Lucca - feel the burn

The last stop on our Italian adventure, before we returned to Rome to fly home, was Lucca, a small Tuscan city famous for its intact medieval city wall and olive oil. Dave's cousin's parents own a villa just outside the city and they produce their own organic extra virgin olive oil. After a delicious lunch in the city, we headed to the villa with some of Dave's cousins. Once there, we were treated to a highly informative olive oil tasting. We learned to distinguish between good and bad oils based on smell, taste, acidity, and, in some cases, color. Fresh olive oil should burn a little in the back of your throat, and we learned how to properly taste the oil, while sucking air into your mouth. We were also able to taste the most recent batch made at the villa and it was heavenly. In addition to the traditional oil we tasted those infused with lemon, chili, and truffles (the latter of which had to be replenished before it could make it all the way around the table). I actually learned a lot and now feel that I am a more discerning consumer of olive oil. The only unfortunate part of our trip to Lucca was that we were not able to bring any olive oil back from Dave's uncle's villa as this year's production is sold out. I guess there's always next year.