Chapter 1

Exploring the Story of Olive Oil

IN THIS CHAPTER

Examining the ancient origins of olive oil

Discovering how olive oil has been used in food, medicine, spirituality, and culture

Understanding the evolution of olive oil in modern times

To understand what the olive tree and olive oil means to people who have grown up in its shade, it’s important to know how the tree and its fruit have shaped the lives and cultural heritage of their ancestors. The olive tree is deeply rooted in the landscape and the traditions of the Mediterranean regions where it has flourished for millennia, and its history is deeply intertwined with the development of human civilization.

Throughout history, olive oil as a culinary ingredient was of great importance in cooking, and its health benefits were very much valued. In addition to olive oil, other olive products are also found in the entire region. Olives, olive wood, and olive pomace are used to make everything from food and furniture to fuel and soap.

This chapter journeys across time and continents to explore the history and significance of olive oil. It explains how olive oil has been used in food, medicine, and culture historically and in modern times.

Defining the Olive Tree throughout its History

The history of the relationship between humankind and the olive tree stretches back many millennia. There is archaeological evidence suggesting that people in the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean consumed olives in neolithic times, as well as using the wood for fire. It’s likely that curing or fermenting techniques to reduce the natural bitterness of olives would have been known to communities during this time. Though these processes would be refined and improved particularly in the Roman period, the use of wood ash with brine to cure the fruit to make them more palatable was widespread. By the fourth millennium BCE, there is evidence to show the systematic harvesting and crushing of olives for oil. And by the Bronze Age, this was a well-established technique to produce oil for food, cosmetics, and lamp fuel.

From wilderness to farm

When humans started to farm rather than moving to hunt and gather food about 10,000 years ago, the wild olive tree, probably originating from Persia and Mesopotamia, was among the earliest plant species to be domesticated and planted in the so-called fertile crescent. The fertile crescent included lands that now span from Iran and Iraq to Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine. Archeologists have found olive pits suggesting that that the olive trees in those areas were first domesticated 8,000 years ago. Selective breeding ensured that the hardiest and most productive trees — Olea europaea — survived. Known as the common olive, it’s a variety of an evergreen tree native to the Mediterranean region that is still growing today with its various subspecies and regional varieties.

Farming also allowed people to experiment with new agricultural techniques and improve milling to get the most oil from the olives. Olive presses were larger and became valued and protected resources near to the communities they served. Stone wheels often moved in circles by harnessed donkeys or mules became the most efficient way of crushing the olives ahead of “pressing” them and separating juice (or oil) from the flesh, pit, and skin. Evidence of this method being used dates from 6,000 years ago and widely practiced until the early part of the last century. (An ancient press is shown in Figure 1-1.) Traditionally, each community had its own mill. Locals brought their recently harvested olives to their local mills for pressing. For this reason, there is a deep desire among people in the Mediterranean region to use “their own oil,” even today. People who live in olive-producing areas have long-lasting ties with a local, “trustworthy” mill. They bring their olives to that mill — often watching the oil being extracted — and later with their families enjoy the oil throughout the year. This way they ensure the best quality, flavors of choice, and freshest oil possible.

There are some olive oils that are still produced using ancient milling techniques. This can produce some good quality oils, but greater care needs to be taken to ensure that it is not spoiled. When visiting olive oil — producing countries, it can be a fun and informative experience to visit both modern and ancient mills. Modern methods of milling are generally much more efficient, protecting and preserving the flavor and health benefits of extra-virgin olive oil. This is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 3.

Olive trees can live for hundreds, and sometimes thousands of years. In each Mediterranean culture, the ancient trees are viewed with more prestige and importance. There are names in each language specifically dedicated to the trees that are hundreds of years and thousands of years old. Oil that comes from those trees is extremely valuable culturally and commands higher prices when sold. In Italy, for example, secolari is the term used to describe trees that are hundreds of years old and millenari is the word used to describe trees that are thousands of years old. Olive trees are extraordinarily resilient, having adapted to thrive in harsh environments and can produce new shoots even after devastating droughts or fires. It’s extraordinary to think that some trees are so ancient that they date back perhaps three thousand years. Their gnarled massive, beautiful forms are imposing and often are a symbol to local people of their own history and survival.

From ship to shore

In the late Bronze Age, from around 1200 BCE, Phoenician sailors and traders from what is now Lebanon established colonies and trading posts throughout the Mediterranean to North Africa, Sicily, and the Iberian Peninsula. Historians believe they played an important role in expanding olive cultivation and milling across the Mediterranean. Archeologists often find evidence of olive oil production and typical storage jars called amphorae at sites and in cities that were founded by these masterful merchants and explorers. One of the recipes found in the jars was the now trendy aioli sauce, which Chef Amy teaches you how to make in Chapter 17.

Although they aren’t talked about very often on a daily basis, the Phoenicians’ legacy in spreading the olive tree and its cultivation practices is a testament to their role as key players in the agricultural and economic history of the Mediterranean. Many of the similarities in Mediterranean cuisine are a result of their commercial efforts.

Shaping ancient empires

In cultures such as Ancient Persia, Egypt, Greece, and Magna Grecia in the fourth millennium BCE, olive oil played a vital role as a food and important source of nutrition. It was fundamental to the economy of the expanding empire and was not only a cornerstone of everyday life but also had profound religious and symbolic meaning.

Ancient Egypt

By the fourth millennium BCE, the ancient Egyptians were using olive oil not only for culinary purposes, but also for cosmetics and perfumes. Since perfume making was so important to Mediterranean trade at that time, the role of olive oil in its production made olives an even more significant crop, surpassing even the grape in importance. According to the Egyptians it was the goddess Isis, sister and wife of Osiris, who taught humans how to grow olive trees and extract their oil. The ancient Egyptians cultivated many olive orchards. An inscription on a temple dedicated to the god Ra dating from the twelfth century BCE during the rule of Ramses II describes the olive orchards around the city of Heliopolis producing pure oil, the best quality in all of Egypt, for lighting the lamps in sacred places.

Ancient Greece

During this time, the olive became a more important crop than the grape. Mycenaean tablets mentioning olive trees dating 3,500 years ago were found on the Greek island of Crete along with amphoras at the Palace of Knossos. An example of a Greek amphora is shown in Figure 1-2.

In the traditional diet of Crete, where scientists first described the Mediterranean diet, it is said that 70 percent of total fat consumption comes from olive oil. Mediterranean cuisine “swims” in olive oil. The culinary term lathera, translated as “the ones with oil,” is a traditional Greek cooking method and category of dishes. The dishes are integral to the Mediterranean diet and particularly the Cretan diet, being rich in olive oil, often with tomatoes, onions, beans, other vegetables, various herbs and spices, and bread for soaking up the oil. The olive oil not only serves as the cooking medium but also adds significant flavor and nutritional value to the dishes.

Athens was the birthplace for Greek olive oil. Olive tree depictions also decorated the walls of ancient Egyptian and Greek palaces. Olive oil during this time was used as fuel for lamps, to clean and moisturize the body, as well as for a balsam for wounds and in perfumes. Aristotle himself promoted the divine powers of olive oil, using it to anoint himself before he...