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HYGIENE

Spain revives plans to outlaw oil ‘drizzlers’

The traditional glass olive oil dispensers, or 'drizzlers', seen in Spanish restaurants could soon be a thing of the past as the Spanish government draws up new rules banning the use of refillable bottles, despite a recent EU veto of similar moves.

Published: 9 July 2013 12:05 CEST
Spain revives plans to outlaw oil 'drizzlers'
Classic Spanish 'aceiteras' will be dropped if the new law comes into force. Photo: nudomarinero/Flickr

A new Royal Decree announced on Tuesday will regulate the packaging of olive oil in hotels and restaurants to prevent re-use of the highly-valued product.

The initiative goes directly against the European Commission's recent decision to reject similar draft regulations presented by Spain after vetoes from a so-called Nordic bloc including Germany and Finland.

The condiment controversy could anger restaurateurs who will be forced to provide customers with oil that is labelled with its origin, quality, date of manufacture and best-before date in a single-use, non-resealable bottle or sachet.

Take a look at The Local's list of Spain's top ten weirdest foods.

But regulators hope that move will prevent the practice of re-filling branded bottles with cheaper oil, according to Spanish daily ABC.

Agriculture Minister Arias Cañete stressed that olive oil in Spain is "a strategic sector in a geographic area where the culture of olive oil is the foundation of the Mediterranean diet".

He added ministry was dedicated to promoting  the "yellow gold" which was of great value to "Brand Spain".

Food industry representatives expressed satisfaction with the new announcement.

The Agro-Food Cooperatives of Spain said in a statement that oil labelling rules are very strict and should not be abandoned at the final step of the sales process.

"The current practice of refilling alters the sensory characteristics of the product, creating a bad appearance and unpleasant odour," they said.

But Emilio Gallego, secretary general of Spain's Federation of Hospitality, sounded a sour note.

He said "the economic impact will be very high because of the high cost of bottling and packaging".

"It will hit hoteliers in the pocket."

National consumer organization OCU has reported nine Spanish companies for trying to "cheat" consumers by selling lower-quality and cheaper 'virgin' olive oil as 'extra virgin'.

They have supported the government's initiative and said that the prevention of re-usable packaging would "prevent fraud."

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FOOD AND DRINK

Why do they pour cider like that in Spain’s Asturias?

The green northern region’s drink of choice is cider but it’s the method waiters have of pouring it from a great height that catches the attention of ‘out-ciders’.

Published: 29 February 2024 15:40 CET
Why do they pour cider like that in Spain's Asturias?

They say Asturian blood is 50 percent water and 50 percent cider, and given the 40 million bottles produced every year in the region, it doesn’t seem too hard to believe.

However, it’s the method of serving cider in Asturias which really captures the imagination. 

The bottle will either come attached to a contraption which sucks up the cider and splurts it into a wide but thin-rimmed glass.

Or the waiter will come out every few minutes to grab your bottle and glass, lift the former high up with one arm and the latter down low around waist height before pouring some of the cider into the glass from at an arm’s length. 

There’s even a verb for this action – escanciar – to decant.  

The objective is for the cider to be shaken and aerated so that its natural carbon dioxide ‘awakens’.

When it is poured from above and hits the glass, carbon dioxide bubbles are produced that make the aroma of the cider come alive.

It’s good and normal for there to be splashback when pouring Asturian cider, but the aim is still to get most of it in the glass. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP)

These bubbles go away quickly so once served, the customer should quickly drink the culín (small bottom) up in one swig. 

The action of escanciar imitates how cider would be traditionally served when it went directly from big oak barrels to the glass, as cider has been the drink of choice in Asturians since before Roman times. 

READ ALSO: Why Spaniards’ habit of drinking alcohol every day is surprisingly healthy

This is after all natural cider which doesn’t come with the sugar, additives and pre-carbonated mixes of brands such as Strongbow, Magners or Kopparberg.

“It took me some time to get the hang of pouring cider, I missed the mark a lot, and my arm used to get very tired at first,” a Latin American waitress at a bar in Gijón told The Local Spain. 

Many sidrerías (cider houses) and restaurants have cylindrical tubes on wheels where escanciadores (the waiters in charge of pouring cider) can put the glass in to avoid making a mess on the floor or splashing customers, as there is always some splatter even if they don’t completely miss the mark. 

A waiter pours cider for customers at a cider bar in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo (Photo by RAFA RIVAS / AFP)

The more old-school chigres (cider house in Asturian) prefer to have sawdust all over the floor to absorb the spilt cider.

To pour, tirar (throw) or escanciar (decant) cider like an Asturian, you should tilt the bottle slowly from above and aim for the cider to hit the top part of the inside side of the glass, which has to be held at a 45-degree angle. It’s this that brings out the effervescence out in la sidra natural.  

So when you visit the beautiful region of Asturias and you tuck into their famously ample servings of fabada asturiana (Asturian bean stew) or cachopo (meat, cheese and ham all together in breadcrumbs), washed down with one or two bottles of sidra, now you’ll understand what’s behind this eye-catching tradition.

READ ALSO: Eight fascinating facts about Spain’s Asturias region

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