page 1 - Mature Living in the Southeast

Oh, ThatPrecious“Liquid Gold!”By Cindy Schultz of Cindy Luttini Pasta for LifeHomer described it as “liquid gold.” But what should we know aboutolive oil before purchasing it for consumption? There is a plethora ofinformation that is confusing to decipher and differs from country tocountry - so buyer beware.The olive tree is native to the Mediterranean basin - if fact, wild oliveswere collected by Neolithic peoples as early as the 8th millenniumBC. (The Neolithic Age was a period in the development of humantechnology, beginning about 9500 BC in the Middle East.) It is believedthe wild olive tree originated in Asia Minor, now modern day Turkey.There is archeological evidence that the first cultivation of olive treestook place in Crete as long ago as 2500 BC. There also exists archeologicalevidence of olives being turned into olive oil in submerged settlementsoff the Carmel Coast, Israel around 4500 BC.Olive oil has played an important role in biblical text. In the Book ofGenesis, remember the dove who was sent out by Noah only to returnwith an olive branch in her beak - evidence that the divine wrath of theFlood had abated.There are over 750 million olive trees cultivated worldwide, 95% ofwhich are in the Mediterranean region, with Spain being the top producerof olive oil in the world. Of European production, more than 90%comes from Croatia, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Greece devotes60% of its cultivated land to the growing of olive trees. It is the world’stop producer of black olives and has more varieties of olives than anyother country.There are two different regulatory systems that determine how oliveoil is classified. Officially governing 95% of international production isthe International Olive Oil Council (IOOC). The IOOC is located inContinued on page 5654Mature Living Winter Edition