THE LIQUID-GOLD RUSH OF 2014!

It seems that there's only one area in all of Europe that has olives this year: the small area of Italy just north of Bari (Puglia) that stretches from Terlizzi to Corato. Because of this fact, the price of olives has skyrocketed. Last year 100 kilos of olives were fetching 35 euro. This year, 100 kilos gets you 95 euro - and prices are still rising. Our olive mills are hardly making any oil, however, because they are reselling the olives to olive oil producers up north. There the olives will be milled and bottled and then sold as their "very own" Tuscan, Ligurian, and Umbrian extra virgin olive oil. And they will sell it at 4 times the price of what it really is, Puglia olive oil.

While the price of olives keeps going up, naturally so does the price of extra virgin olive oil at wholesale. This time last year, a liter of oil would cost you around 3 euro. In this year of the liquid-gold rush the price rises by about 90 cents per day. You're lucky if you get it at 7.50 euro per liter. Consumers, brace yourselves.

Last night at one of the local mills, growers young and old were lined up and all gussied up while they waited their turn to cash in. Everyone has a smile, or maybe a grin (often toothless), on their face. They walk into the tiny mill's office and walk out with wads of cash.
The other line-up is now at the car dealerships. Everyone wants a new 4x4 or a new SUV. But there's a hitch, literally. They all want a hitch mounted on the back so they can drag their old, rusty carts behind them when they bring more olives to the mill. Are you singing the theme to the Beverly Hillbillies yet?

But there's also a downside: crime. Thieves are harvesting olives in the middle of the night. Not their olives but YOUR olives. If most mature trees carry a ton of olives, that's a ton of cash. But some thieves work in broad daylight and are more brazen. This morning, a farmer's car was stolen along with his cart which was full of his harvest. He lost everything. An 18-wheeler filled with olives was highjacked at gunpoint in the city of Andria. The guards who patrol the fields are armed and ready. Trucks carrying olives and olive oil are escorted by the Carabinieri.

The prices and the smiles continue to rise.

Puglia Olives

A word to the wise regarding extra virgin olive oil: this year only Puglia has olives. But you'll be finding extra virgin olive oil from Tuscany, Umbria, Liguria and others on store shelves in the coming months. THEY DO NOT HAVE THEIR OWN OLIVES NOR OIL. All Italian olive oil producers are descending on Puglia (especially the "Nord Barese" area, which is where we are) and buying all our olives. What happens next is astounding. They load their semis with OUR olives, bring them to their mills up north and then bottle the oil and label it as if it is oil from their olives. IT IS NOT. Save yourself some money and buy only extra virgin olive oil that is made and bottled in Puglia.  Don't pay extra for a "Tuscany", "Liguria", "Umbria" label. They are false.  Here's one of many articles that are just beginning to appear in our local press denouncing this practice. It's been happening for years but never like this year.  The rest of Italy has no oil! Sorry that the article is in Italian but you'll be reading more about this.

http://www.andrialive.it/news/Cronaca/334603/news.aspx

Top 5 health benefits of extra virgin olive oil

Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette

Sun-dried tomatoes are super healthy, and this recipe is a simple way to get a little more into your diet.  I originally made this to dress one of our fresh salads, but Paul couldn't resist trying it on some of the chicken cutlets we were having and it was delicious.

1/2 cup Villa Cappelli Sun-Dried Tomatoes

1/2 cup Villa Cappelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tablespoons vinegar (I used white wine, but you could really use anything)

Put everything into a blender (don't be afraid to add the garlic from the sun-dried tomatoes into the blender as well) and blend until everything is well smooth and well blended. Pour and enjoy.

Quick and Easy Broccoli and Kale Soup

This is a pretty easy recipe, and you can adjust all the ingredients to suit your own tastes.  And be sure to include the Kale. For those of you "afraid" of it, it literally disappears into the soup once blended and offers a ton of nutritional value.

Ingredients

3 heads of broccoli (chopped up, including stem, just cut off any brown bits)

1 stalk of celery chopped

6-7 stalks of kale

1 chopped medium onion

Villa Cappelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 anchovy (optional of course)

2 cloves of chopped fresh garlic

Salt, pepper, and pepper flakes to taste

2 cups of water

1 teaspoon of bouillon (or one small cube)

1/2 Cup fresh ricotta

1/4 cup grated pecorino

Coat the bottom of a medium pot with Villa Cappelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Throw everything in but the water, bouillon and cheese. Cook until everything starts to get a little soft and you get a little caramelization or color on the veggies. Add in the water and bouillon and let it come up to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes.  Throw everything into a Vitamix (or other high powered blender) with the cheese and blend away.  You might have to do this in batches.  Serve with a drizzle of fresh Villa Cappelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil up on top.

Note, if you don't have the cheese on hand or want to use something else, you can substitute cream, milk or even cream cheese.

No bread here

Dipping your bread in Extra Virgin Olive Oil seems to be a very American invention.  In Italy, you'll almost never see anyone doing that and while restaurants are probably accustomed to tourists asking for olive oil for their bread, they are probably laughing at you in the back.  As this article in the Huffington Post can attest.

Italians instead eat a much healthier alternative, pinzimonio, which is simply raw, fresh vegetables dipped in extra virgin olive oil.

Vegetables ready for their dip.

There really is no set "recipe."  Just prepare a big plate of fresh vegetables cut into strips or pieces for dipping. Feel free to use whatever you like, but bell peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, fennel, celery and carrots work well.


Then serve with Villa Cappelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Have some red whine vinegar and our 100% Italian Sea Salt on hand if anyone wants to add a little extra flair to their dish, but our oil has enough flavor on its own. Everyone can make their own small dipping bowl to taste or make a big one everyone can share.  Then just dip and eat.

Oh, and our flavored oil are perfect for this as well, especially the Sun-Dried Tomato Oil, which is almost sweet with a hit of sun-dried tomatoes and mint infused into it.