Ancient olive relish

ELEANOR BARNETT explores the long culinary history and cultural impact of the toothsome fruit of the ‘queen of all trees’

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" Only the sea itself seems as ancient a part of the region as the olives and its oil,” wrote Lawrence Durrell of the Mediterranean in 1945. Olives have been connected to human history in this part of the world for thousands of years, the wild tree having been domesticated by 2000 BC.

In the ancient Greco-Roman period, olives – and the oil they yielded – were so significant that the tree took on a semi-mystical status. In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus – the legendary founders of Rome – were born under an olive tree, which the Roman writer Columella called the “queen of all trees”. Its oil was used for lighting, perfumes, medicines, and in anointing during special rituals.