San Gimignano Olive oil

Togheter with the wheat and the vine, the olive-tree was the third support of the Greeks’ production. Tardily it was imported to Italy and little by little it became a basic element for Roman economy and culture. So the olive oil assumed an important function of cultural identification, opposite to the animal fat (butter,lard…) that characterized celtic and germanic civilisation of north Europe. In fact for grecian writers the BARBARIC world was made of men who ate butter rathen than oil. Apart from food aim, it was also utilized for cosmetics (e.g. into perfumes). The cultivation and the utilization of olive oil grew up during the Middle Ages, also thanks to the Christian Religion propagation that emploied olive oil into various Liturgical Rites, and forced people to observe abstinence from animal food some days a week. Today Italian law defines the olive oil the product optained by the working fruit (DRUPA) of olive-tree (OLEA EUROPEA) without different kind of oil and substances addition. The classifications depend on the various type of working (vergine, extravergine…) and Tuscany boasts one of the best national production, thanks to the soil, the weather and its secular trees.