Baking with Olive Oil

In the 1990s, I was one of several dozen food writers whom the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC), based in Madrid, treated once or twice a year to marvelous tours of the olive-producing regions of the Mediterranean—from North Africa up the Atlantic coast of Portugal and into Spain and Italy and France, Greece, and the Middle East. We visited groves and mills, stayed in some amazing pousadas in Portugal and masserie in Italy, and dined in a Greek convent, Michelin-starred temples of gastronomy, famous wineries, and barns and mills throughout the region. We attended conferences, some of them co-sponsored by Oldways, and tasted traditional regional fare wherever we were. The idea was that, as food writers, we would spread the word about olive oil. Prior to these elaborate press junkets, where we learned about every phase of olive oil production, from seed to table, olive oil was, to most of the world, just another necessary ingredient that added regional authenticity to Mediterranean recipes.