`Carme Ruscalleda Can't Imagine Cooking Without Olive Oil - Olive Oil Times
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Carme Ruscalleda Can't Imagine Cooking Without Olive Oil

By Julie Butler
May. 5, 2011 10:14 UTC

The only female chef in the world to earn six Michelin stars, Carme Ruscalleda was in the spot­light this week for her pro­mo­tion of extra vir­gin olive oil, win­ning one of four new Catalan Olive Oil Denominations of Origin (“DOP”) prizes.

Recognizing out­stand­ing efforts to increase aware­ness and use of EVOO — a key plank of Catalan cui­sine — the awards were a joint ini­tia­tive of Catalonia’s 5 DOPs — Siurana, Les Garrigues, Terra Alta, Baix Ebre-Montsià and Empordà.

The award cer­e­mony in Barcelona saw the prize for research go to Dr. María-Isabel Covas, Head of the Cardiovascular Risk and Nutrition Research Group at the IMIM-Research Institute, Hospital del Mar, in Barcelona. Covas won the research prize for her team’s work on the health ben­e­fits of extra vir­gin olive oil, which was piv­otal to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) approval last month for the claim that ​“con­sump­tion of olive oil polyphe­nols con­tributes to the pro­tec­tion of blood lipids from oxida­tive dam­age.”

The Catalan Pharmacy Board was awarded the prize for an orga­ni­za­tion, insti­tu­tion or group. They pro­moted a ​“Healthy Breakfasts” cam­paign in pri­mary schools in Tarragona, which raised aware­ness of the link between nutri­tion and health. The ini­tia­tive encour­aged con­sump­tion of the tra­di­tional home-pre­pared baguette – driz­zled with olive oil – instead of the bak­ery-bought goods that today’s busy par­ents increas­ingly give their chil­dren.

The late, world-renowned chef Santi Santamaria won the prize for pro­mot­ing use of Catalan EVOO, related prod­ucts and local pro­duc­ers. He was the owner-founder of one of Spain’s top restau­rants, Can Fabes (three Michelin stars), and known for his avant-garde inter­pre­ta­tion of tra­di­tional Catalan cui­sine. Santamaria died in Singapore, in another of his restau­rants, in February, and was rep­re­sented yes­ter­day by his son, Pau Santamaria, him­self a chef.

Ruscalleda was unable to attend in per­son but wrote some words shared by her son Raül Balam i Ruscalleda, who with his mother heads the restau­rant Moments at Barcelona’s Mandarin Oriental hotel. Ruscalleda said that she could not imag­ine a restau­rant with­out olive oil, it was so inte­gral to food prepa­ra­tion.

The Catalan Minister for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Food and the Environment, Josep Maria Pelegrí, said while widely used by them, not enough Catalans appre­ci­ated the high qual­ity of locally-pro­duced olive oil, which was actu­ally ​“the best in the world.”

The Post-Awards Tapas:

SIURANA DOP: Catalonian-style pizza of escali­vada (roasted veg­eta­bles), anchovies and EVOO

LES GARRIGUES: Bruschetta with cherry tomato, vine­gared anchovies, tuna, olives and EVOO

EMPORDÀ: lob­ster tail, potato and EVOO

BAIX EBRE-MONTSIÀ: skew­ers of grilled octo­pus and EVOO

TERRA ALTA: small endive salad cups with orange, cod­fish and EVOO

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