Filippo Berio | About Olive Oil

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Origin

Whether it be the Roman god Hercules who struck the ground and caused an olive tree to sprout or the Greek goddess Athena who first created the olive tree matters not, it is still considered the fruit of the gods and it has been cultivated and enjoyed by humans for an estimated 6000 years.

People through the ages believed it to be the fountain of great wealth and power; Homer called it ‘liquid gold’, it has anointed the heads of history’s noblest, in ancient Greece, athletes rubbed it all over their bodies and its medicinal and culinary properties are still revered today.

With the spread of the Roman Empire so spread the cultivation of olive groves throughout southern Europe. So important was olive oil to this civilisation that the Empire’s southern regions were organised around the oil provinces. But with the collapse of the Roman Empire, the cultivation of olive groves suffered and for centuries they survived only in a few fortified regions high in the hills of Tuscany.

Since then Tuscany has been renowned as the home of olive tree cultivation with many of the laws regulating the cultivation and commerce of oil still followed today.

Around 1100 AD, olive groves again began to flourish. By 1400, Italy had become the greatest producer of olive oil in the world, offering extraordinary oil that graced Renaissance tables across Europe. And while olive oil production slowed briefly during the late 1600s due to taxation issues, in the long run it continued to grow through the century as civilization spread around the globe.

The Franciscan missionaries first brought the first olive trees to the new world in 1700 AD. One hundred years later, olive oil made its commercial debut in the Americas as Italian and Greek immigrants began demanding its import from Europe. Initially an ethnic specialty, olive oil was soon embraced by mainstream American cooks. Now, in the 21st century, olive oil continues to grow in popularity, and plays a part in cuisines of virtually every culture. There are over 800 million olive trees in the world today with more being planted every day.