During the last ten years in the United States, olive oil has become quite popular.  Recent news about good fats has boosted olive oil out of the Italian kitchen and into the limelight of mainstream America.  Rachael Ray, our Everyday Kitchen Saint, even has her own branded bottle.  Bob Greene carries the Bertolli name forward with The Best Life Diet.

Why is olive oil suddenly so good?  Dr. Steven Masley--author of The Ten Years Younger Diet says that it is rich in monounsaturated fats, which can lower cholesterol and enhance immune function.  And to put it gently, olive oil has always been good.  It's just been kept a secret.  Natives of Southern Europe, North Africa, and the Levant know this.

For these peoples, the olive tree represents life itself.

Though new to most of us in the West, the olive tree originates in the Mediterranean and has been used there for well over two thousand years.  The olive tree itself can live for almost that long.

When my husband was a boy, he would go to a small town next to the Mediterranean Sea to visit his uncle, an olive grove farmer.  During the picking season, a horse was taken into the grove and baskets on each side of him were laden with freshly picked olives.  These were taken to the press.  Walking in circles, a bull would turn the ancient stone press, effectively squeezing the oil from the olives. 

One of my husband's fondest memories recalls drinking a little of that fresh oil right out of a cup, and then later mixing it with a pinch of salt and lemon for dipping the pita into.  This is what is called Extra Virgin Olive Oil;  it is the first cold press and no heat was involved with its production.  Extra Virgin Olive Oil has no more than 0.8% acidity and really has the best taste.  I use it in salad and on every dip--hummus, baba ghanouge, etc..

Greece devotes 60% of its cultivated land to olive production.  The Province of Jaen, Spain claims to be the world capital of olive oil.

The olive pits and its wood are also useful, great for the barbeque, they send up a heavenly aroma.  Olive oil is also used as a source of energy for wick burning lamps, in soaps, and cosmetics.

So drink up America, just watch the calories!