The History of Olive Oil

Whenever we sit down to write this blog, we tend to think of topics directly relating to home preserves, baking and perhaps crafting and home storage. Whilst still of relevance to our readers, we thought we’d go for a slightly different approach in today’s blog post, and talk all about the history of olive oil. Since glass bottles filled with fabulous olive oil are to be found in just about every kitchen, it’s a topic worth exploring and we’re sure you’ll learn a few fascinating facts along the way.

Olive oil didn’t always come in glass bottles

Today, we associate olive oil with slender-necked glass bottles, either for the table or for culinary use. In fact, olive oil has been farmed and used for millennia and the very earliest olive oil jars date back to around 3500BC! Of course, it wasn’t stored in glass bottles back in those times, instead, it was held in amphorae or clay vessels, some of which have survived to this day and are now found in museums.

The Greeks, Romans and Phoenicians all planted olive groves, and farmed olives in quantity. It’s said that Homer referred to olive oil as ‘liquid gold’, an indication as to just how important this crop was to those early civilisations.

In addition to using olive oil to preserve food and to flavour it, the Ancient Greeks also made use of it in sporting activities, oiling themselves with it as part of the earliest Olympic Games.

As the Roman Empire expanded, so too did the cultivation and use of olive oil. The Romans introduced olive trees and olive oil production to many Mediterranean countries, including Spain, Portugal, and of course, Italy.

Olive oil in religion

As well as for culinary use, the history of olive oil is also bound up in religion, with many references to it across different religions including Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and more. Many people will be familiar with the ‘Mount of Olives’ in Jerusalem and it is thought that the olive trees there are more than 2,000 years old.

More than just a culinary oil

Back in the time of the Roman Empire, olive oil was used for so much more than simply as a salad dressing. Olive oil was used as fuel in lanterns and lamps, as a massage oil and as a base for perfumes. The Romans even used olive oil as a means of cleansing their skin, by smoothing it onto their bodies and then scraping it off with a special metal tool called a strigil.

Olive oil in cooking

Some of the earliest references to olive oil being used in a culinary way are from the recipes of Marcus Gavius Apicius, the author of De Re Culinaria (Of Culinary Matters). This ten-volume collection of recipes covers almost 500 dishes, and one of the common ingredients in almost all of them is olive oil. Whether they were cooking fish, meat, or vegetables, or baking bread, pastries or sweet treats, or drizzling over cold foods and salads, olive oil was seen as essential. In fact, it is believed that up to a quarter of the daily calorie intake of the average Roman was from olive oil.

The Mediterranean diet

Long after the fall of the Roman Empire, olive oil continued to be a staple part of the Mediterranean diet and it remains so to this day. It is believed that the Mediterranean diet, which includes plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a modest intake of poultry and dairy products, but with less focus on red meat, is one of the healthiest diets worldwide. At the heart of the Mediterranean diet, of course, is olive oil. Considered a ‘healthy fat’, olive oil has been proven to lower cholesterol, compared with other sources of fat.

If you fancy giving the Mediterranean diet a try, why not switch to using olive oil in all of your cooking, as a replacement for butter or margarine? You can even try dipping bread in a flavoured olive oil, instead of spreading butter or margarine on it. If you have a few glass bottles spare, you could also try making your own flavoured oils, by adding herbs, such as rosemary, basil or lavender, or perhaps nuts, garlic or lemon zest. And of course, we all love chilli oil drizzled on a pizza when we eat out in a restaurant, so why not create a bottle or two of your own chilli oil to add a little pizzazz to home-cooked meals?

Are you a fan of olive oil? Do you use it in unexpected ways, or do you have a secret recipe that is transformed by the addition of olive oil? Why not share your hints, tips and ideas with us here at Wares of Knutsford? Get in touch with us via Instagram, Twitter or Facebook to share your stories...