regional food -- the "extra-virgin" Olive Oyl"

[Richard Gage]

  On Thursday, 28 Mar 2002 at 13:49, James A. Landau wrote:

    when did the custom of selling "extra virgin olive oil" begin?

Comic strip creator E.C. "Elzie" Segar is said to have had "extra
virgin" as his tongue-in-cheek reason for naming Popeye's girl friend
"Olive Oyl."

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E.C. "Elzie" Segar created the Olive Oyl comic strip character in 1919.
Fleischer Studios released the first Popeye cartoon in 1933. "Both Segar
and the Fleischer staff shared a fondness for a poetically
improvisational language . . . and pun-filled conversations."
-- "Popeye From Strip To Screen"
< http://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.4/awm2.4pages/2.4langerpopeye.html >

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"This recipe also pays tribute to Popeye's scrawny girlfriend, Olive
Oyl, because extra-virgin olive oil is an important ingredient."
--2001 JEANNE JONES. _The Buffalo News_, "In honor of Popeye"
< http://www2.buffnews.com/editorial/20010321/1042761.asp >

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"For a time in [ancient] Greece, only virgins and young men sworn to
chastity were allowed to harvest the trees. When Odysseus finally came
home, he collapsed into the marriage bed he had made Penelope from a
massive olive trunk.

" A basic set of standards guides the consumer. Extra-virgin oil means
that the amount of free fatty acids--mostly oleic acid--is below 1
percent. Also, the organoleptic properties--taste, aroma, feel on the
tongue--must rate high."

-- Mort Rosenblum. _The Washington Post_ "Olives: The Life and Lore of a
Noble Fruit"
< http://www.users.on.net/bevans/Rosolive.html >
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[More about the industry standard for "extra virgin" olive oil]:
< http://www.plexoft.com/SBF/E06.html#extra-virgin >