Olive Odyssey
Searching for the Secrets of the Fruit that Seduced the World
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
This Mediterranean travel memoir offers “an engaging mix of history, food travelogue, and botany lesson . . . There is much to enjoy here” (Library Journal).
Inspired by her Syrian forebears’ intimate relationship with the olive, Julie Angus embarks on a voyage around the Mediterranean to unlock the secrets of the fruit that meant so much to them. Accompanied by her husband and their ten-month-old son, Angus collects samples from ancient trees to determine where the first olive tree originated; feasts on inky black tapenades and codfish drizzled with olive oil, among many other delights; witnesses the harvesting of olives in Greece; and visits perhaps the oldest olive tree in the world, on Crete. The result is a fascinating history and biography of this most influential and irresistible fruit.
“It is a pleasure to try to keep up with this book; like its author, it covers an enormous amount of territory.” —Christopher Bakken, Wall Street Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Guaranteed to move readers from casual consumers of olive products to enthusiastic aficionados, Angus's book, which sparkles with the sights, smells, tastes and stories of the Mediterranean olive, is as informative as it is infectious. Supported by a National Geographic expedition grant, the author sets out to gather convincing evidence that ancient Phoenicians, from her homeland of Syria, were responsible for spreading the passion for olives that has existed in the Mediterranean region for many millennia. Aboard their 28-foot sailboat, Angus, her husband, and their 10-month old son journey to major olive oil-producing regions in the Mediterranean, in search of the evidence. This fascinating, well-written book blends travel with culture, history, geography, archeology, economics, politics, and medicinal and plant science, and provides important consumer information. From Spain, to France, the Italian Riviera, Greece, Crete, Sardinia and the Middle East, Angus interviews growers, producers, scientists, and local people, usually while enjoying scrumptious olive-oil laced meals. She scours remote locations for ancient olive trees from which she extracts samples for DNA testing to determine genetic links between species gathered from different locations. While test results support Angus's theory, other olive secrets revealed are just as intriguing, and equally noteworthy.
