When I was child I was used to tastes that I’ve forgotten in the years. I remember in particular that my grandmother gave me one slice of tomato-scratched bread with a trickle of olive oil for the afternoon break. I loved it! For me, it had the taste of the simplicity and of the memories and, despite of these thoughts, it was very tasty.
Slightly pungent, slightly bitter, strong and full bodied, the olive oil is one of the most typical flavour in Italian cuisine, and December is its month! In November people gather the olives and squeeze them, while in December you can find the new oil in the shops.
Many Italian Regions cultivate olive trees and produce very good olive oil, and every single region gives a different flavour oil. From Puglia to Liguria, olive oil can contain an artichoke or grass aroma, or it can be transparent or dark green coloured. I have, in my own larder, four kinds of olive oil.
One of them is made on the hills of Rimini, my town, it has a sweet and grass aroma, then I’ve a Tuscany oil, produced near Pisa, very good, in my opinion it’s one of the best olive oil born in Italy: it’s flavoured and strong but it doesn’t cover the taste of the food. Third oil is - again - Tuscany type, but cultivated and squeezed in Mugello; it’s the most classic of all. Last, but not least, a Sicilian oil, produced form thousand-year olive trees around Ragusa country, from the Pianogrillo company.
This isn’t only an olive oil, it’s a taste explosion! When I first tasted this olive oil, last year, in December, I was really hurled back into my childhood. This was because this olive oil has a very particular green-tomato aroma that pervades every part of it. Maybe it covers food flavour a bit and it’s a little invasive, but it gives new life to vegetables and meat!
I cant’ imagine my life without olive oil, and neither many Italians can. A trickle of oil can be added to the sauces, the pasta, every vegetables, meat, and fishes, in one word: everything! The best way to taste the oil is over a slice toscano bread, simple or toasted, if possible with a bit of garlic: a real experience!
