Jo, I don't know about olive oil and hair loss, but I've heard (from parents of other kindergarteners!) that it kills lice. Of course, you smell like salad...but I guess that's preferable. One of my friends said it left her hair very well-conditioned, too. No personal impressions (knock wood!), but hey...it might beat the typical "hot oil" treatment!

The things you learn when your kid gets to school!!

It seems that many of the people posting on this topic are from the U.K. Here in the U.S. we get some Tosca brand Olive Oil (Regular and Extra Virgin) that's 'Product of Spain' but canned (3-liter cans) in Italy. We also get Bertolli (Full bodied, Extra Light and Extra Virgin) and Berio, both canned in Italy. For Salads or Salad dressing (on occasions, my wife makes her own Mayonnaise and/or Hollandaise Sauce) the Extra Virgin is best. Extra Virgin is more pricey; but for all-around use, I prefer the full bodied Olive oil.

I'm no expert in squeezings, but I have been told that the Extra Virgin is from the second or third squeezing (and the Olive loses some body/flavor with each squeezing). So the higher priced Extra Virgin may not be as good for general use (or as good for us) as the full bodied oil that the first squeezing produces.

Hooray for the Food Network...this from their website, www.foodtv.com:

Pressing tree-ripened olives extracts a flavorful, monounsaturated oil that is prized throughout the world both for cooking (particularly in Mediterranean countries) and for salads. Today's marketplace provides a wide selection of domestic olive oil (most of which comes from California) and imported oils from France, Greece, Italy and Spain. The flavor, color and fragrance of olive oils can vary dramatically depending on distinctions such as growing region and the crop's condition. All olive oils are graded in accordance with the degree of acidity they contain. The best are cold-pressed, a chemical-free process that involves only pressure, which produces a natural level of low acidity. Extra virgin olive oil, the cold-pressed result of the first pressing of the olives, is only 1 percent acid. It's considered the finest and fruitiest of the olive oils and is therefore also the most expensive. Extra virgin olive oil can range from a crystalline champagne color to greenish-golden to bright green. In general, the deeper the color, the more intense the olive flavor. After extra virgin, olive oils are classified in order of ascending acidity. Virgin olive oil is also a first-press oil, with a slightly higher level of acidity of between 1 and 3 percent. Fino olive oil is a blend of extra virgin and virgin oils (fino is Italian for "fine"). Products labeled simply olive oil (once called pure olive oil) contain a combination of refined olive oil and virgin or extra virgin oil. The new light olive oil contains the same amount of beneficial monounsaturated fat as regular olive oil...and it also has exactly the same number of calories. What the term "light" refers to is that--because of an extremely fine filtration process--this olive oil is lighter in both color and fragrance, and has little of the classic olive-oil flavor. It's this rather nondescript flavor that makes "light" olive oil perfect for baking and cooking where regular olive oil's obvious essence might be undesirable. The filtration process for this light-style oil also gives it a higher smoke point than regular olive oil. Light olive oils can therefore be used for high-heat frying, whereas regular olive oil is better suited for low- to medium-heat cooking, as well as for many uncooked foods such as salad dressings and marinades. The International Olive Oil Institute recommends using pure olive oil for frying, since the flavor of extra virgin olive oil tends to break down at frying temperatures, making the added expense a waste. Olive oil should be stored in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months. It can be refrigerated, in which case it will last up to a year. Chilled olive oil becomes cloudy and too thick to pour. However, it will clear and become liquid again when brought to room temperature.

Hiyaa, I love Spanish Extra Virgin Olive oil, I have some left over, which were specially selected of which i treat every drop like liquid gold and not one drop is left unaccounted for.
We hope in the future to be able to provide a Spanish oil here in London, the type Cooter so well describes and makes 'Como agua para chocolate' seem more realistic... you know, the bit with Gertrudis and the recipe of Codornices en petalos de rosas. It just knocks the senses. jejeje yummmy.

Luckily there is a market for all kinds of oils, it makes it more interesting.

As Tara has shown, Extra Virgin Olive Oil- first cold pressing (often hand picked olives), is the finest and superior over it's derivative-olive oil.
Leader brands in the UK too are Bertolli and Berio, (not recommended). This is changing as people are slowly but surely opting for the smaller less well known names of which the origin is known and carry the labels of certification such as 'Denominacion de origen' followed by the the region of the country (highly recommended, you will not go back to Berio for sure),and which are not that much pricier and even in some cases are organic. long sentence,sorry.

Sorry Jo, I didn't watch the film, but I guess I was born dancing or something like that. I can see the first images of my childhood clapping hands before walking
Thank you for the contention with the photo.

Going back to olive oil, as I don't want to have too many bottles of oil around me I just have one for everything, 1º extra virgin olive oil, although it's to tasty for mayonaise, so I buy the mayonaise already done.

Allright, that´s it, I´m going home to cook some food right now!

Spanish Olive Oil: LOVE IT!! One can buy the Goya brand of Spanish olive oil (from Sevilla) at BOTH my Kroger grocery store here in Columbus as well as in many of the latino groceries around town. Honestly, I don't buy it very often because the "Italian" olive oil is quite a bit cheaper at my local Kroger.

It took YEARS (4 or 5) years of convincing from my ladyfriend in Madrid that olive oil was GOOD for you and I've ONLY used it ever since - haven't touched vegetable oil since then, not that I did before. I LOVE olive oil... Mmmm...

MY FIRST "MEAL" IN SPAIN was during my FIRST visit to Spain and Madrid in 1995. It was about 9:00am, my plane had arrived about 1.5 hours earlier, and I was hungry so my ladyfriend toasted small barra/baguette of bread, cut and rubbed garlic over the toast, and then dribbled Spanish olive oil over it. Mmmmm.. I was in HEAVEN!!!! Yummmm......

Saludos, MadridMan

MM, that brings back some memories. My first "meal" in Spain also involved oil: I was 11 years old and we had just arrived in Barcelona by way of Madrid. It was too early for lunch, but we were starving and jetlagged, and staggered into the closest restaurant, where, despite not yet being officially open, they made us pa amb tomaquet. I can still taste it, the bread, the tomato, the oil, the excitement of being in Spain, all mixed together...

so many years ago...

You can buy Spanish olive oil at Kroger in Ohio. In Michigan, the Kroger still has the Italian blends. Buckeyes get all the breaks! I have to buy my Spanish olive oil from www.tienda.com/. I use only Spanish olive oil for cooking after my visit to Jaen where I purchased 2.5 liters. Besides enjoying the favor, it is healthy too. My wife and I adopted the Mediterranean diet, which uses olive oil exclusively. I have dropped my cholesterol from 232 to 191 in 2 years without any medication.