Filippo Berio Olive Oils (Filippo Berio Olive Oil)

Member Name: stevepeto

Product:	Filippo Berio Olive Oil
Date:	01/01/09 (265 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: health aspects, flavour

Disadvantages: can be expensive

There is a lot of focus these days on having a healthier diet, and it has long been recognised that one of the healthiest diets in the world is the Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean Diet however is not just one diet but reflects different diets from countries that are around the Mediterranean Sea. One thing these diets have in common is the use of Olive Oil which is known to be one of the healthiest oils that are available.

Once we see the healthier side to Olive Oil over other oils we are then confronted by different types of Olive Oil that can be purchased. And this is what the bulk of this review is about. In many ways Olive Oil is like good wine in that like you would have red wine with dark meat and white wine with fish or poultry, you would use a specific Olive Oil for a specific task, for example you would not really want to be frying food with your nice, rich Extra Virgin Oil and at the same time you don't want to be dressing your salad in the mild and light oil. Ok so onto the main part of the review.

This review will concentrate on Filippo Berio Olive Oils. They are an Independent Italian producer and have been around since 1867 so they know their stuff when it comes to Oils. They have a massive grove of around 45,000 Olive trees in the Tuscan Region of Italy, although they also purchase Olives from others countries. They have 8 oils in their range and I will be reviewing 4 oils within that selection.

>>> Filippo Berio Mild & Light Olive Oil: <<<

As the name suggests this is a light oil with little Olive flavour and so is ideal for Frying, Roasting and Baking as the Olive flavour will not overrule the flavours of the food that you are cooking.

It also has a high smoking point so you can use this to shallow fry eggs or bacon for example or use in everyday baking. The colour is a pale straw yellow which indicates the amount of processing that the oil has gone through. I admit that the processing of this Oil initially put me off, however it does still retain all the benefits of Extra Virgin Oil.

I have used this oil recently when doing a friend breakfast for the family. The sausages, eggs and bacon cooked ideally in the oil, and the food was not tainted by ant additional flavour, so this oil works ideally. Although if the level of processing is something that bothers you then I suggest the next Oil in the range

>>> Filippo Berio Olive Oil <<<

The next oil in the Filippo Berio range is simply called Olive Oil. It is NOT from the first pressing and therefore cannot be called Extra Virgin Olive Oil but I do think that is a good starting oil. It has the benefits of the Extra Virgin Oil but is mild enough to be used for all the things the Mild and Light oil can be used for.

This is a good "all round" oil. And personally it is the oil I would start with; It is visually more appealing than the Mild & Light, It can also be used for all the same cooking functions as the Mild & Light, as well as being suitable for dressing salads like the Extra Virgin Oil especially where there maybe some stronger flavours in the food and you would not want to use a oil with a distinctive flavour.

>>> Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil <<<

The extra virgin oils are my favourite, both the regular extra virgin olive oil and the Gusto Fruttato. The colour if this oil is a beautiful golden green colour, the taste gives you a nice little peppery kick that lingers on the taste buds a little before dissipating nicely with no bitterness. The oil is obtained from a first pressing of the fruit solely by mechanical means.

You don't use this oil to deep fat fry with as the flavour will interfere, but you can use this oil to shallow fry as it has a smoke point of between 180-190 degrees centigrade and so can technically be used for most other types of cooking. I have used it to fry with if I have run out of other oil but generally I use this oil to dress food with, salads, fish and pasta will all benefits from a nice drizzle of this peppery oil to lift the flavours, or try a small portion of olives resting in a small amount of extra virgin olive oil with some small slices of orange peel.

>>> Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil Gusto Fruttato <<<

On initial inspection this oil has a really dark green hue; however you then realise that the bottle itself is green rather than the clear glass of the other bottles that I have reviewed. The colour itself is the same beautiful golden green colour of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil. So what is the point of this one you may ask? Well where as the normal extra virgin oil is peppery in flavour, Gusto Fruttato as suggested by it's name has a fruity flavour to it. Therefore this oil is used in the same way as the precious oil only providing you with a different flavour.

Other oils that I have not reviewed are a mild extra virgin olive oil, and unfiltered extra virgin, a special selection and an organic extra virgin oil, You can also obtain the extra virgin and the mild and light in a pump spray.

The nutritional information on the 4 oils reviewed here are all the same, details are per 100ml.

Energy - 3387kj - 822 kcal
Protein - nil
Carbs - nil
Fat - 91.3g
Of which are saturates - 15.5g
Mono saturates - 66.1g
Polyunsaturates - 9.7
Cholesterol - nil
Fibre - nil
Sodium - nil

All Olive Oils should be stored at room temperature and away from heat and direct sunlight.
But what is the health benefit differences between Olive Oils and other types of oils, well for that I think the best thing would be for me to direct you to the website which explains things in a much better way than I can, that information can be found at http://www.filippoberio.co.uk/your-health/fats-cho lesterol.asp but suffice to say that Olive Oil contains high amounts of monounsaturated fatty acids and there is evidence that fatty acids such as these can reduce the risk of Coronary heart disease. And less saturated fats which are the ones we really need to avoid if we can. So whilst no oil is truly healthy per se Olive Oil is one of the healthiest that you can get.

These oils are generaly more expensive than other brands but it is a quality product and I believe worthy of the extra expense.

© This review is entirely my own work but may have been cross posted elsewhere. MAY also be published under the name sjp1966 on Ciao UK and Ciao US.

Summary: great flavoured oil that can be used in all aspects of cooking.