Oil, pepper, salt… “mineral water” (italian nursery rhyme) someone might add.
But jokes aside, do you remember the containers of oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in the photo?
Some time ago it was normal to find them on the tables of restaurants, trattorias and pizzerias, now, fortunately, it is less frequent. But they are still there. And quite a few.
The humiliation of oil
Those oil cruets are the plastic representation of the humiliation of oil, reduced to an extra like the other components of the table setting. Like a napkin or a fork.
But the humiliation does not stop there. If the oil in those vials were of good quality, perhaps it could be accepted. It would be left to the sensitivity and culture of the diner to give it the role it deserves during a meal.
But oil stored in those containers can never be of good quality and even if it had been at the beginning, in a short time only a memory of it would have remained.
In those transparent glass (or plastic!) containers exposed to light, in constant contact with oxygen, unprotected from heat, even a quality oil doesn’t take long to deteriorate and, instead of enriching dishes with its aromas, it ruins them with its now rancid flavors.
Yet there are laws protecting EVO oil on the tables of public establishments, and they have been around for some time now.
What the law says
The LAW of 30 October 2014, n. 161, in article 18, paragraph ‘c’ states:
« Virgin olive oils offered in packages in public
establishments, except for use in cooking and preparing meals,
must be presented in containers labelled in accordance
with current legislation, provided with a suitable closing device so
that the contents cannot be modified without the
package being opened or altered and provided with a
protection system that does not allow them to be reused after the
original contents indicated on the label have been used up »;
So, to clarify, the law says that on the tables of public establishments there must be labeled bottles equipped with anti-refill caps.
What can we do?
If during a meal in a restaurant we are brought a set of that type, we must report to the restaurateur that it is not in compliance with the law and that they risk heavy fines.
But that is not enough. Even if they delivered you a bottle that complies with the law, it would not be a guarantee that you will have a non-defective oil.
The size of the bottle is very important.
Let’s say you are given a bottle with a standard label, the name of the producer, the vintage and the expiration date, perhaps a half-litre bottle with two fingers of oil inside that has been around for who knows how long.
Will you have quality EVO oil? Almost certainly not. The larger the bottles, the longer they remain open and the more the oil degrades.
Smaller formats are always preferable, a 250 ml for example or even better a 100 ml with a selected quality oil, to be purchased at the time of ordering and used for the entire meal, taking it home if not finished.
This solution, with a few Euros more, guarantees the highest level of quality, enriches your dishes with the typical aromas of an EVO oil, represents an absolute guarantee of hygiene as it is delivered closed but above all it gives the EVO oil back the dignity it deserves as the protagonist of the menu, from appetizer to dessert.
Let’s do our part to retire those oil cans, so that they become only a memory of something bizarre and incredible, like when people used to smoke in the cinemas…