| 
 Whilst different regions throughout Italy produce olive oil, evidence of the oldest olive tree plantations in the world have been found in Livorno, on the Tuscany coast.
Livorno is most known for its harbour, being where many cruise ships dock and some people head to to be by the sea when Italy takes their summer holidays in August. But it is also home to the oldest olive trees discovered, and they have been harvested here for centuries.
At this time of year, the olive groves are filled with their silver-leaved trees that are slowly but surely budding their fruits.
In a few months time, just after the wine grapes have been picked (usually around October), when they are undergoing the first fermentation process or just beginning their refinement phases in steel vats, wooden barrels and in bottles, it is also the time when wines from preceding years' vintages are popping up on the market, and unlabelled bottles of wine from people's own private crops are being bought to dinner parties around Tuscany.
Hearty soups will have replaced the fresh salads we are enjoying now, and will be bubbling away on stove-tops, stews will be, well, stewing, and delicious baked goods will be being served for desserts. And just as the excitement from the new wine is settling down, the talk of the table will generally become 'olio nuovo' - new oil.
Olive trees are part of Tuscan history, but also very much a part of life here today. For many people, their calendar still revolves around the olive cycle, having been handed down groves from generations of their family, and family in Tuscany is paramount to food.
The secret to Tuscan cooking is simplicity. Knowing how to amplify the delicious natural flavours of the famed Tuscan ingredients is the key. This can be either by leaving the items in their natural state or cooking them in the right conditions and for the right amount of time. Some stews take many hours to be just right, and other recipes take mere moments to prepare a delicious dish.
Whilst in the north of Italy, you will find butter featuring in the ingredients lists quite commonly, in Tuscany it is mostly oil that is used, both to cook with and to dress uncooked dishes like Bruschetta or salads. It is even drizzled cold over steaks and other grilled meats.
But just how is olive oil produced in Tuscany?
 A friend of ours has his own olive grove in the heart of Tuscany in a tiny town near the famed wine-producing Montalcino area. Rising early one Saturday morning, we were rewarded with the privilege of being able to assist him in collecting the olives from the trees.
Firstly, we placed large nets were placed under the trees to collect the olives. Whilst in the past, the olive harvest would have been painstakingly done by hand, now there is a special device that is like a mechanical arm with motorised moving fingers that can reach high into the branches to 'tickle' the olives from the branches, where they fall into the nets below.
Next, the olives are placed into small wooden crates, which are then carefully carted off to the olive mill ('frantoio') to be pressed. By law, the olive oil can not be pressed in-house, but must be done by a licenced frantoio.
Using a special press, the olives are squished and 'Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil' is extracted. This is full of vitamins and antioxidants when it is in its natural un-cooked state, explaining why Tuscans will drizzle oil cold atop of their food.
From here, the frantoio will move the olive pulp to another press where heat will be used to extract 'Extra Virgin Olive Oil', still good but not as rich in either taste or goodness. A further chemical-baed extraction process produces 'Olive Oil'.
The olive pips are then often mulched to be used on gardens.
When our friend returned triumphantly from the olive mill with his 'liquid gold' in hand, there was no greater gift than a bottle of oil which we had contributed to. As we toasted freshly cut Tuscan bread in the oven, rubbed it with garlic and drizzled it with the rich green-toned olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, there was no better taste in the world!
This is the traditional way to 'taste' the new season oil. Each region has a name for this simplest recipe, but in Tuscany we call it 'Fettunta'.
 The following weekend, we invited some friends around to our house for lunch and served Bruschetta al Pomodoro and Fettunta to our guests as a starter. Next, we had Minestra al Pane for entree, drizzled with the oil, and finally a main course of a lightly barbecued famed Florentine steak, Bistecca alla Fiorentina, again served with a dash of the delicious oil on top.
Bruschetta traditionally means toasted bread rubbed with garlic and served with a drizzle of top-quality extra virgin olive oil, so as to taste the delicious flavours of the oil in its natural state. In local dialects, each olive-oil producing region has developed another word for this dish (in Tuscany now being Fettunta) and Brushetta is now usually considered as being roasted or toasted bread with a topping like fresh tomato and basil, grilled eggplant or other such fresh produced.
It is pronounced 'brew-sketta', as there is no letter k in the Italian alphabet and 'ch' is always pronounced in the hard k sound in Italian.
'Fettunta' is particularly popular at harvest time when the new oil is just released. Since you can freeze fresh olive oil then defrost it throughout the year, it is still possible to find it on Tuscan tables all through the year nowadays.
Traditionally, Bruschetta and Fettunta were considered peasant dishes eaten by farmers and their families who lived off the land. Nowadays however, they have become more popular both due to its simplicity and the fact that having fresh oil straight out of someone's olive grove is a lot more precious since it is not so common to have your own olive tree plantation as it once was!
Fettunta
 Toasted bread with olive oil
At the time of the first olive harvesting and pressing in December each year, fettunta is eaten daily to enjoy the sharp and peppery flavour of Tuscan extra virgin olive oil. Olives from the Chianti region in particular are known to produce some of the best extra virgin olive oil in the world.
Meaning ‘oily slice’, fettunta can be served as an antipasto or a nibble to be eaten at any time. Simply toast the bread in a hot oven or open fire, rub with a freshly cut garlic clove and then top with salt, freshly ground pepper and very good extra virgin olive oil. Fettunta can be also served topped up with cavolo nero (black-leaf cabbage/kale) or beans.
 Bruschetta al Pomodoro
Tomato and basil bruschetta
Serves 4
- 2 large ripe tomatoes, diced
- 2-3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 8 basil leaves, ripped
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 300 g Tuscan-style bread
Mix the tomatoes, basil leaves, oil and salt and pepper together in a bowl. Set aside for at least 15 minutes. Toast the bread and rub one side of it with the garlic cloves. Spoon the tomato mixture onto the bread and serve.
*** Crostini and Bruschetta are always done in the OVEN and NOT under the grill ***
|
