Choosing (and using) an olive oil can be unnecessarily overwhelming. It shouldn't be. Here's some easy tips on how to use premium olive oil.

WHAT TO PICK?

There's a few things to consider when selecting an extra virgin olive oil:

• Where are the olives from?

• Bona Furtuna olives are from a single source: our farm in Corleone, Sicily. They are milled and pressed all onsite. They leave the farm once: when they've been bottled and are on their way to you. Oils made from the olives of multiple farms won't be as fresh and will lack flavor.
• The bottle

• Good olive oil should always be stored in a dark container. Light will cause the oil to oxidize. Bona Furtuna olive oil is always packaged in a dark glass bottle inside a box, or an opaque box for our larger 3 L sizes, and sealed with an inert nitrogen gas to to protect from oxidation and preserve peak freshness at the time of bottling.

STORAGE

Enemy #2 for EVOO is heat. Keep your olive oil away from light & heat. Our packaging is designed to protect the oil from light. Store your oil somewhere cool and dark, like in a cupboard or pantry on a low-shelf. While it may be convenient, do not store your oil in a clear glass bottle directly next to the stove.

The third and last major thing you want to protect your oil from is oxygen. The more oxygen your olive oil is exposed to, the quicker it will degrade in quality. We recommend using Bona Furtuna Sicilian olive oil within two months of opening for this reason. Don't be afraid to use it liberally- olive oil is rich in polyphenols and has numerous health benefits. And olive oil from the Sicani Mountains like Bona Furtuna may be even better for you.

TIP: There are techniques that can help prolong freshness if you just can't use your oil that quickly. As you use more oil, more oxygen is being stored inside the bottle. One approach is to use the oil more slowly at first, and then when around half of the bottle is left, start using it more quickly (as more oxygen is inside degrading the oil faster now). The olive oil is still good, it's just losing more flavor as time passes and it's exposed to more oxygen.

USAGE

Bona Furtuna's premium, organic, extra virgin olive oil is a finishing oil. The best way to truly experience the unique flavor of our olive oils is to use them to finish a dish. It's meant to be drizzled over a dish before serving, or tossed in a fresh salad where those distinct flavors will shine through and enhance the dish. Use it like you would a special sauce.

Many of us at Bona Furtuna often have at least two olive oils in our kitchens. We have one or more varieties of our flavorful fresh, new harvest for finishing dishes with. And then we'll have a second bottle (or 3L tin), one that's a little older to cook with. You can never have too much olive oil!