Olive oil is the third-most popular specialty food in the United States, and Americans spend more than $700 million on it each year. Judith Siers-Poisson learns about the industry that produces it, how to store and use it properly, and of course, what recipes feature it at its best.
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It May Be Popular, But Olive Oil Is Still A Recent Immigrant To The US
It may be popular today, but olive oil was not always a common ingredient in the American kitchen and on the dinner table.
Nancy Harmon Jenkins is the author of several books on Mediterranean culture and cuisine, including her latest, “Virgin Territory: Exploring the World of Olive Oil.” She said that Americans currently spend over $700 million annually on olive oil, making it one of the most popular specialty foods in the country, along with products like coffee and chocolate.
But Jenkins also said that while she was first introduced to the Mediterranean diet in the 1960s, it took several more decades to take hold in the U.S.
Gourmet magazine — which Jenkins described as “that erstwhile bible of upscale American eating” — did not highlight olive oil until the late 1970s, she said, even though it had included the oil in recipes from Spanish, Italian and southern French cuisines since its inception in the 1940s.
Jenkins herself wrote an article about olive oil for The New York Times in 1988 that she said was the first article on that topic in the entire history of the newspaper’s food section.
In that same year, The New York Times published an article that touted olive oil’s “extremely low cholesterol level.” Whether that article revealed a lack of nutritional knowledge — plant-based oils have no cholesterol content — or a lack of familiarity with the oil that comes from olives is not clear. But for proponents of olive oil, it did point to a need for more outreach and education.
An increase in knowledge about olive oil came in part through a marketing campaign by the International Olive Oil Council (now called the International Olive Council). But other factors were also in play. For one thing, domestic olive oil production was increasing, especially in California. Jenkins explained that the first olive trees planted on that coast were carried over from Europe by missionary priests. The oil, however, was not intended for culinary use: Instead, it was needed as sacred oil to be used in Catholic rituals like baptism and the anointing of the sick.
Jenkins also attributed the increase in awareness and desirability of olive oil to medical professionals who began to tout the product’s health benefits, specifically pointing to its monounsaturated fatty acids.
The best reason to cook with olive oil, however, might be the great taste that it gives to recipes. Following are three of Jenkins’ recipes from “Virgin Territory: Exploring the World of Olive Oil.” Enjoy!
Episode Credits
- Judith Siers-Poisson Host
- Judith Siers-Poisson Producer
- Nancy Harmon Jenkins Guest
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