Homer called olive oil liquid gold ( no seriously) …and the Greeks consume almost 25 L of olive oil per capita annually. It’s more than twice that of any other Mediterranean country.

Why should we care? Well it dawned on me that if they consume so much olive oil and it’s been around them for five thousand years, maybe I’d better listen to what I learned when I visited my olive oil producers in Crete.

Upon arriving for the first time all I could see were olive groves on every hillside on the island. I remember the distinctive smell of wild thyme, marjoram and oregano completely surrounding them and a bold colour palette of silvery green leaves, purply-amber soil and deep blue sea. This is where the olives for my extra virgin olive oil grow.

It’s hard to capture that in writing but when you taste the oil you should imagine that scene.

My advice when it comes to choosing oil is this: Pick an oil that you love the flavour of. It’s like wine. Use it how you prefer and store it properly in a cool dark place. Now , the difference between wine and oil is,  the longer you keep olive oil ,  the more flavour you lose.  So don’t be storing your favourite bottles for years in the cellar.

Good quality extra virgin olive oils should always have a best before date, a distinct flavour and not taste greasy or filmy and an acidity of less than .8 % .  This Cretan gold has an astonishing .3 % .   And since some producers are trying to sell cheap imitations, the best way to guarantee you’re getting authentic oil is to learn how good oil tastes. If it costs $5/L – I don’t care what it says on the bottle, it’s not extra virgin. Never use light olive oil (refined with less taste and health benefits but all the calories).

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