LOCATION AND CLIMATE

 

As you might expect, olives grown in cooler areas where there is more moisture (rainfall and dew) exhibit leaner, more restrained characteristics.  This doesn’t however mean that great oil can now be made in Iceland – you need a minimum amount of sunshine to make your Extra Virgin Olive Oil taste remarkable, similarly to tomatoes or stone fruit.

Olive trees are sensitive to winter freeze (the Casaliva cultivar is more resistant to cold, hence being grown in the Garda region).  It is also easier to farm organically where the climate is more stable and less chemical sprays are required to keep the trees healthy.

OLIVE MATURITY

 

Here’s the thing – all olives are green.  When they become fully mature, they turn black.
Olive maturity at the time of harvest is a major factor in flavour and quality: olives harvested earlier (green olives) feature more bitter, grassy characteristics, with lower yields and with the highest anti-oxidant content.  The oil is a much more intense green colour and has a longer shelf-life.  In terms of production, milling can take longer with green olives (a longer malaxation - the action of slowly churning milled olives to release droplets of oil - is needed and can be more complicated) but the results are far superior!  Don’t choose olive oil from over mature fruit: it lacks all the potential goodness and flavour.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL IN GROVE AND MILL

 

People who care passionately about what they make and follow it personally every day have the capacity to create products with far higher quality, with integrity, and that taste of where they come from.  They are also able to do this by caring for the environment they inhabit.

FRANTOIO DI RIVA BOX

This box contains 6 bottles of extra virgin olive oil made exclusively by Frantoio di Riva from groves on the banks of lake Garda.

Frantoio di Riva, 46°PARALLELO green label x 3 bottles (50cl)
Frantoio di Riva, 46°PARALLELO organic white label x 1 bottle (50cl)
Frantoio di Riva, 46°PARALLELO blue label x 1 bottle (50cl)
Frantoio di Riva, ULIVA Garda Trentino DOP x 1 bottle (50cl)

Prawn and Salmon salsa recipe
August 29, 2016 In Recipes, Summer
SPRING | SUMMER | AUTUMN | WINTER

Salmon and Prawn Salsa

Summer Recipes

This is a very uplifting dish, that our friend Fay made for us once, and I’ve happily replicated it many times over the summer. It’s spicy, refreshing, easy to make and a very different flavour profile than anything we get in Italy over the summer. It needs a few ingredients that we don’t get easily in Tuscany (such as coriander!), but you should be able to find.

Ingredients

For 4 people

Salmon 200gr cut in small slices

Precooked peeled prawns 200gr, cut in similar size as the salmon

Friggitelli peppers 100gr (they are thin long green peppers)

A large tomato: 100gr

Fresh chilies: 2 (or more if you like it super spicy), thinly sliced

Juice of 4 limes

A bunch of coriander chopped

Method

Slice the friggitelli (or other type green) peppers in very small slices.

Take out and discard the inside pulp off the tomato and slice the outer layer in very small bits.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, making sure the lime juice coats the salmon pieces very well, ad salt, pepper and olive oil and leave to rest for about 30 minutes.

Great served with crispy Ciaccino (Tuscan crisp bread) or Sardinian Pane Carasau.