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Our question of the day is: why should you chose the Extra virgin olive oil from Malcesine? Well, the olive groves around Malcesine have an extremely fertile ground. The harvesting goes all the way back to the 8th century, testified by an archeological dig which discovered olive oil containers being buried with Roman coins. Nestled between the Alps and the Plains around the Po River, this part of Italy has grown into an economy based around the olive.

There's a special cultivation process of the olives taking place where they are allowed to ripen slowly on the trees before picking. This produces a superior quality of oil which has a light flavour. Olive oil is an ideal compliment for vegetables, fish, meat and many other foods. Note that due to being allowed to ripen on the trees, olive harvesting takes place later than other fruits - between October and December.

The fruit is then cold pressed and turned into olive paste where it has to mature for two years before being turned into olive oil. Olive oil is much healthier than other oils due to being composed of monosaturated fat. As well as this, it has antioxidatory properties. There is also a high vitamin content in olive oil. It is preferable to use olive oil than other cholesterol based products. The philosophy of the people of Malcesine are to keep alive the traditions of olive pruning and harvesting. Should you wander through a grove you would see that many trees are more than a hundred years old. Many of the hilltops overlook the nearby Lake, Lake Garda, the largest lake in Italy. The region is also known as the "Riviera degli olivi" ("Olive Riviera"). In order to harvest the groves special ladders or scalini are used to complete the process. Although the same product is sold, there are differences in taste between different olive producers or mills, and note that there isn't a standard bottle size either. Though olive oil doesn't have the appearance of sunflower oil or the usual vegetable oil, maintaining its characteristic green-golden yellow colour, it is no worse for that.