The fourth quarter of the year always finds me in the Mediterranean for the festive annual olive harvest. Italy, where my identity as the Olive Oil Hunter was forged, welcomes me back each fall like a returning son.
In my annual visits over the past decade I’ve seen Aussie olive oil production transform from scrappy small-time hobby farmers (many of whom started raising olives as a “second-home” tax break and found they loved it) into an award-winning roster of artisanal producers—still scrappy, always collaborative—who implement some of the most advanced growing and pressing techniques on the globe.
Originally concocted by shermen in Tarragona, Catalonia, olive oil- and nut-based romesco sauce is often served with seafood. This dish is perfect for a casual supper with friends. Accompany it with a green salad.
Greetings from Spain! This land has been an olive oil–producing powerhouse for millennia. Cultivated olive trees were introduced to Spain and Portugal an estimated 3,000 years ago, by the Phoenicians. It was the ancient Romans, though, who really got the millstones rolling.
