There’s olive oil, and then there’s olive oil, and Josh Saiia is eager to explain the difference. As the owner of ORO di Oliva, which specializes in fresh extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic vinegars, Saiia and his staff at their four retail locations (Wauwatosa, Whitefish Bay, Brookfield and Milwaukee Public Market) encourage sampling, suggest pairings and answer questions.
Customers can sample oils and balsamic vinegars from stainless steel dispensers arranged throughout the store. The Ultra Premium line displays the name of each olive on a green tag next to the dispenser, along with characteristics and the country where the olive was grown and pressed. The Ultra Premium line is arranged with softer, fragrant varieties on the left, progressing to the heavier, robust peppery oils.
“I think what makes ORO a resource for the community is that we have the ability to manage freshness and quality that is unmatched right now in the food word for olive oil,” Saiia said. “University of California-Davis studies show several olive oil samples consistently did not meet extra virgin olive oil standards, even though the label would say so. The reason that happens is because they’re old, or they might start off with a defect.”
The way to detect old olive oil is that it tastes like crayons or putty—defects Saiia calls fusty—meaning that the olives did not go from tree to press quickly, or they are overripe and have basically fermented.
Saiia is of Sicilian descent and grew up with Sunday spaghetti dinners. He later started making his own sauce, but he noticed it didn’t turn out like the sauce made by his relatives. Someone then suggested an olive oil from California made with freshly pressed olives. Saiia and his wife visited California growers and tested what was coming off their presses. “It was not a business idea, but a curiosity that turned into a business,” he said.
Saiia partners with a purveyor out of California, which he has an exclusivity arrangement with for the oils he carries. The olives are sourced from the northern and southern hemispheres and are harvested early. “When you harvest an olive early, you don’t get as much oil, but you get a better physical chemistry, and the complexity of phenols in the oil is at its peak. That is where you get the flavor, texture and a lot of the health benefits you’re hoping to gain from olive oil,” Saiia said.
When sampling olive oil, Saiia explained that you want to take enough to coat the palate, and as you breathe out, you will often detect the notes. Arbosana has a soft, grassy flavor, like the tip of a clover. When combined with white balsamic pear vinegar, you get a spring-like fragrance, with a tasty pop from the pear and a nice aromatic follow-through. The Picual a tomato stem scent, with a green tomato taste. When paired with the 18-year-aged balsamic, the vinegar’s fig, honey and date notes complement the Picual and makes a fine dipping blend for crusty bread, or a tasty salad dressing.
Saiia emphasized the notes from each oil in the Ultra Premium line are coming just from the olive itself; nothing has been added. The flavor-infused oils ORO does carry, such as basil, garlic or lemon, are made by grinding those fresh fruits or herbs right into the presses along with the olives.
ORO di Oliva offers both white and traditional dark balsamic vinegars, with no added sugar, thickeners or colors. They also have grab-and-go gift pairings and jarred table olives. Oro di Oliva bottles a grocery store line, GODA, sold at Outpost Natural Foods and Sendik’s Brookfield location on Capitol Drive.
For more information, visit orodioliva.com or facebook.com/orodioliva.
