The Passionate Olive Read Online Free

things you can say about someone is that he is the kind of person who would cut down an olive tree.
    Looking at an olive tree with its silvery-green leaves, twisted trunk, and graceful branches, gives one a feeling of peace and serenity. The gnarled and knotty trunk looks as old as humanity, yet the leaves represent youthful gentleness as they gracefully sway. The olive tree is perhaps the most favored of trees by artists. Fascinated by their beauty, Matisse, Renoir, Cézanne, and Dali have all painted olive trees. The master of them all was van Gogh, whose olive tree paintings number nineteen.
    Get Healthy, Stay Young, and Enjoy
    Olive oil was first used on the body, not in it. For centuries, olive oil has been used to maintain the suppleness of skin, to heal abrasions, to soften the hair, to strengthennails, to cure the effects of alcohol, and to relieve aching muscles. It wasn’t until about 1,000 BC that the exceptional culinary benefits of olive oil were discovered.
    Recent research has brought olive oil back into the health annals, making it a primary focus among health-conscious people as they rediscover its culinary, beauty, and health benefits. In addition to lending a distinctive taste to Mediterranean cuisine, this versatile fruit and its oil have been found to reduce cholesterol—a truly healthful benefit! Olive oil can also help prevent cardiac diseases, ease the pain of arthritis, and soothe intestinal disorders.
    In addition, ingesting (in food) or drinking (by the spoonful or glass) olive oil, with its potent supply of vitamins A, D, K, and E, is thought to slow down the aging process. Olive oil contains antioxidants, which are powerful aids that can help keep the cardiovascular system flowing and delay the aging of cells. Olive oil aids digestion and helps the body absorb calcium. It improves the appearance and texture of the skin … all from the inside.
    Now for the outside of the body: Just as the gladiators believed that using olive oil for massage maintained the elasticity of muscles and the soldiers of Greece oiled their skin to keep warm, applying olive oil to the skin has been shown to improve its appearance and texture.
    So enjoy your olive oil, however you use it. Having the knowledge of its history and culture, its spiritual significance and infinite virtues, and its health and beauty benefits, you can now play with this “liquid gold” and know that in addition to its epicurean enjoyment it offers 101 ways to improve your life, love, and health.



CHAPTER TWO
Virgin or Refined?
    A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO , when Kuleto’s Restaurant in San Francisco began putting tiny bottles of olive oil on their tables and the local culinary community took to dipping their bread rather than spreading, I formed a special club called E VOOC (Extra Virgin Olive Oil Club). Its membership consisted of my closest friends. Our very informal club centered on convivial conversation, great bread, and olive oil—naturally! When I worked and lived in London and traveled extensively throughout Europe, I introduced many of my colleagues to E VOOC and they became lovers of olive oil. E VOOC has changed little over the years—just several new members and a new name, the Passionate Olives Club.
    Today, it seems as if olive oil is everywhere—from your local corner grocery to the gourmet kitchen shop to those huge discount and wholesale stores. There are literally shelves and shelves of olive oils. We find olive oil on tablesat restaurants, in soaps and creams at the beauty counter, and on monthly (or in my case, weekly) shopping lists. For those of you who might think that olive oil is just another type of oil, you have much to learn.
    When you go to the store, do you wonder which kind to buy? What type do you use and when? How can you be certain in your selection of a given oil, and should you care if it is extra virgin or if it is simply olive oil that has been refined? You may have already asked yourself these