Along with the vine, it is the crop that most distinguishes the territories overlooking the Mediterranean, a resource of inestimable value for the populations that have met over the centuries thanks to the trade routes of this sea and who have crossed it to sell and buy raw materials and other processed goods. We are talking about the olive tree, of course, and the very precious oil that is extracted from its fruits, a product that has always represented a great wealth for Sardinia, both for its nutritional characteristics and for the beliefs, symbols and values associated with it. A "juice" that is in reality a real liquid "gold" intended not only for the table, of which, since the most distant times, there are countless declinations of use in the medical, herbal and phytocosmetic fields.

Culture and landscape

On “La tavola dei Sardi”, the series with which the Ilisso publishing house has been telling the story of the island’s food tradition all summer, the only thing missing was the “king” of condiments, the most renowned vegetable fat, recommended by contemporary dietetic science. Olio in Sardegna, in conjunction with L’Unione Sarda until August 30, finally tells the story and celebrates it with the honors bestowed upon a long-awaited guest, in the awareness of how the regional food and wine culture would not be complete without it, and of how much history and beauty the green landscapes of our territory owe to its unmistakable tree.

The whole story

Looking at the subject with the usual multidisciplinary perspective that has characterized the previous releases dedicated to Sweets, Bread, Wine and Cheese, the volume therefore traces the history of olive growing on the Island as an integral part of the identity of the region and its landscape, which boasts the presence of wonderful monumental examples of olive and wild olive trees, and illustrates how the use of oil, from the most remote past to today, has been of primary importance in a plurality of occasions not only food but also ritual, liturgical and therapeutic.

For the body and for the spirit

Oil to eat, of course, but also oil to pray and heal, for the benefit of the spirit and the body; oil to be extracted with archaic yet already extraordinarily ingenious methods, and then to be preserved, mixed with scented essences, in bottles and ointment jars of the most refined workmanship, or in capacious jars, a wish for abundance, a guarantee of supplies for home consumption or for sale; oil, sometimes, also to be burned (especially that of mastic), or even just to be “imagined”: because the same olives, duly treated, seasoned and preserved, have been an excellent side dish for centuries.

Cards and photos

Thanks to an accurate cataloguing by experts in the sector, the book documents the great Sardinian varietal heritage: each cultivar is in fact reserved an “identikit” that describes its origin, diffusion, onomastics, characteristics of the plant and its oil, with a photographic review that helps to recognise its leaves, buds and fruits. A targeted study, because it is from the processing of ancient varieties that the flavours that distinguish local productions derive, due to specific organoleptic properties, capable of making traditional dishes unique. Even in this fifth issue, the final of a series that aimed to present food and drinks of the Island in a perspective in which cultural and symbolic values have the same importance as nutritional ones, the story of oil and olives manages to fascinate the reader: it guides him in the exploration of the olive-growing itineraries of Sardinia, introduces him (calling them by name and geolocalizing them) wild olives and centuries-old olive trees that are great green "patriarchs", evokes family memories linked to the care of the plants and the harvest of the fruit, all with the citation of work songs and poetic and literary reworkings of these important events in the agricultural calendar. Olio in Sardegna cannot therefore be missing from the libraries of all those who have followed the passionate story of the food tradition of our region.

© Riproduzione riservata