I'm confused about virgin and extra-virgin food and fibre.

I've seen bottles of "virgin" and "extra-virgin" olive oil. What does this mean? I have my suspicions: is it to do with the first harvest each year? or is it more to do with the processing of the fruit to get the oil? (in which case, is "extra-virgin" olive oil what you get after the first pressing? or after the ultimate pressing? how many pressings do olives get, anyway?!)

Then there's "pure virgin wool" (and no, "pure virgin" is not necessarily redundant!). What does this mean? Again, I have my suspicions: is it to do with the first shearing of a sheep? and if so, is it the first shearing in its lifetime? or, like, what?

The extra-virgin oil comes from the first squeezing of the olives, then there are subsequent squeezings (virgin), and then some more, with chemicals added to help the process of obtaining oil, having oil of lower and lower quality
From the "cuore verde d'Italia"= green heart of Italy (full of olive trees)
Emanuela

As a tired old joke, virgin wool comes from the sheep that r;un the fastest. Actually I think
means that it has not been blended with reprocessed wool from old garments or wool from tad
balls or off bushes in pasture.

virgin wool comes from the sheep that r;un the fastest

Well, Nunca Bill, it sounds as though that's probably a pretty accurate definition...! given what you went on to say. Sounds as though virgin wool is simply wool that was actually shorn off a sheep? (as opposed to collected from other sources)

and thanks for your explanation too, emanuela - now I know what kind of olive oil I want to get! (cold-pressed extra virgin. Must...resist...temptation...!)

Problem with this choice is it smokes at a lower heat and is not so good for cooking in. It's the choice for salad oil or to drizzle over your veggies or pizza or whatever. Don't fry your eggs in it. I think it's a better source of omega-3s but the lovely ASp will be a better source for that info.

I can't remember and can't find on internet name of very toxic substance that can be fomed
in smoking oil. If it smokes, don't inhale it. Ventilate kitchen well.

Thanks, Faldage and Bill. I was only thinking of going as organic as possible....So what is the most-organic (or is organic an absolute?! I could be headed for trouble here...) kind of olive oil that works for cooking?

cold-pressed extra-virgin for salads and drizzling; what for cooking?

Dear MG: There is a lot of mis-information in the praise of "organic" foods. Read what the
debunkers say as well as what the true believers say. Be healthily skeptical.

In an effort to remove this discussion away from a simplistic erotic plane I, high minded, would like to say that the PARTHENIAN nature of the squench is of no concern to a boy that is good, or, in the parlance, a good ole boy.

I don't think the pressing has much to do with the organicity of the oil. I'ts all in the growing. And you can say what you want about the good or bad features of organic; the bottom line for me is that modern organic food tastes a whole lot better than factory grown or food that is soaked in pesticides. Much of the bad mouthing of organic is based on older methods that produced inferior product.

I'm with Faldage - organic tastes LOTS better. The only thing I thought about cold-pressed extra-virgin, was not so much that that meant organic (which I realize it doesn't), but that it meant that the oil product was that much closer to its original form. Cold-pressing is, in my understanding (and I await correction!), a non-chemical method for extracting oils from produce; and extra-virgin, being the first pressing, would be the least refined, yes?

I bought some organic cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil t'other day and my mother nearly passed out when I used it to cook something at her place and - oops - told her what it had cost. But I reckon organic foods are worth it. The price is a reflection of the production costs and I'll pay that price to eat good food.

PS to Faldage: I used it on a low heat! - there's a little thermometer on the label that indicates at what temperature it's okay to use this type of olive oil for cooking - it was very low, and thanks to you, I noticed that and used it, as recommended, only for "light sauteeing."