Instructions: In every part of Italy olive oil is the basis of cooking. We have at least three varieties on the go at any one time in the River Cafe. We use a lighter oil for frying such as the Ligurian oil; this is pressed from olives that have ripened on the trees so the oil is gentler in flavour and paler in colour ideal for Fritto Misto and deepfried zucchini flowers. Thick green fruity oils from Tuscany are wonderful added to bread soups. And the dense and fruity olive oil from Ornellaia is marvellous for salad as its quality seems to be constant throughout the year. The only blended extra virgin olive oil we use is in the initial preparation of soups and vegetables.

Olive oil is a seasonal product and when first harvested in November has a completely different taste and colour. Sometimes a new oil is so peppery and hot that it can burn your tongue and palate like a chill). New oil poured over hot bruschetta is a gastronomic experience we look forward to every year for now that our reputation has spread we are invited to Italy to taste the new oils. We have tried oils pressed in the newest most mechanised presses and those pressed in traditional waterrun stoneground mills.

The kind of extra virgin olive oil we use for cooling is different to the estate bottled oils we use fo pourlng over bruschetta and adding to soups. The cooking oil is a blend of several extra virgin olive oih from all over Italy produced from olives that are pressed when they are fully ripe and have droppee from the trees. Ripe olives produce more oil when pressed and have a higher acidity. The resulting oil has little flavour or aroma but is much cheaper and is fine for general cookine.

Estate bottled cold dressed extra virgin olive oils have very distinctive characteristics and flavours. We go to Italy every November to coincide with the olive harvest and choose oils to use in the restaurant in the coming year. Tuscan oils which are thick green and fruitiy have always been our favourite. We choose two that complement each other from diffrnent estates and our current extra virgin olive oils are from Selvapiana and Felsina.

The oil from the Selvapiana estate is pressed from theFrantoiovariety The olive trees grow alongside the famous vineyards in the cooler Chianti Ruffina zone north east of Fiorence. The olives are picked early when green and pressed in a modem cold press producing the greenest and most intensely spicy oil.

The new oil is bottled immediately and arrives in the restaurant by December where our customers enjey Bruschetta alolio a joy that excites us all.

At the Felsina estate in Castelnuovo Baradenga on the southernmost borders of Chianti Classico the olives are dressed in the old traditional way. The estates mill At Farnetella has been run by the same man for the last 45 years. A manual process results in 15 litnes of oil from 100 kg of olives. The olives are the Corriegiolo variety the greenest of all olives. They are hand picked and crushed the same day producing an incredibly rich green smooth oil that we have chosen for its long life low acidity and subtle pepperiness We use this oil for salads and blanched vegetables throughout the year.

Onions red info

We use red onions as we prefer their sweet more delicate flavour. The original Panzanella a peasant dish was made of onions bread and olive oil.

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