A teaspoon hovered above a nearly phosphorescent green liquid. In front of Emily, a Londoner on holiday in Paris, lay four olive oils in porcelain ramekins. She tasted, hesitated, went back, then decided: It would be the Turkish variety, “fruity and spicy,” chosen with the precision of a sommelier commenting on a chardonnay. Since opening Saints Pères, her boutique-workshop launched in the fall, the ceramicist Caroline Petit Mason has been surprised by the enthusiasm for the Extra Virgin Bar, a unique olive oil bar in Paris, where the precious liquid is admired as much as it is tasted.
Here, rare oils, sourced from micro-harvests of just a few dozen kilos of olives and selected by Turkish culinary expert Cemre Torun, are nestled in handmade porcelain bottles. “Visitors come with the same curiosity as they do for wine. They want to understand, taste, compare,” said Justin Sakho, manager of the shop. In this boutique, which showcases the exclusive Porcelaine de Saint-Germain-des-Prés label, customers can taste and learn new vocabulary: “Ardence,” a French word used to describe the distinct tingling sensation olive oil leaves in the throat, and “fruity ripe,” a type of oil with rounded notes of yellow fruit made from olives picked just before they spoil. The young Englishwoman left, pleased with her porcelain bottle and selected oil.
The scene was representative of an ongoing trend in the world of gastronomy. Olive oil is no longer a product hidden at the back of a cupboard, used only to season dishes. It ticks every box for the modern lifestyle: food consciousness and artisanal authenticity. While 95% of olive oils consumed in France are still imported from Italy or Spain, French producers are gradually gaining recognition and market shares.
You have 77.09% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
Dining and Cooking