Olive oil today

In less religious matters, olive oil was also widely used to fuel torches and lamps, experiencing a great boom in 18th-century Europe. The industrial grew even more with the arrival of the industrial age and the need to lubricate machinery. Olive oil is a rather expensive oil compared to other kinds of oil since it needs a particular production process and treatment: olive crop is a long-term process. In fact, olives are produced only after the tree reaches its maturity which takes longer than five years). Harvesting is still largely made by hand in most of the Italy’s regions. Finally, processing needs an advanced technology, particularly in areas with larger productions.

    Stones of a Frantoio

The olive tree wood is really durable and solid and it is also an ideal type of wood for a many objects and decorating accessories such as the cutting boards, trays, cutlery, bowls and art sculptures. Beautiful sculptures and carved objects to decorated interiors are often found in art markets and small specialized furniture shops throughout rural Italy including southern Lazio where the art of working its wood is still practiced by local craftsmen. Today, they continue to be working following this ancient tradition and creating for every day use, with antique material: the olive tree’s wood.

Italy is intense competition with Spain as the world's leading producer of olive oil, with some 1.280.000 cultivated hectares, 181 million plants and over 10.000 registered presses. Here in Italy olive oil is not simply cooking oil! As expert of Italy’s matter you probably know already that that there are professional oil-tasters, just like wine-tasters. Oils of olive are not all the identical, but can change according to sun exposure, soil and micro-climate from each region.

Like the wine, the climate and others conditions plays an important impact in determining characteristics, tastes and different fragrances: understating and loving oils is a question for fine ‘connoisseurs’ with expertise in many fields. Italian olive oil is distinguishable for its wide range of local varieties available. Each region offers its own particular character to its oil. From region to region oil's characteristics change: the color, from straw yellow to green. Generally, northern Italian olive oils are light and paler in color whilst the color gets darker and with more intense flavors as you go south. Local olive oil is famous for its intense perfume and taste, with medium strength color between intense dark-yellow and olive-green.

The fine art of olive oil tasting ritual should always be best undertaken in the morning on an empty stomach; advisable avoiding traces of strong toothpastes, deodorants, perfumes or smoke on your body. Each examiner will eat a piece of apple or a bit of unseasoned bread to clear the palate between each sample tested. This is strictly necessary to identify any "acidic", "rancid", "oxidized" and "stale" underground taste in the product. The oil is normally heated to body temperature by the heat of the hand. Color and clarity are assessed and judged initially, followed by an olfactory exploration of the oil's aroma, which could reveal hidden traces of mold, overheating, sourness.

The final, fundamental test on taste will determine the ‘essence’, character or body as if the oil "is mature", "sweet" or "fresh", "fruity or with almond-like undertones", "lively" or "smoothed". The tester final and overall verdict will determine whether or not the oil's attributes are positive. The olive oil from southern Lazio has been defined as ‘gold in drops’ for its excellent characteristics. Considered precious,it has always been an primary ingredient for cooking, from the most primitive days. With the ancients believing that its constant use in cooking ensured a longer life.