Mustapha's RESERVE OLIVE OIL - Morocco

375 mL Bottle - Morocco

Mustapha's regular extra-virgin olive oil is made from hand picked olives that are pressed using modern equipment. The oil is then stored for months to mellow and clarify, and then it is filtered. The result is buttery, if not creamy, with a slight pepper finish at the back of the throat. A clean olive oil, it does not linger on the palate without providing a fresh, green quality. For a great recipe using Mustapha's oil Click here. Great on pasta

Given all the fuss being made over the last few years about boldly flavored, grassy green oils, Mustapha decided to show the world what was possible with Moroccan olives. Mustapha pressed a small batch of hand picked Picholines - they are known as "Beldi" in Morocco - in an old stone press.

He then only stores it long enough to get it to this country where he immediately bottles it unfiltered. The result is truly amazing. The murky, green-gold oil exudes a fruity aroma right out of the bottle.

It is still smooth, but it is much bolder and weightier on the palette with the flavor of ripe and green fruit and a hint of nuttiness. It has a lovely buttery finish with just a whisper of spice on the back of the throat.



History of Moroccan Olive Oil:

Many parts of the Morocco were found to be eminently suitable for growing olives - first by the Phoenicians - and the olive and its oil eventually became staples of the Moroccan kitchen.

What many people fail to realize is that today some of the best eating olives in the world come from the foot of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco - as a testament to the quality of these olives, both France and Spain import them.

This also applies to some truly delicious olive oils. Although the bottle looks the same as that of Mustaphas delicious EVO, this one is truly amazing. Moroccans, like the French, tend to like their oil mild and so the olives they use tend to be a bit riper.

About the Producer:

Mustapha Haddouch, whose passion for things American brought him to Texas to attend school 18 years ago, just could not completely leave Morocco behind. When he was a little boy, he went to the market daily with his father, who insisted on purchasing only the best and the freshest ingredients, to him great cuisine required nothing less. He was happy to learn that many people in this country had the same feeling about food.

Ten years later, Mustapha brought back ten gallons of olive oil from Morocco for himself and friends. Numerous requests for a steady supply of this extra virgin oil quickly followed.

In 1997, the first harvest of Mustapha's Moroccan olives, and the first pressing of his extra virgin olive oil occurred, and with it, the olive souk was Coming to America.

Serving Suggestions:

This oil is a great drizzler - try it on soups, vegetables, traditional tagines, couscous, and of course grilled bread.