The Olive & its Golden Oil
"We are the civilization of the olive, Jean Giono wrote. We love the strong oil, the green oil, the oil whose smell inspires to read the Iliad and the Oddissey". Aproximately 4,000 years B.C., Phoenicians were already consuming it. Romans promoted the olive tree's culture and the commercialization of olive oil throughout all their empire. Nowadays, a Greek consumes 20 litres per year, compared to two for a French. Spain, Italy, and Greece produce the 70% of olive oil on Earth. Its flavor depends on the balance between bitterness and ardency (tingling in the throat). Like wine, the olive oil is offered in different grades of quality. The temperature when pressed, the origin, using only one or diverse types of olives are determinants in this quality. When an oil is named virgin extra it is mean that it comes from the first pressed (virgin), and this was below 40° Celicius. The olive oil would lose all its terapeutique properties if heated above 210° Celcius, apart from becomes cancer-related. This ingredient is one of the esentials in the Mediterranean diet.