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Lessee re- sponsible for excess wear and tear. 15c per mile over 12,000 miles per year. "95 Aurora 36 month closed end lease based on approved credit. Option to purchase at lease end at a price to be de- termined at inception. 1st month's payment, sec. dep., acq. fee, tax tittle & plates. Cap cost reduction SO. Total obligation is payment times term. Lessee responsible for excess wear and tear. 15c per mile over 15,000. Tel-12 Mall, Southfield On Telegraph at the Tel 12 Mall, Southfield at the (810) 354 3300 11 Tel-12 0 Telegraph Mall, Southfield (810) 354-3300 Make A Pit Stop, Pick Up Some Olives ETHEL HOFMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS I t was a sojourn through the Tel Aviv shouk (market) that clinched my passion for olives. Tastebuds only exposed to the pallid canned varieties were sharply awakened to the robust punch of the home-grown Israeli brand. The stall that made me stop short was a profusion of color, textures and mouth-watering smells wafting from a score of tubs brimming with olives. They ranged in color from deepest blacks, browns and greens to a blushing pink; their aroma was intensified by sprigs of basil and bay leaves swimming in murky brine. The vendor, typically dressed in shorts and an American T-shirt, urged us to taste them all. "Israeli popcorn," he joked. Tentatively, I bit into a tiny, black Souri olive, native to Israel. Piquant and sharp, even my young sons were hooked. Like addicts, we worked our way through the Souris and Nabali olives to the crinkly, chewy oil-cured ones. The vendor made a substantial sale, we were hap- py, and our purchases did disap- pear like popcorn. The silvery leafed olive tree was first cultivated 6,000 years ago in Syria and what is now Is- rael. There were so many olive trees in the area that it's said the prophet Muhammad called Jerusalem "the City of Olives." The fruity green oil extracted from these olives was so prized, it was used to anoint Judean kings and temples in biblical times. Today, health experts recom- mend oil instead of saturated fats such as butter. The result: Sales of olive oil have doubled in the last two years, making olive oil the fastest growing oil segment in supermarkets. Some 98 per- cent of the world's finest oils come from Israel and the Mediter- ranean. However, this year prices have skyrocketed. Abnormal droughts in Spain, Morocco and Israel have given poor olive yields from the groves. According to Ehud Yonay, journalist and author (of Top Gun, which was made into a movie), and owner of Greater Galilee Gourmet Co. in Santa Monica, Calif., "The reserves of olives and olive oil, the carryover, which we normally have, has been used up and the crisis is compounded by the high demand for good quality of olive oil." Extra virgin and virgin olive oil is now very expensive. When you figure it takes 5 to 7 kilos of olives to make 1 liter oil (11 to 14 pounds to make a little over 1 quart) and if the price of olives is $1 per kilo before processing, that adds up to a hefty price. Espe- cially when the markup is four times by the time it gets to the store. But the flavor and aroma of the best olive oil is worth every cent, so use judiciously where fla- vor counts most — in salad dress- ings or to dunk good breads. Mr. Yonay imports the tiny, full-flavored Souri olives and large, fleshy Nabali olives as well as an impressive variety of aro- CE matic olive oils. Some are laced with chopped green olives and chili peppers, other infused with cumin, mace or tarragon. Mr. Yonay cures his olives the old-fashioned way — in a lemo- ny brine, rather than with lye, as many producers do. Lye strips the olives of any bitterness, he says, but it also takes away the natural flavor. His olive products are sold in markets under the Greater Galilee Gourmet label and the whole line is certified kosher. Labels ranging from extra vir- gin to light olive oil may be con- fusing, but all olive oils are graded according to their degree < of acidity. Here's a brief descrip- tion of production and content of each: Extra virgin is the first cold- pressing from olives by methods under controlled temperature conditions to preserve the natur- al fruitiness and color of the olives. With only 1 percent acid (oleic acid is one of the mono-un- saturated fatty acids), this is con- sidered the very finest and therefore most expensive of olive oils. Color ranges from pale gold- en to deep cloudy green with the greener color usually the most aromatic and flavorful. Virgin is extracted with sol- vents, is pale-colored and less in- tensely flavored than extra virgin. Acidity is between 1 and 3 percent, still quite low. Olive oil is the common name for a blend of refined olive and virgin oils. Acidity is below 1.5 percent. Olive pomace oil, now ap- < pearing in some markets, is ex- tracted from the olive sediment left after extra virgin and virgin oils have been removed using sol- vents in the process. It is then blended with virgin oil — and is much cheaper than any of the other olive oils. Olive oil has no more calories than other commonly used cook- OLIVES page 126