Two olives, two oils

Hojiblanca and Arbequina side by side, which is the useful way to meet Spanish oil: Hojiblanca is bolder and a little bitter at the back, Arbequina soft and almost buttery. Marcona almonds fried in olive oil, olive oil crackers, Gordal olives and whole peppers.

Arbequina and Hojiblanca, and why it matters

Spanish oil is usually sold as though it were one thing, and it is not. Arbequina is soft, green and almost buttery, with very little bitterness – the oil to give somebody who says they do not like olive oil. Hojiblanca is bolder, grassier and carries a peppery catch at the finish that works on grilled vegetables and on bread where the gentler oil would disappear. Both are organic and cold-pressed. Put them side by side on a spoon and the difference is obvious in a way it never is from the label.

Who makes it

The Ecoleus oils are organic, cold-pressed and single-variety, pressed within hours of picking, which is the part that matters most and the part cheap oil skips. Inés Rosales have been making their olive oil crackers and tortas by hand in Seville since 1910, still shaped one at a time and wrapped in paper. Ibendra fry their Marcona almonds in olive oil rather than roasting them dry. Conservas Virto have been preserving peppers and vegetables in glass in Navarra since 1927. We import all of them ourselves rather than buying through a wholesaler, which is the only reason a hamper at this price can hold oil at this level. You can read how the protected designations work at the European Commission.

Packing and delivery

We pack this by hand in Worcestershire in a matte-black gift box with a printed ivory-cream sleeve, on the day it leaves us, every bottle wrapped so nothing moves in transit. We deliver across mainland UK and can send it straight to the recipient with a handwritten card and no prices anywhere in the parcel. Everything in the box is ambient and none of it needs eating in a hurry – olive oil is at its best within a year of pressing, so there is no rush and no waste. See the rest of the range on our spanish hampers page.

How to serve it

Start by tasting the plain oil on its own, warmed for a moment in the palm of the hand and sipped rather than dipped – bread flatters everything and tells you nothing. After that: good oil over anything already cooked, vinegar or glaze on anything roasted, and the crackers and almonds straight out of the pack with a glass of something cold. Store every bottle in a cupboard with the cap on tight. Oil does not improve with keeping, so use the good one rather than saving it.