Olive Oil

A taste of the story

From the pages: The Holy Oil

Olive Oil | Puglia

Forget butter, forget everything you've ever tasted before...

"This was medicine from heaven," said the drummer, and it strongly reminded one of a scene from The Godfather where Al Pacino or some other mafioso comes carrying a 5-liter jug of oil from God.

Don Corleone, lucky Strike, a jug of olive oil, a gun, a crucifix, good coffee.

Olive Oil

Cheese

Coffee

ENG. The Holy Oil*: Olive Oil, Cheese, and Coffee.

"The olive oil was rancid, Paolo would say, old garlic..." This was a recurring theme whenever he had been served food or tapas at other people's places. Praise for other people's cooking was rare, if it existed at all. Like the time we never made it to a friend of his who was going to serve tuna pasta with parmesan. "It’s like swearing in church," Paolo said. "It is blasphemous* to mix cheese and fish. We can't go there." We ended up staying at his place, eating Italian ham instead. We didn't arrive for the dinner until dessert.

Back to the hunt for the oil, the Holy Grail*. The elixir of life itself! In the region of Puglia lived one of Paolo’s close friends, Roberto, along with his wife Ursula. They had a beautiful farm complete with an olive grove and trulli.

Roberto and Paolo could talk about food for hours on end. They scoured the entirety of Puglia in search of the gold. And find the gold they did. Hand-picked, young olives. Grandfather, son, and grandson stood as proud producers. Their oil actually won a gold medal. A vibrant, green color and a robust, peppery aftertaste. It went by the liter. Orders pouring in from Italy.

Everyone wanted the Paolo oil*, which was on par with those Russian icons said to be not merely a picture of God, but a part of God. This wasn't just olive oil, but a piece of God! Forget butter, forget everything you've ever tasted before...

"This was medicine from heaven*," said the drummer, and it strongly reminded one of a scene from The Godfather* where Al Pacino or some other mafioso comes carrying a 5-liter jug of oil from God.

Don Corleone, a jug of olive oil, a gun, a crucifix, good coffee.

NOR (ORIG.) Den hellige oljen: Olivenolje, Ost og Kaffe.

Olivenoljen var harsk sa Paolo, og gammal hvitløk... Dette var en gjenganger da han hadde blitt servert mat eller tapas hos andre. Skryt var det sjelden eller aldri av andres mat. Som da vi ikke kom avgårde til en venn av han som skulle servere tunfiskpasta med parmesan. Det er som å banne i kirka, sa Paolo. Det er blasfemisk å blande ost og fisk. Vi kan ikke gå dit. Vi ble sittende å spise italiensk skinke hos ham. Vi kom ikke til middagen før desserten.

Tilbake til jakten på oljen, den hellige gral. Selve livseliksiren! I regionen Puglia bodde en av de beste vennene til Paolo, Roberto med sin kone Ursula. De hadde en vakker gård med tilhørende olivenlund og trulli.

Roberto og Paolo kunne snakke mat i timevis, uendelig. De trålet hele Puglia etter gullet. Gullet fant de. Håndplukkede, unge oliven. Bestefar, sønn og sønnesønn var stolte produsenter. Oljen deres vant faktisk gullmedalje. Sterk, grønn farge og kraftig ettersmak av pepper. Det gikk i litervis. Bestillinger fra Italia.

Alle ville ha Paolo-oljen som var på høyde med de russiske ikonene som sies at de var ikke bare et bilde av Gud, men en del av Gud. Dette var ikke bare olivenolje, men en del av gud! Glem smør, glem alt du har smakt før...

Dette var medisin fra himmelen sa trommemannen, og det minnet sterkt om en scene fra Gudfaren der Al Pacino eller en annen av de mafiose kommer bærende på en 5 liters dunk med oljen fra Gud.

Don Corleone, en dunk olivenolje, en pistol, et krusifiks, god kaffe