Description:
From ancient groves to global dominance, the history of olive oil is a saga of empires, immigrants, and industrial ambition. Food historian Carl Ipsen unfolds the surprising chronicle of trade wars, revolutionary technology, and waves of European migration that transformed the oil extracted from a common drupe into a cultural obsession. This is the story of how olive oil conquered the culinary world.
The True History of Olive Oil charts the evolution of olive oil from a primarily industrial product and food of the Mediterranean poor to an ingredient prized by top chefs around the world. Olive oil played a key role in eighteenth-century European trade, shipped in large quantities from the Kingdom of Naples to the British wool mills that sparked the Industrial Revolution. As a foodstuff, olive oil followed the Mediterranean diaspora in the late nineteenth century to the Little Italys, Greek Towns, and Portuguese enclaves of the Western Hemisphere, as new technologies and marketing strategies were developed to cater to a market more and more oriented to food oil.
Meanwhile, Spanish oil production increased and came to challenge that of Italy, though Spanish dominance of the market would have to wait until after the Spanish Civil War and Francoist autarky. In response to the dogged problem of olive oil fraud and an industry crisis, the new category of "extra virgin" was codified in the 1960s, ushering in a golden age of olive oil where continuous cycle milling and the triumph of the Mediterranean diet played equal parts. Production, consumption, and quality have all increased steadily ever since.
As the world's most prized and expensive fat, olive oil is today celebrated by food journalists, in competitions, and as a superfood. Indeed, more good oil is made today than ever before, and the best oils achieve flavor profiles previously unknown. Olive oil is a fat that escaped the anti-fat craze of the late twentieth century and instead played a leading role in the development of high cuisine in recent decades, perhaps unmatched by any other single ingredient. This book documents its history and warns of the looming threat posed to olive oil by the challenges of climate change and disease.
Brief description: Carl Ipsen teaches Italian history and sustainable food history at Indiana University and Italy's University of Gastronomic Sciences. He is a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, a former Good Food Awards judge, and a trained olive oil taster. He has visited oil manufacturers on three continents.
Review Quotes:
"In The True History of Olive Oil, historian Carl Ipsen peels back the myths surrounding one of the world's most iconic foods. Blending cultural history, politics, commerce, and Mediterranean identity, the book reveals how olive oil became far more than a staple ingredient, symbolizing civilization itself. Richly researched and compellingly written, this is the surprising story of the oil that shaped the modern world."--Simone Cinotto, author of The Italian American Table: Food, Family, and Community in New York City
"The True History of Olive Oil pulls no punches on a paradoxically complex industry built around a simple product, offering readers the perspective they need to understand the modern olive oil landscape. It is uncanny to realize that the industry of one hundred years ago debated the same topics that challenge us today: attracting new users to the category; the prevalence of multicountry blends; and the adulteration risk in low-priced, no-name-brand olive oils packed in the U.S. Ipsen's dogged determination to uncover the truth convinces me he, too, has caught the olive oil fever--and I'm delighted to welcome him to the club."--Joseph R. Profaci, executive director of the North American Olive Oil Association