Health Benefits

It is vital to us that every Mother’s Garden bottle and container of E.V.O.O. has the pressing, and bottling dates on it. Precious few olive oils provide this essential information.

 

 

Best Before – shorter than most olive oils? Absolutely.

We put a shorter best before date than many olive oils to ensure the finest quality, flavour and health benefits and to underline that the age of an olive oil matters. Always buy an olive oil within the year of harvest and consume daily. Yes, olive oil can be kept unopened in a dark, cool place for up to two years from bottling, but the fresher the better for flavour and goodness.

As long as it’s stored away from heat and light, an unopened bottle of good quality olive oil will be fine for up to two years from the date it was bottle
As long as it’s stored away from heat and light, an unopened bottle of good quality olive oil will be fine for up to two years from the date it was bottled

All olive oils give you a best before date, but do you know the age of the oil?  Extra virgin olive oil is the juice of the fruit with the water removed, and the incredible goodness, for heart, head and digestive health, is at its greatest the fresher the oil. Flavour and goodness diminishes as an olive oil ages, and this dulling of its vitality is accelerated by light and warmth. So always store in a dark cool place and when opened use within two months.

 

 

A great many people tell us that they didn’t realise extra virgin olive oil had a scent and a flavour, with a peppery finish. That is because they have never tasted a premium fresh olive oil before. Do not assume that because a bottle states Extra Virgin that premium quality is guaranteed. It isn’t. Our aim is to reduce the time it takes to get our fresh olive oil from the mill where it is carefully stored, to our customers. We do all we can to give you the vital Mediterranean-diet fresh goodness of simple olive juice/oil as we enjoy here every day.

 

 

Always be sure of three things.

There are scores of wonderful olive oils in the world, made from different varieties and produced by dedicated growers, be they independent or a village cooperative. Explore the host of flavours, talk to your local deli, but be sure of these three essential things:

  1. How old is the olive oil? Freshness.
  2. Where does it come from? You should be able to trace the oil's origin to one mill. Provenance.
  3. What recommendations or awards are there? Quality.

We are here to answer your questions. And if you want to learn more, read books by experts such as Judy Ridgway, Anne Dolamore and Tom Muller.

 

 

Key facts about our award-winning olive oil

  • The arbequina olives are harvested here in the Priorat mountains of Catalunya in November.
  • They are picked and cold pressed on the same day, in our village cooperative mill. Speed is vital for quality.
  • We store the oil in the same room where it was pressed, until we are preparing a shipment. We bottle at the mill too.
  • It is 100 per cent, unblended arbequina extra virgin olive oil, pure and simple.
  • We work with 80 other families in the valley, some of whom only have a few trees, others who have hundreds. We have 110 trees.
  • The oil has an exceptionally low acidity of less than 0.2 per cent and is rich in antioxidants and nutrients.
  • At home keep your olive oil in a cool place out of direct sunlight, and decant what you need into a pourer. Our pourer lives in the middle of our table because it is a daily food, not a luxury.

Any questions please ask us. Click here to get in touch.