Olive Oil: A Gourmet Guide - Tapa dura

Golden green, deep green, jade, limpid yellow or sun yellow in color; bitter, sweet, spicy, harmonious, soft, sweet, fruity, delicate or fiery in character; tasting of almond, apple, artichoke, mown hay or citrus fruits-- there are innumerable olive oils and each has its own personality. Like wines, the flavors of olive oil reflect the soils and climate in which the olives are grown. And like wine, olive oils have their grands crus and their exceptional years.

In the first part of this book, Olivier Baussan, one of the great olive oil connoisseurs, takes you on a wonderful journey through the olive groves, presses and mills of the Mediterranean region. This is an invitation not only to discover the finest oils, but also to savor the conviviality of Provence, Corsica, Italy, Spain, Greece and Galilee.

In the second part, the celebrated chef Jacques Chibois presents fifty recipes ranging from traditional baked sea bream prepared with Sicilian olive oil, to astonishing madeleines made with olive oil from Haute-Provence and pumpkin fritters made with Catalan olive oil.

The final section, the Connoisseur's Guide, provides information on selecting, appreciating and buying fine olive oils.

Illustrated with more than 150 color photographs, this is a book to be enjoyed again and again, both for its superb images and its extraordinary recipes.

Thanks to the growing interest in healthy eating and the popularity of Mediterranean cuisine, olive oil has become fashionable. In some restaurants, olive oil rather than butter is served with the bread, while in others you are given a choice of oils for seasoning salads, pasta and vegetables.

Until recently, the concept of the cru-- the term for a high-quality vineyard-- was restricted to wine, but it is now spreading to olive oil. As with wine, the flavor of an olive oil is determined by a range of factors, including olive variety, location, production methods and vintage.

This book is an invitation to discover the world of fine olive oils through a gourmet's tour of Mediterranean groves. A selection of recipes perfected by the celebrated chef Jacques Chibois demonstrates how different oils can be used to great effect in a range of dishes.

A Connoisseur's Guide provides information on olive production around the world, the different varieties and their characteristics, and the classification system for olive oils, as well as the names and addresses of producers, shops and museums.

Olivier Baussan lives in the village of Mane in Provence. He is the founder of O&CO., a retail company specializing in Mediterranean olive oils. This book reflects his desire to share with others his passion for the fantastic variety of colors, bouquets and tastes of olive oil. His company uses a team of expert buyers to select the best oils every year from among the hundreds of producers and thousands of groves in the Mediterranean basin. Finely packaged, the oils are sold under the O&CO. brand by mail order and in shops throughout France and in New York and London.

Jacques Chibois, the former chef at the Gray d'Albion in Cannes, at the prestigious Bastide Saint-Antoine in Grasse. At this superb hotel-restaurant, set above terraces of ancient olive trees, he has created a splendid cuisine of sunny flavors. "Since I've met Olivier Baussan, it has become a pastime, a daily passion to discover good combinations of olive oils and dishes," he says. In this book, his first, he reveals some of the superb recipes he has created, choosing the finest olive oil for each.

Jean-Charles Vaillant, who took most of the photographs in this book, is a regular contributor to the gastronomic columns of magazines such as Fémina Hebdo and Cuisine du Terroir. A food-lover and enthusiastic cook, he has provided photographs for a number of publications on the subject. For this book he has teamed up with Valérie Lhomme, a contributor to food and lifestyle magazines, as well as cookery books.