Did you know that just 20% quality olive oil in a blend is enough to fool you into thinking you are buying pure EVOO?

What Did Kostas Liris’s Masterclass Teach Us?

November is almost behind us, and with it the biggest Bulgarian wine forum in the country, DiVino Taste. This year's edition outdid itself with incredible wines, interesting presentations and speakers of the highest level. The masterclasses were opened by “The Unknown Olive Oil” by Kostas Liris - agronomist, consultant, expert and trainer of olive oil sommeliers. He is also well known in the world of EVOO as a judge at the most prestigious international competitions, such as NYIOOC in New York, JOOP in Tokyo, ATHENA IOOC in Athens and others.

Kostas accepted our invitation and met the Bulgarian audience for the first time. His masterclass lasted two hours, during which we tasted 7 kinds of oils from different olive varieties: koroneiki, arbequina, manaki, arbosana and others, as well as one mature olive oil. We learned how a consumer can be misled into thinking they are buying a quality product, by tasting an oil that turned out to be 80% ordinary sunflower oil mixed with a small amount of quality olive oil.

We also learned how olive oil can change the taste of the same dish, by adding a few drops of the familiar koroneiki and arbequina varieties to tasting bites of white rice and white fish served by the master chefs of the restaurant Talanti.

Kostas Liris shared valuable and curious facts from the world of olive oil with the audience. The event ended with an interesting discussion and questions from the guests.

You can view the whole photo gallery here.

We at Elly’s and DiVino sincerely thank Kostas Liris for this enriching and energizing masterclass. We hope to see him again soon!