*NEW* Product Alert! 🚨 Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Barrel-Aged Balsamic Vinegar Set!!

We are SO happy & excited to be able to work with San Francisco based olive oil experts at Olive This Olive That to source fresh California extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar for you!

Our all new California Extra Virgin Olive Oil is made from California olives harvested and milled on the same day for the BEST quality. And it shows in the flavor! The balsamic vinegar has been aged in barrels for years for a rich and layered flavor you'll love. Its lower acidity and sweetness is a perfect complement to our extra virgin olive oil.

Download our FREE Fresh Summer Recipes eBook, featuring Hamama's Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Barrel-Aged Balsamic Vinegar

This Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar combination is the perfect pair for your microgreens to create one of a kind salad creations. We had a chance to sit down with Janell Pekkain, the founder of “Olive This Olive That” to ask some important questions about this union!

We’ve summarized the highlights for you below. Click here to read the full interview transcript. Click here to watch Camille's exciting conversation with Janell, as 'olive us' learn to have a new appreciation for olive oil and balsamic vinegar!

Who are we collaborating with?

• We are so happy to be able to collaborate with our friends at “Olive This Olive That” founded by Janell Pekkain in Noe Valley San Francisco!

How would you describe the flavor of the Olive Oil?

• The oil is derived from the arbequina family which has a fruity, green, and grassy profile with a wonderful spicy kick that's full of antioxidants!

Where are the Olive Oils from?

• Yolo County - An Organic family owned Farm in California

What can I pair the Olive Oil with?

• This can be paired with a variety of things including avocado, chocolate, pasta, and of course salads and microgreens! It is a really versatile oil that can enhance any dish and take it to the next level.

Why these flavors?

• These are the two most popular products and flavors in our shop! We wanted to bring you the very best to enjoy with your microgreens.

Why did we choose Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar?

• The Balsamic Vinegar is a fermented product which acts as an acid. This along with the fat from the Olive Oil create a great combination to modify your foods and create a beautiful balance to amplify flavors in meals.

Where are the Balsamic ingredients from?

• Our Balsamic Vinegar is a blend of balsamics from Italy as well as balsamics from California. It’s a grape based vinegar that has been aged using the solera barrel method which produces a thicker and sweeter vinegar!

How would you describe the flavor of the Balsamic Vinegar?

• Unlike other vinegars, ours has been reduced making it so the sugars are a little more intensified creating a sweet, mature, rich and viscous flavor.

What makes our Olive Oil and Balsamic vinegar so special?

• Both our Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar are top quality items. In order to achieve high-quality products, you have to use high-quality fruits! We pride ourselves in using the very best ingredients to bring you a one of a kind culinary experience and flavors. One of the ways we achieve this is through our strict harvesting and milling schedule. In order for the Olive Oil to be fresh and qualify as Extra Virgin, the harvested olives need to get to the mill ideally within 12 hours and less than 24 hours to begin the extraction process. The shorter the time between harvesting and milling, the higher the quality of the end product! The relationships that we have fostered with our local harvesting and milling partners not only allows us to achieve this impressive timeline, it also makes it easy to know exactly where your fruits are coming from. Unlike store-bought Olive Oils, our Olive Oils origins can be traced down to the time and place that the olives were picked -It doesn’t get any fresher than that!

What is the difference between Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Virgin Olive Oil?

• Extra Virgin Olive is top quality! It consists of olives only and nothing else. The process is done through a mechanical mill monitoring temperature system meaning it uses no heat and no solvents. After the oil has been extracted it must go through two analyses: One is a lab test and a sensory test. The lab portion of the analyses consists of different tests designed to assess the quality standards of the oil. The sensory test identifies if there are defects in the oil such as oxidation or rancidity.

What are the health benefits of Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar?

• Olive Oil is known for having antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties!

The benefit of this is heart health which aids in lowering blood pressure , mental clarity - studies showing help with alzheimers, weight loss - good fats in our diets - omegas, vitamin k. Seciated - eat less food. It makes a good fat - lowers negative lipids in the body LDLs - Increases HDLs. Cholesterol. It's a conduit for nutrition!

Phytonutrients are oil soluble only so you need a source of fat to absorb the phytonutrients into your system.

Be sure to give our newly-published blog post on how to reap the benefits of a Mediterranean diet by Dr. Adam Richman here! In this blog, Dr. Richman shares how the health-promoting Mediterranean diet is linked to lower rates of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, neurodegenerative diseases and certain forms of cancer. He notes how extra virgin olive oil is the least refined form of fat, and its consumption and use in food preparation are foundations of the Mediterranean diet. Hamama makes it easy to bring the delicious flavor and time-tested health benefits of extra virgin olive oil into your life!

Can you cook with Olive Oil?

• Yes! Heat will burn off some of the flavor of your oil so having a mild tasting Olive Oil is best for cooking. Hamama’s Olive Oil will be perfect for grilling bread, sautéing onions, the base of a sauce or even grilling your veggies! If you need some ideas or inspiration, be sure to check out our very first recipe eBook that features three different recipes for using your Olive Oil and Vinegar!

We hope you are just as excited about this super tasty, nutritious, and special Hamama Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar set as we are! Let us know what you think and share the ways you incorporate them into your meals (along with your Hamama microgreens) in the comments below!