Raw olives and olive oil question

[Salsify]

I just bought this glass of olives at the Fresh Market. It is THASSOS RARE OLIVES IN OLIVE OIL. Claims ot be heirloim olives and puckered with sea salt, then mellowed in a marinade of extra virgin olive oil. I am not sure what 'puckered' really means, but they are delicious. Please tell me they are raw.

Also, the oil they come in is mild, yet so tasty. Much better than the regular store brand extra virgin oil I usually buy. I just made Alissa's mayo with the oil I usually have (I guess it is Pompeian), and although it don't taste bad, the olive oil taste is really dominating. So I wonder, is more expensive extra virgin olive oil milder in taste?

[Sillybloss]

I'm not an expert on these things, but from my experimenting, the more expensive the oil, the better it takes. Of course, everyone's taste differs! I prefer a somewhate buttery taste, but with that nive olive overtone. I understand fresh olives are very bitter, so it's necessary to really soak them to get the bitterness out. To me, the cheaper oils have more of a bitter taste, so you would think that they didn't soak them for as long (hence making the process faster and cheaper).

As for your olives....I just don't know because it goes back to the premise - if it's in a jar, it's not raw. However, Nature's First Law sells "Raw" olives in jars - I don't know what the difference is.

[exurb]

salsify, I'm not an expert on all matters olives and olive oil, but a few things I've come across...

if your olives are in a glass jar, and if that jar pops when it's opened as though it's been sealed, they have been thoroughly cooked, just like when something is canned. It is possible but difficult to find raw olives from places other than raw websites that have only been brined, then shipped usually in some bulk form, usually in plastic.

As for olive oils, there is apparently some regulation in the E.U. as to what oils can state cold pressed, but "cold pressed" is as I understand it, a completely unregulated term in North America, so an oil pressed at 400 degrees could be considered cold pressed as compared to one that is pressed at 500 degrees. I have read that it is an appealing marketing term, and there is no requirement for the truth of how cold it was pressed. So, without other information, and based on what I've read, I go under the assumption that most normally available olive oils from large scale national brands in the grocery store are NOT raw, and I check out any I buy for it's rawness. I recall that Bariani is considered raw, there are others too, but you have to find them. I operate on the assumption they're not the mass produced ones in the grocery store, if you're interesting in continuing to buy them I'd check with the manufacturer.