Terred’Olio 2013. The value of Olive Oil as the symbol of the territory’s civilization 4 Febbraio 2013 – Posted in: . ENGLISH TEXT

The preface by Fausto Borella published in The Land of Olive Oil 2013.

For years I wondered if it would make sense proposing a merely technical guide, with evaluations of the organoleptic properties of the various oils that I constantly select. A message reserved for the narrow circle of experts and the broader, but not so large, group of knowledgeable enthusiasts. Then I told myself that it would be necessary to get out of the tight knit sectarianism in order to divulge the greatest product on earth which represents our identity in the world: Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, the genuine one, good and beneficial. The value of olive oil as the symbol of the territory’s civilization.
In short, I had the desire of starting an annual publication that would not fail to comply with the expectations of an eminent expert and would at the same time stimulate the interest of a general enthusiast or casual consumer, who is the first victim of general misinformation regarding this great resource of the earth. So, thanks to past memories, my thoughts went back to the year 2000 when, as a result of my having met Luigi Veronelli, I began following a difficult yet fully satisfying course: visiting unique places in every Italian region, walking through valleys and along paths, listening to old-world stories and looking at genuine olive growers face to face. This is what convinced me to make a different editorial choice that I believe is a new one. I couldn’t trivialize a book only with a sequence of adjectives and reviews, which although necessary, would have reduced my work to an assessment of a product. I wanted to make it clear that readers must become acquainted with oil as a product, and in order to accomplish this, it had to be put into context in its environment. My intent was to arouse the reader’s curiosity trying to introduce interest, desire and the delight of reliving the same sensations experienced during my travels. Glances, dialects and moods, but also residences, churches and testimonies of our millenary history that still to this day, make us unique in the world. Convincing me wasn’t difficult, thanks to my friendship with Sara Vitali and Leonardo Castellucci, my communicators and publishers, with whom I shared this project whose goal is to accompany the inquisitive towards a new Renaissance of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil that only Italy possesses in as many varieties and variables.
Because olive oil is not delicate or medium-robust, it is neither light nor excessively intense, it’s just very good if it is made with proper experience and without any particularly laborious interventions: respect for the olive, proper pressing, the most appropriate containerized storage.
In short, it would be a success if consumers could be convinced to make a small effort that would enable them to tell the difference between a truly mediocre oil which costs a few Euro and leaves no pleasure nor ritual, let alone no health benefits, and an Extra-Virgin Olive Oil selected for its cultivar, which enhances any dish while simultaneously contributing to the improvement of our health and well-being. The possibility of also helping them understand and appreciate the differences and the different uses of a bitter quality olive oil, with balsamic notes that is sometimes spicy would also be wonderful.
If I succeed, even once, by the end of this review of news and information, which has often turned into wonderful memories, in convincing you the reader to visit a certain holiday farmhouse or spend the night in a certain town or eat a slice of bread drizzled with olive oil sitting under an olive tree on a farm, this will be the confirmation that I have taken the right path towards making you love our lands of oil through the love we all hold in our hearts for our Italian lands.