Today, olive oil is widely used for a variety of purposes such as cooking, beauty products, and medicine, leading to a world consumption of about 535 million gallons per year on average. Evidence shows that olive oil was being produced during 4500 B.C. in modern day Israel. What is olive oil? Olive oil is the oil acquired from olives. This fat is obtained by pressing olives, but the process is not as simple. Olive trees need numerous years and extra care to be ready and to produce an optimized number of olives. This is very important as one liter of olive oil requires about ten pounds of olives and if enough care is not given to the trees while they are maturing, less olive oil is produced, hurting the producers and growers economically.
…show more content…
Today, Puglia produces about 40% of Italy’s and about 10% of Europe’s olive oil. This mass production of olive oil has been playing a major part in Puglia’s economy, both for the producers and workforce. Le Strade dell’Olio, or the streets of oil, in Brindisi (a city in Puglia) expands to about hundred forty kilometers, along which one could taste and purchase locally produced oils. Many believe that “the olive represents the cultural soul of the Pugliese; solid, austere, immortal, generous and possessing an ancient civility. Above all, an ability to adapt and thrive in poor circumstances” (Puglia …show more content…
Once you taste a high quality oil, you can’t go back to the other kind. It will taste rancid, like chemicals”. In a study conducted by Di Vita and his colleagues, extra-virgin olive oils from different regions of Italy were compared. The subjects of this study included people from central, northern, and southern Italy. The results showed that people from all parts of Italy significantly preferred the olive oil produced in Puglia in comparison to the ones produced in Tuscany and Sicily. This clearly tells us that the quality of the olive oil produced in Puglia is high as no other nation in the world cares more about the quality of their food as the Italians do. This does not mean that the quality of olive oil produced in other parts of Italy is bad. Simply, the one produced in Puglia is of a better quality due to the environmental factors mentioned earlier. After all, Puglia is the most important region of Italy in the field of olives due to its millions of olive trees as well as fertile soil and
Today, Puglia produces about 40% of Italy’s and about 10% of Europe’s olive oil. This mass production of olive oil has been playing a major part in Puglia’s economy, both for the producers and workforce. Le Strade dell’Olio, or the streets of oil, in Brindisi (a city in Puglia) expands to about hundred forty kilometers, along which one could taste and purchase locally produced oils. Many believe that “the olive represents the cultural soul of the Pugliese; solid, austere, immortal, generous and possessing an ancient civility. Above all, an ability to adapt and thrive in poor circumstances” (Puglia …show more content…
Once you taste a high quality oil, you can’t go back to the other kind. It will taste rancid, like chemicals”. In a study conducted by Di Vita and his colleagues, extra-virgin olive oils from different regions of Italy were compared. The subjects of this study included people from central, northern, and southern Italy. The results showed that people from all parts of Italy significantly preferred the olive oil produced in Puglia in comparison to the ones produced in Tuscany and Sicily. This clearly tells us that the quality of the olive oil produced in Puglia is high as no other nation in the world cares more about the quality of their food as the Italians do. This does not mean that the quality of olive oil produced in other parts of Italy is bad. Simply, the one produced in Puglia is of a better quality due to the environmental factors mentioned earlier. After all, Puglia is the most important region of Italy in the field of olives due to its millions of olive trees as well as fertile soil and