Lovesicily's extra virgin olive oil tasting with olive oil "master" at Mastri di San Basilio

Printer-friendly versionEvery season we like to update our culinary tours in the attempt to include always the best food related experiences this area of Sicily has to offer. Now, if you have been to one of our cookery lessons or are familiar with this blog, you already know about my respect for Mastri di San Basilio's work and my appreciation for their extra virgin olive oils, both Riserva and Due Sicilie. Nothing really new about that! What was great about this spring culinary tours though is that, for the first time, we were able to visit the Mastri di San Basilio newly restored farm house and learn everything about top quality extra virgin olive oil production under the expert guidance of Salvatore Padova. The whole visit was a wonderful experience for our guests, a fantastic way to learn about the "art" of making olive oil starting from caring for the land, the trees, the people and hearing all the details related to the harvest and pressing phases. The top moment was obviously the tasting part, comparing Riserva and Due Sicilie and trying to detect the difference. I must say that it was also fun to hear everyone sucking air through their teeth as they took a sip of olive oil to enhance the taste and looking at each other slightly embarrassed. The tasting was followed by lunch at the farm where Mariangela Padova and I, prepared lunch with simple ingredients such as tomatoes, ricotta, almonds, fresh herbs, natural yeast, all combined with the great "golden olive syrup" they produce.