L'olio nuovo...

... é in arrivo!

When we had a holiday home in Italy we had some olive trees.  We used to pick the olives and take them to the local frantoio to be pressed.  As is traditional in Italy, we stayed with our own olives all through the process because how otherwise could you be certain that it really was your own olive oil?  There is nothing more delicious than catching the first extract of the extra virgin olive oil on a hunk of fresh bread straight out of the press.

We get our olive oil now from the sister of an old neighbour who lives in the next village from where our house was.  That's how things work in Italy, you would have to be desperate to buy oil from a stranger.  She picked the olives at the beginning of November, had them pressed in a traditional press, and is now shipping the bottled oil round the world.

The Italians treat the new oil as a delicacy.  It really is that deep green colour and tastes peppery and fruity.  By the end of February it is no longer new oil and is fit only for cooking and salad dressings.