All olive oils that are less than 1% acidity and produced by the first pressing of the olive fruit through the cold pressing process is called extra virgin olive oil. Around 10% of the olive oil produced in the world is top-quality virgin olive oil. The rest has to be refined to remove impurities which affect the flavour and aroma of the final oil. You’ll be surprised and pleased to find just how light and incredibly flavourful fresh extra virgin olive oil can be.

These terms are interchangeable and have been used in the past when initial pressure applied by hand presses produced only a small amount of oil from, for example, olive paste. To extract even more oil, hot water was applied to the paste to improve the flow of oil. This is where the terms cold pressing and first pressing came from.

The ideal temperature for storing olive oil is 57°F or 14 degrees Celsius, although a normal room temperature of 70°F works very well if the olive oil is stored in a dark area where the temperature remains fairly constant. A kitchen cabinet located away from the stove and away from direct sunlight will work quite well. If you have a wine cellar, store your olive oils there and keep a small amount in your kitchen. Do not put olive oil in a container without a tight cap.

Save your Crescendo extra virgin oils for salads, dressings, and vinagrettes. You can also drizzle them over slices of crusty bread or onto open-face sandwiches. Use them on a baked potato or add to mashed potatoes instead of butter. Extra virgin olive oil tastes great on cooked vegetables or brushed onto fish or meat before serving.

Please note, Crescendo extra virgin olive oils are high quality products (first pressing, low acidity) and shouldn’t be heated up more than 180°C/350°F. Be sure to follow the temperature guidelines. If you heat an oil too hot, it can start to smoke, ruining your food and smoking out your home. Also, overheating an oil can destroy its health benefits and even turn the healthy oils into trans fatty acids.

For deep frying do not use extra virgin olive oil. There are “refined olive oils" you can cook or deep fry with. They have a higher heating capacity (410 °F) than virgin or extra virgin oils.

If you heat a Vital Oil (Crescendo Primrose, Rosehip, Flax Seed, Omega 3-6-9 Power Mix, Apricot Kernel Oil) too hot, it can start to smoke, ruining your food and smoking out your home. Also, overheating these oils can destroy its health benefits and even turn the healthy oils into trans fatty acids. Omega-3s should be served cold. Omega-6s should be used under 212°F (100°C). Store those oils in a dark cool place, and use within a year.

Trans fats are artificial fats made when hydrogen gas reacts with oil. They can be found in cookies, crackers, icing, potato chips, margarine and microwave popcorn. Trans Fats have been shown in study after study to lower the amount of good cholesterol you have in your system, raise the amounts of bad cholesterol, and increase your risk of diabetes up to 40% or more.

Trans fats increase the risk of heart disease more than saturated fats, which were once believed to be the worst kind of fats. While it is true that saturated fats -- found in butter, cheese and beef, for example -- raise total cholesterol levels, trans fats go a step further. Trans fats not only raise total cholesterol levels, they also deplete good cholesterol (HDL), which helps protect against heart disease.

Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are mainly found in many fish, nuts, seeds and oils from plants. Both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats may help lower your blood cholesterol level when you use them in place of saturated and trans fats.

• Monounsaturated fats - Usually come from seeds or nuts such as avocado, olive, peanut, and canola oils. These fats are liquid at room temperature.
• Polyunsaturated fats- Usually come from vegetables, seeds, or nuts such as corn, safflower, sunflower, soybean, cotton seed, and sesame seed. These fats are liquid at room temperature.

Vinegar is a product of wine that has gone sour. In fact the word “vinegar" is from the French words vin aigre which translates to "sour wine." Good vinegar is a result of fermentation and oxidation of an alcoholic or sugary liquid. Cheap vinegar is manufactured by diluting acetic acid with water or by the transformation of ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin. For the human palate this cheap vinegar is only sour and offers no additional flavours.

100% pure vinegars from fruit or vegetable are made from the juice of fresh product. They bring along the taste, the smell, the flavour and the colour of the fruits into the finished vinegar.

Making vinegar is so easy it can be done by accident. We could even say that most of it is made without our cooperation or awareness. Making good vinegar, consistently, is another story. Vinegar is made from the oxidation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria.

Fruit vinegars are made from fruit wines, usually without any additional flavouring. Common flavours of fruit vinegar include apple, black currant, raspberry, quince, pear, cherry and many more. Typically, the flavours of the original fruits remain in the final product.

The surprising news is that vinegar can indeed go bad. Since it is created from alcohol, many of the essential elements that give vinegars its flavour are prone to evaporation. A significant amount of these components typically are gone by about six months after a bottle of vinegar is opened. As long as it is kept tightly sealed, at room temperature or cooler, and in a dark place, it should last for a long time with no deterioration.

Some vinegar, if stored improperly or too long, will develop a cloudy look. This cloudy substance (called "mother of vinegar" since it can be used to make more vinegar) can be filtered out with a paper coffee filter in order to salvage the vinegar. However, if either the mother or the vinegar smells bad or rotten, discard both immediately.

Skin burns: apply ice cold vinegar right away for fast relief. Will prevent burn blisters.

2 spoonfuls of apple vinegar and honey as a cure-all: use to prevent apathy, obesity, hay fever, arthritis, asthma, rashes, food poisoning, heartburn, sore throat, bad eyesight, dandruff, brittle nails and bad breath.

Vinegar promotes skin health: rub on tired, sore or swollen areas.

Apple vinegar is effective because of these facts:

• Apple vinegar has a high content of Potassium. Potassium is necessary for the water in your body and the connective tissue.
• The acid of apple vinegar helps us digest. When you use vinegar regularly, it will work as a soft dehydration therapy.
• Through the acetic acid, apple vinegar assists a lot of enzymes to do their work.
• A soft dilution of the blood is a positive effect when you use vinegar regularly.
• Apple vinegar helps bring down fever.

Balsamic vinegar is said to be the "royal league" of vinegars and it is sometimes sold at very high prices. Traditional balsamic vinegar is a vinegar which is produced during several years in an "open fermenting procedure".

The basic product, a grape juice from Trebbiano grapes, is concentrated during the stormy fermentation to at least a third of its primary volume. This concentrated, thickened storm is then put in the first of five barrels, the oakwood, and stored in a warm area (typically in the attic) for the alcoholic and acetic acid fermentation. As the barrels are permeable to air, the liquid continues to thicken. After approximately one year, 2/3 of the vinegar are put into a smaller barrel (most likely chestnut). The following wooden barrels are used in this order: Oak, chestnut, cherry, ash and juniper berry. A bit of the liquid is left in the barrels as a starting culture for the next process. After about 5 years the first balsamic vinegar is ready. The right order of the woods is very important for getting the typical character of this almost black, vinegar. Balsamic vinegar is characterized by its sweet and intensive flavour.

Pour some dishwasher detergent (don’t foam) into the bottle you want to clean. If it’s really dirty, put in a plain teaspoonful of rice. Fill up the bottle about halfway with water. Cap the open end with your finger and gently shake, rotate, and invert the bottle, so the rice grains come in contact with the glass.

Empty the bottle and give it a really good rinse, to get all the soap out.

If you like to fill it with oil again, let the bottle dry inside for at least a week (upside down). Water and oil turns the oil rancid very quickly. Tip: To dry it faster you can dry the glass in the oven and let it dry with a low temperature.

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