What does olive oil being “virgin” or “extra virgin” mean?
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When they squeeze olives to get the olive juice, the first oil, which comes out easiest is extra virgin, after that comes virgin (has a bit more olive flesh particles in it) and finally regular olive oil (they heat the olives to squeeze out every drop, which includes more flesh and has an altered taste). So it’s a matter of purity. Which has an effect on taste.
But this does not mean that (extra) virgin olive oil is by definition the best. Sure, it has the “most taste”, but you might not always want a strong olive oil taste, but for example just need it to “grease” up food while giving it a slight olive oil taste.
Also, extra virgin oil is bad for cooking. It can’t stand high heats, regular olive oil actually better for cooking.
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