One of Italy's culinary glories, extra-virgin olive oil, is feeling the effects of climate change, a new guide says.
The latest quality tags awarded to olive oils each year show a clear influence of warmer conditions up north, the organisation that gives the coveted labels said Thursday.
"Warmer weather in northern Italy has improved the quality of extra-virgin oil there, while some parts of the south are drying out," Slow Food said in its 2007 guide.
In the guide, the ground-breaking organisation awarded its prize Three Olives tag to more northern Italian regions than ever before.
Lombardy, the region around Milan, got its first-ever Three Olives award and Emilia Romagna, the area from Bologna to coastal resorts like Rimini, placed nine oils in the top-quality bracket, three more than 2006.
Veneto, the northeastern region around Venice, doubled up from one to two Three Olives and received no fewer than 44 excellence merit badges.
Despite the global-warming effect, Slow Food said the traditional regions of extra-virgin excellence are holding up for now.
Tuscany held steady with six Three Olives while Umbria Lazio and Sicily all got four, the same as 2006.
Slow Food was founded in the 1980s to stem the tide of fast food and has since spread its culture of leisurely enjoyment of traditional cuisine around the world.
