Olive oil is so essential to Italian cooking, pizza and focaccia that we often joke that it is its own food group. We were told, somewhat seriously, by the manager of the San Gimignano comunale frantoio (city owned olive mill in Tuscany) that they know of local families who consume over 120 liters of olive oil per year. In fact, the per capita consumption of olive oil in Italy is a high 13.5 liters per year, compared with only .6 liters per person in the U.S. As a side note, the per capita consumption in Greece is a remarkable 30 liters.
While the health benefits of olive oil can be debated (the is a growing body of research which says that olive oil might actually be good for you), the wonderful flavors cannot, and we think of it as our responsibility to help change America's consumption pattern. U.S. olive oil consumption doubled in the 1990s, and all signs are that American usage is continuing to go up.
We use two types of olive oil. A Cooking Olive Oil, a mass produced extra virgin olive oil for cooking under heat (which takes away most of the flavor), and an Eating Olive Oil, a specialty extra virgin olive oil for salad, and topping pizza, focaccio, soups and grilled meats. Always use your best olive oil for pizza -- you will taste the difference. We don't have any other oil in the house.
The most famous Italian olive variety is the Frantoio (not to be confused with the olive oil press of the same name), and there are many 100% Frantoio oils available in the U.S. Recently, there has been a mini-scandal in Italy about non-Italian Italian olive oil, so take care to make sure you taste the oil you buy, and make sure you like it before you buy more.
Our experience is that you can get an excellent specialty oil without spending an arm and a leg. Personally, we don't think that the shape of the bottle or the cork has a big impact on flavor, or that a small bottle of olive oil should cost more than a nice dinner out. In fact, Costco carries a pretty darn good 100% Tuscan extra virgin olive oil.
James Bairey, a former Silicon Valley marketing executive, is CEO of Forno Bravo, LLC, a supplier of Italian Wood-Fired Pizza Ovens and Brick Pizza Ovens and Italian Pizza Ingredients for home owners, restaurants, pizzerias and bakeries. He recently returned to his home and vineyard in the California wine country after two years in Florence, Italy.