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Tuesday 8 November 2016

Olive oil

Olive oil is the juice made by crushing olives. It is considered to be healthier alternative to sunflower oil.

Olives in olive oil

Archaeological evidence shows that olives had been turned into olive oil by 6000 BC in the Middle East..

One of the earliest evidence of the use of olive oil in the Middle East, was unearthed in December 2014, when  organic residue on pottery shards excavated in the Lower Galilee, was found to be olive oil. The vessels were dated around 5800 BC, indicating that it was a diet staple 4,000 years before the time of the biblical patriarchs.

Olive oil in biblical times was made by shaking the olives shaken from the tree then trampling them into the press. The oil was then drained into vats and jars and allowed to settle.

Olive oil was prized for anointing the body in Greece during the time of Homer.

Ancient oil press Turkey By Georges Jansoone  Wikipedia

Olive oil has traditionally been used as fuel and was even used to light the earliest Olympic torch.

There is an artificial hill in Italy, over 100 feet tall, made entirely of empty olive oil pots, carefully placed over a period of 250 years by ancient Romans.

The Italian Calabrian Mafia’s Piromalli clan pulled an elaborate heist involving olive oil, using adulterated and chemically treated oils and labelling their containers as extra virgin. The profit margin of this heist was said to have "three times the profit margin of cocaine."  33 suspects were arrested in February 2017.

Spain became the world’s largest olive oil producer in 2014 taking over from Italy.

Christianitytoday.com

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