Research Catalog

Olives : the life and lore of a noble fruit

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Item details
Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Use in library	SB367 .R64 1996	Off-site

Description

316 pages : illustrations; 25 cm

Summary

In 1986, Mort Rosenblum bought a small overgrown farm in Provence. With it, he discovered, were 150 neglected olive trees that were old when the Sun King ruled France. His neighbors, characters from Pagnol with skills dating back to Pliny, helped him bring his grove back to life. Rosenblum became obsessed with olives: the Olea europaea's role in history and civilization; their cultivation and commerce; their place in the kitchen, in the library, and in the heart. Among.
Olive growers and oil makers, he found a whole new world of humor and wisdom. From his base in Provence, Rosenblum journeyed to the outposts of olivedom: from Andalusia to the Holy Land; up Moroccan mountains and across Greek islands; from Tuscan palazzos to California wine country and forgotten groves in the Mexican desert; to the disputed borders of Bosnia. Along the way, Rosenblum finds local politics reflected in the lush olive groves and uprooted trees in Israel
The Mafia grip on the Italian trade, Spanish growers being forced to label their oil as Italian, and poor growers in Tunisia storing their finest in Pepsi bottles. He also records the continuing romance and passion olive growers feel for their work, whether they pick by hand, by whacking the limbs, or with a goat horn. Olives is at once a witty, lyrical look at the Mediterranean world and a homage to the olive, an essential ingredient of any life worth living.

Subject

Genre/Form

History

ISBN

LCCN

96020764

OCLC

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library