drupe, becoming generally blackish-purple when fully ripe. A few varieties are green when ripe and some turn a shade of copper brown. The cultivars vary considerably in size, shape, oil-content and flavor.
They also state:
For California canned commercial olives, black olives are identical to green olives. The black color is obtained by exposure to air after lye extraction and has nothing to do with ripeness.
Full article here:
http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/olive.html
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:54 am
by @meric@nwom@n
Or your source is wrong and mine is right. I found multiple others to support that the balck ones are black because they ripen on the tree.
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:57 am
by @meric@nwom@n
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:58 am
by Guinevere
I'd prefer to rely on olive growers for facts about olives, rather than "homecooking.com." And I found multiple sources who agree with me -- there are multiple varieties of olives, and when ripe, some are black, some are green, some are brown.
Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:01 pm
by @meric@nwom@n
I shall argue futher later, I have lives to save.

Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:05 pm
by Guinevere
So a photo entitled "ripe olives" includes olives that are both green and black. I rest my case.
Off to promote peace, justice, and the american way!

Re: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Green?
Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 3:17 pm
by Andrew D
At any decent supermarket, one can readily find containers clearly labeled "ripe green olives".