News
Hallmark Channel's Home & Family
Our owner, Theo Stephan, talks about Caliterranean cooking with Cristina Ferrare and Mark Steines on
Hallmark Channel's Home & Family.
Take Part
Theo Stephan talks about problems in the international olive oil market and how buying from a smaller producer can help you avoid those issues.
Read the article here.
Tango Diva
Tango Diva recently took our Virtual Tasting Kit for their own spin. See what they have to say here.
How One Entrepreneur Tapped an Angel Investor to Stay Afloat
By Jane Wells a CNBC Reporter
Read Jane's story about Theo here.
What’s Cooking?
3 million listeners & 50,000 watching via broadband streaming; Theo sure had fun talking to the guys on “What’s Cooking?”
KABC L.A.
Global Gardens owner Theo Stephan chats with KABC L.A. Food Coach Lori Corbin about Extra Virgin Olive Oil truths!
LOS ANGELES (KABC) --
You may have heard that extra virgin olive oil is a healthy fat that is loaded with antioxidants that promotes heart health. But just grabbing the cheapest bottle at the market isn't the best way to go as you might not be getting the real deal.
"Really for me, olive oil is the best thing to use - salad dressing, sauteeing, roasting, desserts, cakes, pies, cookies," said Akasha Richmond, owner and chef at Akasha Restaurant in Culver City.
Olive is the oil of choice for Richmond, who even swaps butter for it.
"You can substitute olive oil if you're making any kind of cake with oil, like a chiffon cake, a bundt cake, a pound cake," said Richmond.
But Theo Stephan, author of "Olive Oil and Vinegar for Life," says heads up when buying your next bottle.
"Unfortunately, the [Food and Drug Administration] here in our country doesn't police truth in labeling," said Stephan.
Stephan, who grows and bottles her olive bounty in Los Olivos, recommends checking a few things on your olive oil.
To guarantee freshness, Stephan said the harvest date or bottling date should be on the bottle.
"A lot of times, oils are cut with other oils, so consequently, that takes the fresh value," said Stephan.
Using seed oils or heating oil in processing to yield more product - neither constitutes extra virgin status.
A University of California, Davis analysis of grocery store olive oils found 69 percent were not extra virgin olive oil, which means consumers miss out on health benefits and taste that they thought they bought.
Stephan suggests buying California boutique olive oil, which is found at farmers' markets, fairs and specialty restaurants. Those tested in fairs actually need to be third-party lab certified.
Another test? Fry with it. If it smokes, you've got a fraud, as olive oil heats to 385 to 400 degrees. Stephan said you can even put it in your deep fryer.
And know this: Unlike wine, aging is not good for extra virgin olive oil. It will lose its aroma, its flavor and some of the health benefits. So only buy as much as you can use within about three months.
It's also best in dark bottles and stored in a cool pantry. Don't leave it in direct sunlight, and don't let it live on the stove or in the fridge where it will coagulate and lose flavor.
Beyond that, perform a taste test on your brand.
"It should taste either fruity, buttery, peppery or herbacious. And if it doesn't, take it back to the store," said Stephan.
(Copyright ©2011 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
Santa Barbara Independent
Recently the Santa Barbara Independent wrote a fabulous article about us. Read what they had to say HERE.
4 Ways to Break Out of Your Salad Rut - Oprah's Blog
Take a look at Oprah's recent blog post, she mentions Global Gardens!
Read it HERE
RV Cooking Show
Global Gardens owner, Theo Stephan, talks to Evanne Schmarder of the RV Cooking Show about California Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the different varietals and harvest practices used to cultivate the most award-winning olive oil in southern California.
Our First Podcast
While visiting Palm Springs, CA Theo had a chance to be a part of Walking on Eggs podcast. Take a listen.....
In the LA Times!
Global Gardens was thrilled to be featured on the front page of the LA Times on February 3, 2011!
What?! You missed it! Not to worry, you can read the article just by clicking HERE.
Global Gardens in Print
Did you know that we are in the December 2010 issues of Family Circle, Shape and Vegetarian Times?!
Naturally we are thrilled at the opportunity to be able to show off our products to all of those who subscribe to Family Circle, Shape and Vegetarian Times.
Interested in seeing what our articles looked like in the magazines? Well you're in luck! Click on the magazine name to view the article:
Big City Mom's is also featuring us in December. And....we made it onto Santa Barabara, CA's blog!
Global Gardens is on the move!
We're doing tasting events all over California and shooting for Theo's new cookbook, Olive Oil & Vinegar For Life, which debuts October 2011. Stay tuned for more updates.
Recently we were at Artisanal LA 2010 and were featured in a video that greenme.it produced. GreenMe.it is a publication of online information and opinion on "green" issues. They are based in Italy and very much enjoyed sampling our products!
Food & Wine Blog
Recently Food & Wine stopped in during a long weekend in and around Santa Barbara. Read their blog entry about the trip.
Olive Harvest
The Santa Maria Times stopped by during the 2008 olive harvest.
Wining and Vining
We asked a Culver City chef for her favorite LA staycation spot: Barbra Streisand, Pierce Brosnan and Billy Bob Thornton are fans of her market-driven dishes--and so are we, since visiting AKASHA, Chef Akasha Richmond's restaurant (don't miss her cocktail-style agua frescas). She recently drove to Solvang and Los Olivos, and loved Global Gardens, "This is a little country store. Theo Stephan makes her own olive oil, vinegars and spreads, and you can do a tasting."
Super Chef
"Super Chef" recently came to visit and sampled our products. Their recommendations for hostess gifts for the holidays are superb!
Small Business Crunch
CNBC came to Los Olivos and talked to Theo about the problems she's had with getting banks to loan funds to support the continued growth of Global Gardens and the Olive Revolution.
The original article is no longer available but you can click here to read the follow up article.
© 2010 CNBC, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Resources
Medals!
Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition We are very pleased to report that our Certified Organic Signature Estate Blend from Los Alamos, CA received a Silver Medal in the world's largest olive oil competition, The Los Angeles County Fair. Global Gardens has won medals consecutively in this competition for 9 years straight!
Fine Cooking Magazine did an awesome feature on our fruit vinegars entitled, “Fruit Forward”, in the Sept. 2009 edition.
Sierra Club chose our Global Peace Snackmix as one of the Top 3 in the U.S.A.!
Bon Appétit chose our Los Alamos Signature Estate as one of their favorite California EVOO’s!
