BY BILL ST. JOHN

Since the 1600s and for generations unbroken, the De Carlo family has produced olive oil from its thousands of olive trees — both ancient and merely old — in Italy's southern region of Puglia (the "heel"). Simply put, De Carlo is one of the globe's premier producers of fine extra virgin olive oil (EVOO).

Its "Felice Garibaldi" is what is known as a "monocultivar" olive oil because it is cold-pressed from the Ogliarola olive variety only. Some other olives grown in Puglia, by De Carlo as well as by other firms, such as the widely-planted Coratina, give an oil with a noticeable and peppery "bite," something like the after-burn from chewing and swallowing a few leaves of arugula or the flesh of a mild chile.
Pre-order these olive oils from today through Wednesday, 3/20; they will be available for pickup starting Friday, 3/22.
De Carlo Felice Garibaldi EVOO 500mL
Contrariwise, tasters prize the Ogliarola olive for both its suave delicacy and its open fruitiness. Many descriptors for EVOO list tastes or aromas such as "artichoke," "almond" or "tomato leaf," along with those peppery "bites." De Carlo's Felice Garibaldi, constructed solely of the Ogliarola, delivers simply the straightforward, plain flavor and aroma of "green olive," with a whisper of a snap or bite. Note its unctuous, silken texture, too. It all but asks you to pause, as it glides over your tongue, to feel it as much as to taste it.

As such, it ought be used solely as a condiment or, if mixed with other flavorings, as a dressing. Drizzle it atop grilled fish, seafood or meats; coat small-form pasta in it; dip chunks of crusty, hearty bread in it.

Or use it in the famed Italian starter dish named "pinzimonio" where it shines in its awesome aloneness and simplicity. (See the simple recipe below the other two oils.)
Online special: $26.99/bottle
(reg. $32.99/btl)
De Carlo Tenuta Torre di Mossa EVOO 500mL
Cold-extracted from stone-crushed Coratina olives. An elegant and expansive oil that is sweet at first and then transitions to an intense hint of pepper and a prolonged vitality. Spectacular with meats, bean soups, meat carpaccio, grilled breads, and hearty pasta and rice dishes.
De Carlo Tenuta Torre di Mossa 500mL
Online special: $26.99/bottle
(reg $32.99/btl)
De Carlo Il Classico EVOO 750mL
Made from stone-crushed Ogliarola and Coratina olives that are processed within 24 hours of harvesting. Soft and balanced flavor characterized by hints of fresh grass and green almonds. Try it with broiled/baked fish, seafood, roasted meats, aged cheeses, soups and stews, and pizza.
De Carlo Il Classico 750mL
Online special: $28.99/bottle
(reg. $34.99/btl)

De Carlo Il Classico 1-Liter tin
Online special: $33.99/tin
(reg. $39.99/tin)
Pinzimonio with Avocado
BY BILL ST. JOHN

Marcella Hazan told me, one Aspen Food & Wine Classic, that the Italian appetizer preparation called "pinzimonio" is a combination of the verb "pinzare" (to pinch; you pick up the raw vegetable pieces with your fingertips) and "matrimonio." You "marry" the crudités with the best possible extra virgin olive oil. That's all. That's it.

INGREDIENTS (to make 1 serving)
  • 1/2 ripe avocado, pit removed
  • De Carlo "Felice Garibaldi" EVOO
  • Any of many possible raw vegetables, in quantity of your choosing, cleaned and cut: small stalks of celery and their leaves (the tenderest and palest possible); radishes, rough stems and roots pared away, stuck with decorative toothpicks as holders; fennel, cleaned of its feathery top and sliced into half-moons, tender stems remaining attached if desired; carrots, peeled (the slimmest and tenderest possible); red bell pepper, de-veined and seeded, cut into strips; Persian cucumbers, sliced longways into fourths; scallions ("green onions"), cleaned and root ends trimmed off; leaves of Belgian endive or thin radicchio. Et cetera.
DIRECTIONS
(1) Place the avocado half in the center of a large bowl or plate. (It may help to sliver off and flatten the bottom of the avocado if it wants to roll around.) Place any number of the raw vegetables around the avocado half.

(2) Pour the olive oil into the well of the avocado where the pit was. To the oil, add unholy amounts of a finishing salt such as Maldon and freshly ground black pepper. Dip away — and, of course, spoon out the avocado flesh itself with the oil clinging to it.