Interview with Zani Flanagan, Olive Oil Judge, Hobart Food Show in Tasmania

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Ridge Estate Olive Oil, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria [©Mornington Peninsula Gourmet]

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Zani Flanagan, Olive Oil Judge, Hobart Food Show - Part 4 [©VisitVineyards.com]

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I’m Zani Flanagan. I’m an Australian olive oil judge. I’m in Tasmania judging at the Royal Show, the Fine Food awards, section Olive Oils.

It’s a funny thing how I got into the olive oil industry. I’m actually a New Zealander so I came from a background of rich cream and butter, rich in fat, and I’ve ended up tasting olive oils and I don’t eat much of the other these days.

Olive oil is extremely healthy for you and I came to industry from the food industry where I owned restaurants and from there I’ve gone back to olive oil to get back to basics. For me olive oil is the basic food. We all need oil and fat in our diet and I’ve headed towards the healthy option which is extra virgin olive oil.

There has been a bit of a renaissance to the olive oil industry you know. We’ve had developments in the olive oil industry associated with trends in demography so whenever we have had a new wave of European immigrants we’ve had a new wave of interest in olive oil  and this latest interest in olive oil has brought about a huge development in the industry. We’ve got a lot of new technology, we’ve got a lot of new information and research; it’s a bit like the wine industry actually. That knowledge and the research and our attitude to this industry has meant we are probably up there with the Europeans in quality, we just need to get quantity  and sustainable levels of production up there as well.

I think what’s happened is that the gourmet market here and the health market has started to join whereas as gourmet foods were out of the price range and were seen to be elitist what’s happened now is that the serious foodies in Australia have realised that good foods are tied to sustainable agricultural practice  and that the food  that comes out of that practice is good for us. Its not just a trend in Australia, it’s a trend worldwide. Tasmania and New Zealand are well aware of this and very much protecting their clean green image, underpinning that with real criteria with fine foods. Other parts of Australia realise that but are not underpinning that ethos with real farming practice

I think we are starting to realise that production of good foods starts right with good soil and it ends up with food that we are unafraid to put in our mouths or into our children’s mouths.

So, just like soil, olive oil needs balance. First of all it has to have a balance of flavour, the oil has to taste and smell of olives or its not typical of the fruit from whence it came.  It has a level of bitterness and pungency, pungency is a sensation  in the mouth, a sensation that stimulates the cells and taste buds in the mouth and leaves the mouth and the bitterness helps strips the fat away from the mouth after the oil has gone into the mouth.

Remember this is 100% fat, you know there is nothing light or pure about this, this is 100% extra virgin olive oil and this is 100% fat. We need fat in our diet and one of the decisions we as consumers have to make is what sort of fat we want to put in our body and this has thousands of years of history and research behind it telling us that this is very good for us.

Why I like to take part in these competitions is that they act as an encouragement to people who are producing olive oil so the producers can put their olive oil up for comparison - how the oil measures up if you like against other oils. It is also an indication to the consumer that there are oils out there that aren’t necessarily oils so what we are trying to do here is  encourage within the industry a practice of excellence. So lets set the bar up here and if you are here as a new producer then you have some way to go before your knowledge runs out if you like, so you have the ability to compare and learn to understand what it is that makes one olive oil superior over another.

It doesn’t matter what food product it is, competitions like RAS or industry competitions are an indication not only to your peers in the industry but to consumers, to retailers, to distributors and to overseas markets that we’ve got the best cheese, best olive oil and the best bread have come out of this region in this general competition so therefore this region must be doing something right.

© VisitVineyards® 2007

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• Hobart (TAS)

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