“EVOO” (pronounced as individual letters) stands for “extra virgin olive oil.” Olive oil has several grades, established by an international food organization; “extra virgin olive oil” comes from the cold pressing of the olives and is graded higher than “virgin olive oil.”
 
Television food cook Rachael Ray claims to have popularized “EVOO,” but her national Food Network shows began in 2001 and “EVOO” is cited in print from at least 1992. New York magazine included “EVOO” in a “Silly Jargon Watch” in 1997. Ray sells a product called “EVOO”—a trademark was sought in 2005.
 
‘“Extra virgin olive oil” is cited in print since 1910.
     
 
Wikipedia: Olive oil
Olive oil is a fruit oil obtained from the olive (Olea europaea; family Oleaceae along with lilacs, jasmine and ash trees), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. The wild olive tree originated in Asia Minor, today the countries of Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps.
(...)
Retail grades in IOOC member nations
In countries which adhere to the standards of the IOOC the labels in stores show an oil’s grade. The US is not a member.
 
. Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) comes from cold pressing of the olives, contains no more than 0.8% acidity, and is judged to have a superior taste. Extra-virgin and virgin olive oil may not contain refined oil.
. Virgin olive oil has an acidity less than 2%, and is judged to have a good taste.
. Pure olive oil. Oils labeled as Pure olive oil or Olive oil are usually a blend of refined and virgin or extra-virgin oil.
. Olive oil is a blend of virgin oil and refined oil, of no more than 1.5% acidity. It commonly lacks a strong flavor.
. Olive-pomace oil is a blend of refined pomace olive oil and possibly some virgin oil. It is fit for consumption, but may not be described simply as olive oil. Olive-pomace oil is rarely sold at retail; it is often used for certain kinds of cooking in restaurants.
. Lampante oil is olive oil not suitable as food; lampante comes from olive oil’s long-standing use in oil-burning lamps. Lampante oil is mostly used in the industrial market.
 
Wikipedia: Rachael Ray
Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968 in Glens Falls, New York) is a television personality and author. She hosts the syndicated talk/lifestyle program Rachael Ray and two Food Network series, 30 Minute Meals and Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels. Ray has also written a series of cookbooks based on the 30 Minute Meals concept, and launched a magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, in 2006.
 
Prior to the launch of her talk show, Ray hosted two other Food Network shows, $40 a Day and Inside Dish.
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On her television programs she has coined catch phrases such as “EVOO” (extra-virgin olive oil), “yum-o”, “so delish”, “G.B.” (garbage bowl), “Oh my gravy!”, “entréetizer” (entrée-sized appetizer), “stoup” (cross between a soup and stew) and “How bad is that”’?” In 2007, The Oxford American College Dictionary announced the addition of the term EVOO (short for extra virgin olive oil), which Ray has helped popularize.
 
FamousFoods.com
Rachael Ray
EVOO Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Food Network star and best selling cookbook author, Rachael Ray is launching her own brand of extra virgin olive oil, otherwise known by her audience as simply “EVOO”. EVOO is a Gourmet Spanish Olive Oil from the Andalusia Region of Spain.
 
Rachael notes, “My EVOO has an Extra Tasty flavor and a deep, delicious aroma. It’s always the first ingredient in any dish I make.”

Ray is best known for her 30 Minute Meals format, in which she showcases her no fuss cooking. Like most pop culture icons, her infectious enthusiasm and down to earth style has helped her to become a household name due in part to her own zany vernacular, otherwise known as “Rachael-isms”. EVOO being the most commonly used abbreviation for one of her favorite ingredients.

Rachael Says “EVOO is extra virgin olive oil. I first coined “EVOO” on my cooking show because saying “extra virgin olive oil” over and over was wordy, and I’m an impatient girl-that’s why I make 30-minute meals!”
 
(Oxford English Dictionary) 
extra-virgin, a. and n.
A. adj. Of olive oil: extra pure (being the highest quality available, the result of the first pressing); spec. containing a maximum of 1% oleic acid. Cf. VIRGIN a. 18b. In extended use of other oils.
[1956 Internat. Agreement Olive Oil (1958) 17 Classifications and definitions of olive oil for international trade. 1. Virgin olive oils..Extra: Olive oil of absolutely perfect flavour, having a maximum acidity, i.e., oleic acid content, of 1 gramme per 100 grammes.]
1976 A. MACMIADHACHAIN Spanish Regional Cookery 31 Spanish olive oil..is sold in two grades, ‘extra virgin’, which is made from the first pressing of the olives..and the standard grade.
1990 Here’s Health Dec. 15/1 (advt.) Amphora is extra virgin, cold-pressed evening primrose oil.
2000 Sun-Herald (Sydney) 18 June (Sunday Life section) 21/3 Lots of freshly cracked pepper and drizzles of extra-virgin olive oil.
B. n. Extra-virgin olive oil.
1981 Bon Appétit May 130/2 One of the best is Olivar, an extra virgin.
1994 Toronto Life June 81/1 Surrounded by tarragon-spangled cherry tomatoes and asparagus over extra-virgin with lemon.
2000 A. BOURDAIN Kitchen Confid. (2001) 194, I pour extra virgin into a pan and sauté some paper-thin garlic slices with some crushed red pepper.
 
1 July 1910, Hamilton (OH) Evening Journal, pg. 10, col. 3 ad:
Country Club Superfine Extra Virgin Olive Oil
We have just received from Marseilles, France, our second shipment of Superfine Extra Virgin Olive Oil; that means the finest pressing of the Olives. We have just received same in 10-gallon tins, and we have rebottled it in the regular-size bottles used in the trade. We consider this the finest Olive Oil made in the world. We bottled it ourselves, and guarantee it to be the finest money can buy.
(Sold for fifteen cents a bottle at Kroger’s—ed.)
 
28 October 1910, Oregonian (Portland, OR), pg. 13 ad:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the “Brand.”
(L. Mayer & Co. grocers—ed.)
 
10 January 1912, New Castle (PA) News, pg. 8, col. 7 classified ad:
Agents for Cochrane’s Extra Virgin olive oil. At the Star Grocery.
     
28 August 1916, Manitoba Morning Free Press, pg. 10(?) ad:
Extra Virgin Brand Olive Oil—A pure imported oil, 1 lb. bottle.  Regular 75c.  Tuesday Special 45c.
   
30 January 1926, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “Noni goes a-marketing,” pg. A6:
Improve your salad—improve your health—Castruccio Bros. extra virgin cream salad olive oil is the brand to be used…
   
26 October 1992, Boston (MA) Globe, “Dee Dee does Madonna” by Diane White, pg. 32:
Dee Dee understands why you might be concerned. Any fantasy in which Wilford Brimley plays a role is hardly “normal” and bespeaks an unusual sort of erotomania. But it is nothing to be ashamed of. Dee Dee has a recurring fantasy in which she frolics in a vat of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) with Martha Stewart and the Frugal Gourmet. It is not a fantasy Dee Dee would choose to have, but that’s the thing about fantasies, we can’t always control them. So relax and enjoy!
   
Google Groups: rec.food.cooking
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
Followup-To: rec.food.cooking
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Cyndi Smith)
Date: 2 Apr 93 19:44:03 GMT
Local: Fri, Apr 2 1993 1:44 pm
Subject: Re: Using Balsamic Vinegar
 
Lucky you - Balsamic Vinegar is a great thing. I make a BV salad dressing that gets raves:
 
1/3 cup each BV, EXTRA Virgin Olive Oil, water (or another 1/3 c EVOO)
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 teas. each fresh minced basil & oregano (if dried, use 1/4 t each)
Mix well - will probably need to be shaken before each use.
 
If feeling lazy, BV and EVOO can just be lightly applied to salad and tossed.
 
New York (NY) Daily News
BOTTOM-FEEDING AT THE TOWERS GEMELLI COMES UP SHORT AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER; EATERY’S FEW OUTSTANDING DISHES POINT UP THE MEDIOCRITY OF THE REST
By DANIEL YOUNG Daily News Restaurant Critic
Friday, October 10th 1997, 2:03AM
(...)
But neither should be joined or followed by plates drenched in sauces and olive oil. Perhaps the “E” in “EVOO,” a recurrent menu description, refers to “excess” and not “extra” virgin olive oil.
 
Google Books
3 November 1997, New York magazine, pg. 18, col. 1:
SILLY JARGON WATCH
You know the difference between saute and Sauternes. You can tell a ramp from a fiddlehead at 50 paces. Before you graduate to the inner circles of culinary-insiderdom, however, here’s a last little bit of obscurantism to master: evo, a previously unknown ingredient that’s suddenly on a handful of fancy menus (sometimes as evoo). A rare herb? An imported mushroom? Nope—simply a new marketing strategy. It’s just plain old extra-virgin olive oil.
 
kitchenMage
December 11, 2006
But EVOO isn’t even a word!
The brand that is Rachael Ray strikes again, and this time I really must object. The next edition of the Oxford American College Dictionary will include EVOO as a word and they are crediting RR for the term.

Um, no and no.

First, EVOO isn’t a word, it’s an acronym and I am concerned that the people associated with Oxford (whom many of us think of as “the dictionary people”) don’t seem to know the difference.

Next, read this quote from Erin McKean, Editor-in-Chief of American Dictionaries

“In order for a word to get into the dictionary it has to be useful to people. It’s not just enough to be a fabulous celebrity to get your word in. You have to make a word that people like to use. There are words that are connected with celebrities that are not going to make it in the dictionary anytime soon; we’re not going to put in “Brangelina.” “EVOO” we see people using. We have a big database of about a billion and a half English words. In that database we found evidence of “EVOO” being used and in more than half of the examples, “Rachael” is also in the same sentence.”
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark RACHAEL RAY’S EVOO
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 029. US 046. G & S: Olive Oil. FIRST USE: 20051115. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20051115
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 78672273
Filing Date July 18, 2005
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1B
Owner (APPLICANT) RAY MARKS CO. LLC LTD LIAB CO NEW YORK 375 GREENWICH ST. C/O WATCH ENTERTAINMENT, INC. NEW YORK NEW YORK 10013
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Attorney of Record Robin E. Silverman
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date February 14, 2008