Just as with the wine, pairing foods with different extra virgin oils will bring different flavours.
 Olive variety
|
Profile
|
Tasting notes
|
Best food pairing
|
Ascolana tenera
|
golden in colour, fresh scent and balanced pleasant bitterness and piquancy
|
scent and taste of fresh grass, medium ripe tomato, sage and oregano
|
bean, ceps and fish soup, red meat tartare, vegetable pasta, boiled red meats, various blue cheeses, curd cheese with honey, fresh figs
|
light green to golden yellow in colour with an intense fruity taste and a pleasing balance of bitterness and piquancy
|
scent of olive fruit, aromatic herbs and artichokes and apples
|
grilled vegetables, raw tuna, raw salmon, grilled premium quality fish, cuttlefish risotto, traditional Japanese sushi, sweet baked apples
|
|
Casaliva
|
golden-green, medium fruity aroma, a mild oil with balanced bitterness and piquancy
|
flavours of green olive, apple and almond and overtones of aromatic herbs
|
vegetable bruschetta, raw shrimp and prawn bruschetta, vegetable and barley minestrone, squid risotto, roasted chicken and turkey, medium aged cheese, strawberry ice cream
|
Cipressino
|
green colour with golden shades, intense fruity scent, as well as a refined balance of bitterness and piquancy.
|
taste of fresh olive fruit, grass, wild radicchio, dried tomatoes and traces of almond
|
raw vegetables, grilled vegetables, vegetable soups, fried seabream, fried surmullets, grilled squids, premium quality fish baked in cast iron pots under fire, fruitcakes with citrus fruit and pineapple
|
Frantoio
|
light green in colour, moderately bitter with a strong pepperoncino pungency
|
dominating taste and scent of fresh olive fruit, almond and aromatic herbs
|
Red meat tartar and carpaccio, truffles, beefsteak, venison, wild asparagus with eggs and truffles, foie gras, mature cheese, almond and walnut cake
|
Istarska Bjelica
|
golden green in colour, pronouncedly bitter and piquantÂ
|
scent of mown grass, taste of green olive fruit, almond, wild asparagus and radicchio
|
marinated mushrooms with orange or lemon, grilled beefsteak, grilled rump steak, dark chocolate and hazelnut cake, chocolate ice cream, chocolate mousse
|
Itrana
|
intense green colour, with intense but balanced bitterness and piquancy
|
strong scent and notes of ripes tomatoes, green banana, mint, basil and sage
|
cold soups such as gazpacho, seafood pasta, shrimp pasta, beefsteak, roast lamb, boiled beef, grilled meat and oily fish, aged cheese, forest fruit in orange juice marinade, curd cheese with hearty honey
|
Leccino
|
harmonic and refreshing light oil with a wonderful dark green colour, gently bitter and piquant with irresistible freshness and pervasive fruity scent
|
tasting of olive fruit and aromatic herbs
|
raw prawns, shrimps and white fish carpaccio, grilled squid, cuttlefish and shrimps, all kinds of fresh seasonal salads, desserts with sheep curd cheese, forest fruit and vanilla, panna cotta, ice creams, forest fruit and strawberry parfait, cheesecake
|
Maurino
|
intense green colour with mild fruity flavour in a harmony of bitterness and piquancy
|
herbal aromas that evoke artichokes, mint and rosemary
|
white fish, tuna carpaccio, sea food pasta and risotto, salmon tartare, vegetable appetizers, spit-roasted rabbit, goat cheese, forest fruit cheesecake
|
Pendolino
|
light green colour pronounced by bitterness with slight shades of piquancy
|
fruity scent , taste of fresh grass, artichokes, mint and rosemaryÂ
|
creamy soups, minestrone of various tuberous plants, European lobster and spiny-lobster carpaccio, venison, beefsteak, rump steak, semi-matured cheese
|
Picholine
|
intense dark green colour, with well balanced taste
|
fragrance of artichoke, celery and tomato
|
dark fish, truffles, red meat, goose liver and all kinds of offal, Istrian ox beefsteak and various steaks, poppy seed and carob cake, various forest fruit or blueberry ice-cream
|
Rosulja
|
golden green in colour, with intense fruity scent, initial balance of fruitiness and piquancy that gradually turns into a strong 'pepperoncino' flavour
|
intense taste of olive fruit
|
salty anchovies, cod fish pâté, grilled mushrooms, chicken and turkey, mushroom soup, traditional pasta such as fuzi from Istria, mature cheeses, almond, hazelnut, pistachio and olive biscuits
|
Vodnjanska crnica
|
intense yellow green colour, fruity scent, moderately bitter and piquant,Â
|
sweet taste of olive fruit, almond and apple
|
grilled dark and white fish (especially tuna and salmon), octopus salad, seafood salad, dark fish carpaccio, beans minestrone (beans, horse beans and chickpeas), cheesecake, emulsions with honey, citrus fruits and various pepper sorts used as topping for cheesecake
|
Selekcija Belic (blend of Leccino, Vodnjanska crnica, Frantoio, Istarska bjelica, Buza and Pendolino)
|
magnificent green colour, moderately bitter and piquantÂ
|
scent and taste of green olive fruit, vanilla and chicory and aromatic herbs
|
roasted lamb and veal, asparagus with eggs and prosciutto, grilled fish and vegetables, cuttlefish risotto, octopus salad, grilled salmon and tuna, corn minestrone, cod fish and salmon risotto, various seasonal salads, fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, vanilla ice cream and mousseÂ
|