The next few posts comes from a wonderful Olive Oil Tour that you can take from Granada.
Olives are extremely bitter and uneatable until they’ve been processed or milled. That teeny tiny black olive in my hand above almost knocked me flat when I tasted it. That said, it was in Spain that I developed an addiction to olives and olive oil.
Unlike other regions that produce olives, Spain has different grades / tastes for oil. You can get extremely mild oil (like we see imported into North America) to strong oil, which almost tastes like a mild turpentine.
Our favourite was Fuentes de Dios (strong). We discovered Fuentes de Dios during an oil tasting (apparently there are official tasters that wander the countryside sampling different grades of olive oil). We were taught to sample oil by putting it in a small cup and warming the oil with your hand before tasting. This releases the flavour. Really good oil will warm your throat (like spices) and have a pleasant after taste.
Niña was so impressed by the oil tasting experience that she now endlessly eats fresh bread with oil/vinegar.
And great for stirfrys.