Carol Firenze - The Passionate Olive: 101 Things to Do with Olive Oil

Copyright 2005 by Carol Firenze Anglin

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

Ballantine and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Owing to limitations of space, permission acknowledgments can be found on , which constitutes an extension of this copyright page.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Firenze, Carol.
The passionate olive / by Carol Firenze.1st ed.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-48940-1
1. Cookery (Olive oil) 2. Olive oil.
3. Olive oilHealth aspects. I. Title.

TX819.O42F573 2005
641.3463dc22 2004052548

Ballantine Books website address: www.ballantinebooks.com

v3.1

A Note to Readers: The Passionate Olive contains a number of home remedies and solutions for common problems, including treatment of certain minor physical complaints. As with any such collection, the reader is urged to use common sense in following the suggestions in this book, particularly in the chapters entitled To Your Health and Pregnancy and Baby Care with Olive Oil. In any situation where an underlying medical complaint may be the source of symptomsand in all situations where children and infants are concernedreaders are strongly urged to consult with their physicians before undertaking any course of treatment or attempting any of the remedies described in The Passionate Olive. Wonderful and versatile as it is, olive oil should never be considered a substitute for appropriate medical treatment.

To Jeff and Jaimie,

Victoria, Evan,

Isabella, and Christiana

with Love and Olive Oil

THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE who contributed their thoughts, experiences, and encouragement to this book that it is impossible to thank everyone in this short space. First of all, I would like to thank my dear friend and colleague Kathy Welch, who read every word of the manuscript, more than once, and masterfully added her ever-so-delightful comments. A special thank-you to Darrell Corti, who has spent a lifetime studying food, wine, and olive oil, for so graciously contributing his annotations to the book, and to olive oil expert Roberto Zecca, who offered guidance and whose name is mentioned to me in delightful conversations with olive oil producers wherever I go in my travels.

I would like to thank everyones favorite cook, my mother Gigi Firenze, for her love of family and wonderful cooking, and for starting me on my path to being passionate about olive oil. She happily shared her family recipes and formulas. The other recipes are the brilliant work of Erik Cosselmon, executive chef of Cetrella Bistro & Caf in Half Moon Bay, Californiarecently acclaimed as one of the San Francisco Chronicles Best Restaurants in the Bay Area. A special thank-you to the first members of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil Club: Midge Firenze, Ilse Palms, Marilee Irwin, Kathy Welch, and Marsha Felice; and exofficio member Karry DeVincenzi Lensing, my cousin, who offered her cooking, health, and beauty tips. I would also like to thank Ellen Hongo and Watson, the basset hound, for pet recipes, and author Samantha Glen, who guided my journey toward publication.

A special thank-you to Maureen ONeal and Johanna Bowman of Ballantine Books, and to my agent, Judith Riven, who believed in my book from the start and who is now religiously taking one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in the morning upon rising. Also to author Marlena de Blasi, who wrote the foreword, capturing her love of olive oil. Thanks to Paulo Lima, from the Italian Cooking & Living company; Jose Guerra and Elisabet Aguirre, from the Trade Commission for Spain; Patty Darragh and Bruce Golino from the California Olive Oil Council; Fabrizio Vignolini, director of the ONAOO; Xavier Marqus of NursTech, Inc.; Jennifer Lionti and Teresa DErrico, from Colavita, USA; and Margie L. Preston of Interlace Design, for her magnificent and masterful watercolor illustrations.

Thank you to Dale Bryant, Mary Ursettie, Wareen Matukas, Maureen OConnell, Emmy Moore Minister, Brenna Bolger, China Ziegenbein, Dylia Klatt, Hildy and Jim DeFrisco, Kareen Lambert, Marcia Riggio, Michael Bertoldo, Angela Di Blasi, Lillian Zappelli, Father Arthur Lenti, Rabbi Leslie Alexander, Kanella Sarros, Senia and Mark Feiner, Maria and Desmond Forbes, Brent Hewlett, Ralph Moceo (president of the Mostaccioli Club), Marge Bosetti, Keli Dietrich and Kristin Bosetti (who, at their own olive-oil weekend retreat, tested all of the beauty formulas), the John Bruzzone family (whose brainstormed list of olive oil uses are documented on a cocktail napkin), and Colleen Petersen, a non-Italian friend who, after reading the manuscript, asked Whats a nonno? prompting me to explain Italian references.

Thank you to my famiglia and amici in Italy: Marta, Graziella, and Mauro Maurri, Anna Maria and Luciano Panero, Elisabetta Marchi, Patrizia and Massimo Cucchi, and Raffaella Sforza. And a special thanks to Walter McCall, DVM; Drs. Richard Coughlin, Irving Olender, and Catherine Grellet; Liz Summerhayes, NP, CNM, and of course, to my favorite dermatologist.

And finally to my son, Jeff, his wife, Jaimie, and my four grandchildrenVictoria, Evan, Isabella, and Christianawho, whenever a problem occurs, whether it be my son has an earache or my daughter-in-law has to polish an antique table for a special family dinner, or one of my granddaughters experiences a sunburn, or my grandson needs to take off his fake tattoos and fast! Nonna Carol always has the cure. Just reach for the olive oil!

An Excerpt from A Thousand Days in Tuscany by Marlena De Blasi

In her memoir A Thousand Days in Venice, Marlena De Blasi arrives in Italy as an American tourist, marries the man of her dreams, and makes Venice her new home. In the sequel, A Thousand Days in Tuscany, she and her husband pursue the country life in a small Tuscan village. Here they attend the annual olive harvest, experience firsthand one of Italys most beautiful and sacred traditions, and passionately discuss the elixir of the gods.

And now, plumped three meters up into the saddle of a hundred-year-old tree, my bundled torso pitched about in the gasping breath of early December, my wish is granted. Im harvesting olives.