I always consider it a good day when I learn something new, especially when I discover a secret about how to enhance the flavors of foods I love and serve.

So it was a very good day indeed recently when I learned a whole bunch of secrets about—of all things—olive oil.

I learned them from a guy who calls himself “The Olive Oil Hunter.” I found his tips on how to buy and use the freshest and most flavorful olive oils so informative that I had to share them with you.

Fresh Oil Makes All the Difference in Flavor!

Perhaps like you, I seldom let too many days pass when I don’t use olive oil, either in my cooking or to drizzle on top of something I just cooked. But truth be told, I never paid that much attention to the olive oil I was using and thought of it as just a fat for transferring heat from the pan to the ingredient I was cooking.

That has all changed since I recently interviewed T. J. Robinson, an award-winning chef and food journalist who travels around the world looking for the best olive oils available right at harvest time, when they are at their zenith of freshness, flavor, and nutritional value.

The problem with most olive oil available to us home cooks is that most of the really good stuff never makes it to our shores. Why?

Most olive oils imported into the United States are shipped up to a year after they have been pressed and bottled. Then they are sent over here by slow moving cargo ships, then sent to distributors, then sold to stores who put it on their shelves for who knows how long.

You may find a “sell by” date on the bottle but rarely will you find a date revealing when the olives were harvested, pressed and bottled. This is so important because the fresher the oil, the higher the flavor (and the healthier it is, too).

What You Need To Know About Olive Oil

In my interview with T. J. Robinson, I asked him questions I wanted answered about olive oil and how to find and purchase the freshest, healthiest, and best-tasting available product online. Let me warn you the interview is long, but if you are interested in learning about both the culinary and health benefits of olive oil, you are going to want to read this interview in full.

T. J. sent me three bottles of fresh-pressed olive oil from Spain, and I can tell you I have never tasted any olive oil this fresh before. In fact, at first I didn’t know what to make of the fresh grass-like flavor and hay aroma.

The flavor overpowered my taste buds until I drizzled some over some roasted vegetables and potatoes. It added a whole new layer of flavor that I have only experienced in a few high-end restaurants. I asked T. J. about this experience in the interview.

Free Bottle of Rare Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil

For a limited time, T. J. is offering my readers a free bottle of “the brightest, most insanely flavorful olive oil on the planet” for free, including shipping, to let you taste for yourself how great fresh pressed olive oil is. This offer expires on Monday, May 31, 2010 or when his free bottles are gone.

I urge you to read my interview with T. J. about olive oil and the benefits it can bring you before you purchase your next bottle of olive oil.  Here’s what celebrity chef Mario Batali says about fresh-pressed olive oil:

“If you can, get your hands on something they call olio nuovo, that’s what they call the new oil right when it’s pressed…and what you’ll taste is this almost piquant, more viscous, intensely green liquid that is a little cloudy maybe. That’s the best part of olive oil that you’ll ever find.”