History of Olive Oil

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History of

Olive Oil

by www.eurogrocer.com

<http://www.eurogrocer.com/>

 

Considered sacred by the people of the Mediterranean for

thousands of

years, the olive tree continues to fascinate us and

maintain its hold on

our imagination. It is believed that the cultivation of

the olive began

around 5000 B.C. on Crete and the neighboring Greek

Islands. In fact the

ancient Greeks believed the olive tree was a gift from

the goddess

Athena and began using olive oil in their religious

rituals. Homer, the

immortal Greek poet, called olive oil �liquid gold�

and the

Law of Solon, around 6-7 century B.C., prohibited cutting

down of olive

trees on the punishment of death. The expansion of the

Greek colonies

throughout the Mediterranean also spread the cultivation

of the olives.

By 8 century B.C. the olive tree harvesting appeared in

Southern Italy,

Egypt, Southern France and Judea.

 

Olive Oil Facts

 

Today, the Mediterranean continues to nurture the olive

with its

temperate climate and rocky soil. Spain and Italy collect

the most

abundant olive harvests while Greece is reasserting its

ancient role as

an olive oil producer. One can also find delicious extra

virgin olive

oils of very high quality produced in Provence, France

and Portugal.

 

Olive oil is the only oil that can be consumed as soon as

it is removed

from the olive and there are reasonable claims that

extra-virgin olive

oil is the most digestible of the edible fats. The method

of producing

olive oil had not changed in thousands of years, although

the tools that

we use today are made of stainless steel and not stone,

and the labor is

mechanical not manual. The olive fruit is ground into a

paste and then

the oil is extracted through the centrifugal motion. This

first

extraction creates what is known as, and highly

treasured, extra virgin,

first cold-pressed olive oil. Absolutely no chemicals or

heat are

applied during this stage.This first pressing creates

olive oil that

retains the flavor, color and nutritional value of the

original fruit.

Often some filtration is performed to remove sediment

from the oil,

however unfiltered extra virgin olive oil is very popular

with

connoisseurs in the belief that it truly captures the

character of the

fruit and the soil. Importantly, in order to meet the

standards mandated

by the European Union olive oil marked extra virgin must

have acidity

level of 1% or less.

 

“Fortunately

art is a community effort - a small but select community living in a

spiritualized world endeavoring to interpret the wars and the solitudes of the

flesh.”

-Allen Ginsberg

 

 

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