Cooks on Maritsa
Theo Michaels on Maritsa
Theo Michaels. Photograph courtesy of Theo Michaels.
Theo Michaels is a TV chef and the author of Cypriana, a book of Greek Cypriot cooking. In October he cooked for us at home, over charcoal, and finished the plate with Maritsa.
For Theo, olive oil sits at the centre of Greek Cypriot life, and it starts early. “With the Greeks, we can't escape olive oil. When we're christened, the priest dips his finger in olive oil and makes a cross on your forehead. At the end of your life, the priest pours a cross of olive oil over your coffin. It's at the top and the tail of our lives, and we use most of it in the middle as well.”
Choosing it
The real proof is in the pudding
Before he tasted anything, Theo talked through what he looks for on the shelf, and it is the same list we hold ourselves to. The container comes first: “Look first for a dark bottle or a tin, to stop sunlight getting in.” Then where the oil comes from and how it is made: “You want to know it's single estate. You want to know it's cold extracted.”
A label only tells you so much, so he poured a glass. “But the real proof is in the pudding.”
Tasting it
A kick to it
He tasted Maritsa neat, from a small glass, the way a producer would.
“Intense straight away. You can feel the peppery nose and the aromatics. It has a kick to it. That's how you know you've got good quality olive oil.”Theo Michaels
That peppery catch at the back of the throat is the mark of a fresh oil, and the thing Maritsa herself judged every oil by.
Using it
Liquid gold, but don't be shy
Theo used Maritsa the way we hope you will: to finish. He made a raw dressing of lemon, garlic, fresh oregano and black pepper, loosened it with Maritsa and spooned it over lamb straight off the charcoal. “The final ingredient for our dressing is a really good quality olive oil. I'm using Maritsa. I love this stuff.”
He is clear about where an oil like this belongs: “For a high-grade extra virgin, use it for the salads, the dressings, the condiments.” And he does not hold back with it. “Treat this like liquid gold. But you also don't want to be shy.” A dressing, he says, needs more punch than feels natural: “Dressings have to be more powerful than you think they should be, because you only get a little on each mouthful.”
About Theo
From MasterChef to Cypriana
Theo was born in London into a large Greek Cypriot family. He competed on BBC MasterChef in 2014, then left a board role in the corporate world to cook for a living.
He has written a run of cookbooks since, from Orexi! and Rustica to Theo's Family Kitchen and Cypriana, his book of Greek and Cypriot cooking. He is a regular guest chef on daytime television, including ITV's This Morning, and still cooks for a living in the UK and abroad.
More from Stories
Maritsa · Buying guide
Six things to look for in a bottle of olive oil
Single estate, harvest date and four more, with how Maritsa measures up.
Maritsa · Family
Named for Maritsa
The grandmother who knew good oil when she tasted it.
Maritsa · The grove
Picked by hand, cold extracted the same day
The estate, the harvest and the man who walks the rows.
Quotes from a shoot with Theo Michaels at his home on 20 October 2026, approved by Theo. No fee was paid; Theo received Maritsa and Big K charcoal for the shoot. Photographs from the shoot: Big K Products. Portrait courtesy of Theo Michaels.