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Community Corner

A Hobby Turns Delicious for Robert Jaye

Malibu trees yield super-premium, local olive oil.

Reserve a spot on your Sunday calendar, and pay a visit to the Malibu Olive Company booth at the . You won’t be sorry.

There, you will find the dapper Robert Jaye pouring tastes of his two magnificent, super-premium, extremely high-quality extra virgin olive oils made in California.

Stop and taste. Revel in the peppery bite at the back of the throat that signifies a fine olive oil. Smell the signature fragrance; marvel at the golden green hue.

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Hang around for a bit, and you’ll learn that California producers are emerging as the new olive oil kings with a deluxe product that is every bit as good and only half the price of the best imports.

“A comparable Italian oil to what we are doing is $45 a bottle," Robert said. "You have to pay up to $40 to $45 a bottle for the best imported oils. California super premium olive oils are $17 to $25. We are a huge bargain.”

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California olive oil producers have burst onto the scene in the last few years, with the industry here growing exponentially, Robert said. Apparently we just passed France in terms of production, and we aim to challenge Spain, the largest producer, with the help of UC Davis. The university is supporting and promoting the California olive oil industry much as it did the California wine industry 25 year ago.          

It’s been less than a decade since Robert, a lighting cameraman and media artist, plunged into EVOO—and back then it was a hobby for him. He planted his first 12 trees in 2000 at his Corral Canyon home.

“This was a small hobby approach to maybe grow some table olives,” he recalled.

Then a few years ago, he met Emilio Estevez and “the Malibu Wine Mafia” at a party. They encouraged him to start a vineyard, telling him it would change his life.

“I did have a small grove of olive trees, and I started thinking and looking into it, and I thought, ‘This is something I can do. Olive trees aren’t difficult to grow.’ That suited my agricultural capability quite well,” he said with a laugh.

Robert began taking classes at UC Davis—growing, marketing—and then began cooperating with other olive growers in Malibu. One had 12 trees, one had 25 trees—one grower had 100. Soon, his cooperative allowed him handshake agreements to gain olives or extra oil from these local growers.

He has partnered particularly closely with Dan Romanelli, who has 25 trees on Morning View Drive. In fact, one of Robert’s oils is called Romanelli Quattro—a proprietary blend of Luccino, Ascolano and Arbequina olives, along with a field blend by a producer. It was named Romanelli after Dan and his olives and Quattro after the four people who came together to create it.

“When Dan approached me, I thought this would be great opportunity to come up with a contrasting blend to my first oil, so the four of us sat down and put a blend together that was more robust,” Robert said.

His first blend is called California Organic Super Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil, produced from 75 percent Manzanillo and 25 percent Mission olives. It is characterized by a fruity aroma and a slightly bitter and peppery finish. Robert describes it as a medium flavor profile, whereas the Romanelli Quattro is more robust.

He presses and bottles his product in Santa Ynez. Once the oil is milled, it goes into large containers, to be bottled as needed. Robert stores some of the oil at his other home in Indian Wells.

Naturally, he uses olive oil for everything.

“For a robust oil, I would use it on heartier food," Robert said. "I might drizzle it on a steak after I cooked it or in a nice tomato sauce-based pasta—foods that wouldn’t be overpowered by the oil. The medium oil is suitable for delicate foods, salads, or for fish. However you use it, it is a complement to the chef’s kitchen and a condiment for the dining table."

He continued, “At the end of the day, you ask any chef at a five-star restaurant what they want to cook with, and the answer is extra virgin olive oil. The chef at has eight to 10 different bottles he uses for finishing food.”

Get him going and Robert can wax poetic about the oil he consider an elixir.

“Olive oil has a whole range of health benefits. It reduces LDL cholesterol, it is an anti-inflammatory, it’s good for your skin and it has historically been a health tonic for centuries," he said. "Ours is fresh, unprocessed, the best of the best, and for pennies you can add this luxury to your life. My bottle is 15 cents a tablespoon. It can’t get better and it can’t get fresher. It is so abundant, relatively inexpensive, and that’s the magic of it. It’s not a low-calorie food, but it’s a good-calorie food. There is not much else like it.”  

He cooks exclusively with olive oil, as you might expect. “Well, I do put butter on toast,” he said dryly.

One of his most favorite ways to show off the oil is with this simple recipe, in which the pasta is the stage and the oil is the star. 

Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil and Chili

Robert says this is “Perfect, quick, simple and delicious – a traditional European way to have pasta. It’s a nice way to enjoy the olive oil for the olive oil’s sake.”

  • 3/4 pound spaghetti
  •  1/4 cup Malibu Olive Company Organic California Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 3 or more cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
  • Grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese (optional)

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente (about 8-10 minutes).

While pasta is cooking, in a medium skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil.

Add the garlic and sauté until translucent, 1-2 minutes. Add the pepper flakes.

When pasta is cooked al dente, drain the pasta and transfer to a warmed serving bowl.

Pour the garlicky chili oil over the pasta and toss well. Season with salt and pepper and pass the grated cheese at the table, if desired.

Serves 4-6, depending on appetites.

Other Robert Jaye recipes that show off his oils:
  1. Vanilla Ice Cream with Olive Oil and Sea Salt  
  2. Cannellini Beans with Olive Oil, Garlic and Oregano   
Where to find the oil

You can find both Malibu Olive Company oils at the following local places ($20 at the Farmer’s Market, $25 retail):

  • Malibu Farmer’s Market (23519 Civic Center Way, every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.)
  • (PCH on Corral Beach)
  • (you have to ask for it)
  • Canyon Gourmet in Topanga
  • Room at the Beach (near )
  • (the chef will make your whole dinner using it if you make a special request)

Dorothy Reinhold has written about food and developed recipes for 25 years. Her food blog is at www.shockinglydelicious.com, where you can find more scary-good, addictive recipes for home cooks. 

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