The olive tree is surely the richest gift of Heaven," Aldous Huxley wrote."
This article is dedicated to a friend, Paolo, who prefers to keep his last name anonymous due to the magnitude of organized crime in Italy.
His passion for olive oil, strong as ever, has been passed from generation to generation from his family. Cultivated with care, processed with tradition, the best olive oil in Liguria, Italy, from trees over two hundred years old, is only sold to old family friends or presented as gifts to the most cherished friends.
Relationships forged through the decades, honored at the present. An old time heritage, practiced in Italy as part of the honor, humility, and a custom refined through the"old" country traditions. A sons commitment to carry on his honorary responsibility as a badge to his forefathers.
His modern day mission is to spread the truth about, "The Real Olive Oil Story".
This is his story as told to me.
One of Italy's smallest regions, Liguria stretches west in a narrow ribbon along the coast from France. Mountains separate it from Piedmont to the north, Emilia Romagna to the east and Tuscany to the south. Even if you've never been there, you've probably seen its northeastern border in all those movies where glamorous jet setters hop into their sports cars and motor from Monte Carlo to Rome: the quaint customs booths any foreign film lover knows well are outside Ventimiglia.
Like so much of Italy, Liguria is a land of contrasts, home to belle époque seaside resort towns in the style of Cannes and Monaco; dozens and dozens of sandy strands, rocky coves and pebbly beaches; the country's largest commercial port and largest naval port; some of its most desolate stretches of coast, where lush forests of lemon trees, herbs, flowers, almonds and pines send forth heady sweet-smelling breezes; terraced hillsides that produce an olive oil considered more delicate than those grown in Tuscany. Whether you travel by train or by car, the spectacular journey along the Ligurian coast goes through tunnel after tunnel, always bursting forth from darkness into warm sunlight, the aquamarine sea glimmering at your side.
Olive Oil dates back centuries and legend says that, before dying, Adam asked God for the Oil of Mercy, and after he was buried, a cedar, a cypress and an olive tree grew from the three seeds that were put into his mouth.
Homer, the Greek poet, referred to Olive Oil as "Liquid Gold" and the king of Babylon's Hammurabi Code dating back to 2500 B.C. mentions rules regulating the olive oil trade. Since Ancient Times olive oil has been used for many different purposes. Our ancestors used it as antidote against poisons and later on as medicine to cure arthritis, rheumatism and gout. Athletes smeared olive oil over their bodies to strengthen their muscles and women used olive oil as skin moisturizer. It was also used as a weapon when boiling oil was thrown at enemies in times of conflict despite the fact that Olive Oil had always been regarded as a sign of peace. Its branches, emblems of benediction and purification, were ritually offered to deities and powerful figures: some were even found in Tutankhamen's tomb.
Some of the finest Olive Oil is derived from olives grown in the Liguria region of Italy. The Benedictine Monks modernized the methods of cultivation and since then Liguria olive trees have been called ‘taggiasche', named after the Taggia Monastery which housed the Monks.
The taggiasca "cultivar" (crop) is one of the 2000 crops existing world-wide and it's the only one in Liguria. In the 16th century, when overseas navigation started, olive oil was among the most traded goods. By the end of the 19th century, the industrial economy gradually replaced rural and trade economies and the olive trade went through a period of decline. At the end of world war II, a number of olive oil mills became active again and Ligurian town of Imperia quickly regained its leading position in the olive oil sector, thanks to a small number of people who strongly believed in the future of olive oil.
The rare 'Taggiasca Olive' used in Extra-Virgin Olive Oil can be considered, in today's terms, an organic crop in accordance to European rules of farming and harvesting. The trees producing this olive are cultivated on the Ligurian hills, between 150meters(492 feet) and 700 (2296 feet)meters above sea level. Here they are unreachable by the insects that damage crops and so the plants have no need for any chemical treatment. I will in no way spray my trees with chemicals,pesticides, or fungicides. I rather lose the entire crop, like I did last year, I didn't make any oil. I note that my olive oil is a labor of love, tradition, and passion. Profit is a minor concern, we in the family like to do our own oil so we know what the quality and integrity of the oil.
