Afternoon of Olive Oil Tasting

There are more things to do on a rainy Saturday afternoon than curl up under a blanket with a good book. Sure, coffee with friends is always welcome, but how about something different for a change?


When Olivers & Co. closed for business for the day at 4:00, nine people from the English Speaking Community Club showed up at their shop in downtown Stockholm. Sophia, the owner, a young woman originally from Italy, invited us to join her on a European tour of oils by sampling various oils pressed from a variety of different olives. As expected, we tasted oils from Italy and France, but there were also oils from Portugal and from Greece, which has recently dramatically improved the quality of their olive oil.

We learned that olive oil can come from one kind of olive or be a combination of oils of  up to six different kinds of olives. From my own experience at an olive pressing facility in Sicily this past summer, I saw posters of 26 different kinds of olive trees hanging on the wall. The owner said that that was how many different kinds of olives were grown in that region, but he had only 11 varieties in his groves. Olives require the same climate, soil and sunlight as grapes, so olive groves are often found in fields adjacent to vineyards.  

There are categories of flavors that include grassy, citrusy and peppery, and we were able to sample each kind. The way to properly taste olive oil is to sip some onto the tongue, then inhale air through the teeth over the tongue. One can taste the dramatic difference among the different flavors by experiencing the oils in this manner. 

Another aspect of olive oil is its viscosity, or density. As you know, some oils feel light on the tongue and others feel heavy. What makes a light, fresh-tasting oil is olives that have been picked and pressed the same day. In some mass-produced olive oil factories, the olives sit and oxidize, and it’s the oxidation that gives them a heavier texture. 

The best way to preserve olive oil at home is to store it in a dark place and keep a tight-fitting lid on it to help keep it from oxidizing. Use it within six months of opening the bottle. The olive oils sold in dark glass bottles are the best for a reason! 

An interesting tidbit I learned was when dressing a salad, pour the vinegar or lemon juice on first, because if you put the olive oil on first, the slickness of the oil will cause the vinegar to just run off the leaves and go to the bottom. 

The shop we visited has over 30 different kinds of oils from around the world and oils that have been flavored with garlic, lemon, chili pepper and mint! I had the opportunity to have a little sample of mint oil with a couple drops of ginger vinegar, and it was to die for! 

Brrrr!

As our time in Stockholm winds down, we are working through a mini punch list of things to do before returning to the States in early October.  One item on the list was to go to the coolest bar in Stockholm.  By cool we really mean cold . . . 20 degrees Fahrenheit cold.

Now with only forsaken hopes of spending a wintry evening at the Ice Hotel in northern Sweden, we substituted a quick trip to Stockholm’s Ice Bar. Just outside the main train station, a visit to Stockholm’s Ice Bar does not have the same allure of an evening stay in a hotel built of ice tucked 200 kilometers (125 miles) above the Arctic Circle.   Yet, when time is short, “any ice bar” will do.

At the appointed hour of our reservation, we were assisted by a staff member in donning heavy thermal, hooded ponchos with gloves attached with cords.   Our admission fee of 190 crowns ($28) per person included a bar drink.  We were informed as we suited up that we would be served a drink in a “glass” made of frozen ice.  We soon found the gloves were a necessary addition to our polar outfit. 

We had little preconception of what to expect.  The Ice Bar was rather smallish; accommodating maybe 35 people comfortably.  With only one other couple ambling about the ice columns and tables, we had the place almost to ourselves.  The bar drink menu was a weird limited combination of hard liquor combined with fruit juices or other mixers. The presentation in a “glass of ice” was pretty cool (pun intended).

With our gloved hands, we sipped our drinks, had our typical “how was your day conversation” and then bid adieu to the Ice Bar.

It was a fun experience, but one that does not merit repeating.   Been there, done that, got the frost bite.

9/11 Memorial Service in Stockholm

We commemorated another anniversary of the tragic events of 9-11 at a memorial service sponsored by the American Club of Sweden at the English Church.  

Sam Cooley

9-11 2011 Memorial Observance

The somberness of last year’s 10^th anniversary commemoration outside the US Ambassador’s residency was replaced this year with a more celebratory tone.  Following thoughtful remarks by club president Sam Cooley, a four piece band, choral singers and uplifting gospel song filled the stone-walled church with swaying and clapping.  It felt like a page had been turned.

Of course, news would soon come that Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans had become the newest causalities in another iteration of an endless loop of mindless anger.  Our hearts are with their families of those killed in Libya.  Our hearts are also with the families who hold the fear that such fateful news of their loved ones who face the confusing world created by 9-11 every day in Afghanistan may one day reach them.   

We ask so much from so few. 

Shakespeare in the Park

When Will Shakespeare was combining his considerable imagination with quill pen in the late 1600’s writing Much Ado About Nothing, we doubt that he mused, “I wonder how this will play in Sweden?”   From our viewing of the play last week, the bard can be assured that both time and geography have not muted the joy of watching the merry war of love betwixt Benedict and Beatrice and the many misadventures of the play’s mingled stories.

No less imaginative was the troop of English speaking actors who performed the play typically requiring 19 characters with only six cast members.  A few cut scenes, actors disguised with hats and false moustaches or a metal bucket placed atop their heads and unspoken license from the audience as actors slipped between roles, carried the evening.

Palace and Gardens 

Palace Theater on Right

We also experienced a few per-performance misadventures of our own.  After a minor adventure of subway and bus travel beyond our previous limits, we arrived at the grounds of Drottningholm Palace only to find shuttered doors on the large palace theater.  Although Drottningholm Palace is the sprawling primary residence of the Swedish royals, the place appeared closed.  Questions about the whereabouts of the performance posed to a lone, young handsomely dressed palace guard left us no better informed.  However, witnessing our wanderings, the young guard made inquiries via phone and eventually pointed us deeper into the formal palace gardens.  

Open Theater in the Gardens

Our search for the “theater” ended with the discovery of people on benches in a cozy hedge park.  Okay; it was to be an evening of Shakespeare under the stars.  Although the evening was overcast and a bit chilly and breezy, Jay’s overcoat served as warm comforter.  We stayed glued to our front row seats.

As our time slowly comes to a close here in Sweden, we are struck by the easy flow of our lives in Stockholm.  We know an easy flow of living awaits us when we return to Atlanta in October.  Shakespeare will then be savored from a dinner table at the Shakespeare Tavern on Peachtree Street.  It will be a familiar and comforting environment, but the absence of a smartly dressed palace guard will be sorely missed.