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THE OLIVE OIL
Tradition has it that the art of growing olive trees and extract the very precious oil was introduced in Sardinia by the mythological figure of Aristeo. The myth hands down to us, also confirmed by some historical sources, including the great Roman orator Cicero, that Aristeo, the son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene, came to the island to civilize it and to teach the human beings the art of curdling milk to get cheese from it, the techniques for producing oil as well as the way of keeping bees to obtain honey and wax. Apart from the myth, about 3000 years ago, probably the Minoans introduced the techniques of grafting the wild olive trees successfully and grow olive trees. In times to come these techniques were then gradually improved, starting from the Roman rule of the island.
From the dim and distant past, therefore, the olive oil has represented an inevitable element of the gastronomic traditions of Sardinia. What’s more, that gastronomic culture which is called “Mediterranean Cuisine”, and which prefers only unsophisticated dishes with a light and not very elaborated food preparation, but exactly therefore able to enhance the flavour and at the most return the nutritional elements of the utilized products, that cuisine would be absolutely unimaginable without an oil of excellent quality. As far as we are concerned, we are really lucky, in the Alghero area, to have several high-class productive activities, firms which have been given about ten awards of national and international level for the excellent quality and typicalness that distinguishes their oil.
Olive Tree
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES | OLIVE OIL | WINE |
CHEESE | SHEEP-BREEDING |
