costasse come una Golf ...

Helmut Elster, nostro cliente di Monaco di Baviera, era indeciso se definire l'olio Vallelupo la Rolls-Royce oppure la Bentley degli oli di oliva.

E' ovvio che un simile paragone non può che far piacere.

In effetti il nostro olio, oltre a soddisfare il palato più esigente, ha caratteristiche chimiche che lo pongono ai vertici della qualità. Aggiungendo che ne produciamo una quantità decisamente modesta, non è sbagliato considerarlo un prodotto di "lusso".

Ed allora mi è venuto spontaneo pensare che se una Rolls costa più di 10 Golf, se un abito Brioni costa 10 volte un buon vestito, etc... allora una bottiglia di olio Vallelupo dovrebbe costare come 10 bottiglie di olio Carli, Bertolli, Monini, etc...

Freshly pressed olive oil can ease the pain of living too well – literally – researchers have announced.

The throat-stinging squeezings of the pulped olive – the only vegetable oil that can be consumed without processing – contains a compound that has the same pain-reliving effect of the popular over-the-counter drug ibuprofen, scientists at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia reported in research published recently in the journal Nature.

The discovery of a natural anti-inflammatory agent in extra-virgin olive oil offers a reliable biochemical insight into the well-documented but puzzling health benefits of a Mediterranean diet, which appears to lower the risk of cancer, heart ailments and some chronic diseases even though it is high in fat and salt.

From the kitchen galleys of Chez Panisse in Berkley, where chefs drizzle, dip and splash $10,000 worth of Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil every month, to the chic corporate corridors of Gourmet in New York, this newest finding about the pharmacology of food prompted bemused looks. Scepticism and more than one deeply satifed smile.

“It is always reassuring to hear that something so good has a health benefit,” said café chef Russel Moore at Chez Panisse. “But it does seem strange that there would be whole cultures of people eating an anti-inflammatory all the time.”

Only the freshest – and usually most expensive – olive oil. However, contains significant amounts of the pungent compound, called oleocanthal, the researchers said. Aging and cooking destroy it.

The irritating intensity of the taste of a fresh extra-virgin olive oil turned out to be directly related to how much oleocanthal the oil contained.

The highest levels are found in the olives grown in Tuscany and the lowest in many California olive groves.

As gourmet estate oils have become a connoisseur’s collectible in recent years, however, some northern California growers have established groves of Italian olive trees that appear to yield high amounts of oleocanthal in their oil, the researchers said.

According to the research, oleocanthal inhibits the activity of cyclooxygenase enzymes, the same medicinal effect of ibuprofen, which is known as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory.

Inflammation is believed to underpin a variety of chronic diseases, the researchers said.

“When we checked the pharmacology, it was identical to iboprofen,” said Monell researcher Paul Breslin, an expert in the psychophysics of food who helped lead a team of scientists that spent two years investigating this chemical propriety of olive oil. The Monell center is an independent non-profit research institute and the study was conducted without financial support from the food industry, importers or olive growers.

“It seems plausible,” Breslin said, “that oleocanthal plays a causal role in the health benefits associated with diets where olive oil is the principal source of fat.”

- Los Angeles Times