Scan the grocery store shelves for olive oil, and what do you see? Virgin, extra virgin, pure, light — what the hell’s the difference??

Chef Gui Alinat sheds some much-needed light on which oil is which.

For my own reference, I’ll list the definitions here. (What, you don’t use your blog to help you stock your cupboard?)

- Extra Virgin: Top-notch highest quality, cold-pressed, extremely low acidity (less than 0.8 percent).

- Virgin: Almost as good as Extra Virgin, also cold-pressed, slightly higher acidity (0.8 to 3 percent).

- Pure: Low-quality, chemically-processed, higher acidity.

- Just “olive oil” (no descriptor): Midrange-quality, blend of Extra Virgin/Virgin and Pure, low acidity (less than 1 percent).

- Light: Low-quality, generally the same as Pure (only pricier).

So the keyword is “virgin”. But isn’t it always…