Gaeta olives, a millenary tradition

Olive trees were cultivated 4500 years ago’. In the Italian peninsula the olive tree growing was spread by the Roman Empire, but widely known before Rome’s grandeur by the Etruscans, Greeks, Aurunci, Volsci and Samnites who occupied this area of southern Lazio. Certainly the olive tree is the most symbolic plant of the Mediterranean civilizations and heritage.

                 Gaeta Olives

Here in the Aurunci Mountains territories, most of the agricultural growings are olive trees considering that nowadays the production of organic olive oil is a profitable business with an important financial return. Virgilio , a great ancient Rome writer recounted that when Enea landed in southern Lazio to bury his adoptive mother, the nurse Cajeta, the sailors noticed small, dark green fruits floating on the surface of the sea. They were olives fallen from the olive trees branches leaning on high slopes close to sea along this coastline of southern Lazio. The sailors wanted to try taste the fruits that were ready in the salty sea water and found that they were very tasty. Many historical documents going back as far as Gaeta's Duchy (the Ducato of Gaeta) show that the olive’s trade was already a profitable business in the medieval times when Gaeta controlled the territory around including the hills up to Itri and further inland covering most of the Aurunci territories.

Many ships loaded with local variery called “Itrana” and known worldwide as the popular Gaeta olives left Gaeta’s port for the most important destinations all over the Mediterranean and Middle East markets. Gaeta olives entered in the jargon and local slang of the dealers and producers of all Mediterranean basin. These olives were appreciated centuries ago’ as testified in a epistolary report dated 1498 between the Duke D’Este, Ercole I, and his ambassador in Rome, Don Feltrino Manfredi, to whom the Duke asked explicitly to find him the famous Gaeta olives.

In the countryside of South Pontino the olive groves variety named “cultivar Itrana” is very common, and utilized for both oil production and table olives consumption. The harvesting starting in November is for the white olives whilst April is time for the black variety. This one is the most popular type since the renaissance age. The cultivation and preparation of Gaeta olives is a important element in the local gastronomy heritage and historical-cultural tradition. Imitations are numerous. However, the real black olives of Gaeta can be obtained only by the variety of the “cultivar Itrana”. Gaeta black olives are not black but recall a kind of dark metallic-violet color, the winy taste, slightly but pleasantly bitter with vinegary flavor. The fruits becoming olives of Gaeta must be harvested during the months of March and April when the fruits are at the right stage in the growth process.

Once picked the transformation process starts after 24 hours. According to the ancient local “Itrana” (means from Itri , a small town at the feet of the Aurunci Mountains ) tradition the olives are stored into containers and covered with water for a unique process of fermentation. Three months later 7 kilos of salt is added to the water for every 100 kilos of olives. Five months later the game is done! From then the olives are ready to be on the table or stored for long time. Gaeta olives are now awarded by the DOP (Denominated Origin Protected) official logo as legal way to protected the real, genuine product. Quality and specific characteristics are necessary and relevant to be in the DOP list. The most classical variety is the ‘cultivar’ with a slimmer shape than the equally popular variety defined as ‘Itrana’ with rounder body. Both are recorded in the DOP list.