Many countries grow, cultivate, export, use and cook with olives and olive oil. Popular cultivators and exporters of olives and olive oil are Greece, Spain, Italy, the Middle East, Australia and the United States to name only a few. They are easily available and all delicious and distinctive in their own way.
Portugal has had a long history of growing, cultivating, using and exporting olives and olive oil that dates back to the days of caravans and ancient trade routes. Now it is among the top producers and exporters of olives and olive oil and you will find olive groves and olive oil companies of great repute all over the country. It is as essential and as available as drinking water or wine. No Portuguese home would be without a couple of bowls of shining black olives on the table to accompany any dish, even soup or act as a condiment or appetizer before the salad. Black olives can be found canned and pitted, their flavor sweet and mild and excellent for salads and mixed with rice or bought in bulk, soaking in brine that has turned the color of night and yet only serves to add richness and feeling to the flavor. These are perfect for serving in bowls as appetizers and Portuguese ceramics always include decorative bowls created for the serving of olives and the discarding of the pitts.
A quick satisfying lunch would be a chunk of freshly baked bread, olives of any color (Portugal grows more than just black)and a couple of fillets of cold fried fish.
Portuguese olive oil comes in different grades, but the best is always the cold pressed extra virgin and the better the quality the better the flavor, texture and shelf life. The Portuguese use olive oil like Americans use butter. They put it on everything from vegetables to meat to salad and they soak their bread in it and eat it just like that.
Although considered 100% fat, like all oils and olives are also high in fat; olive oil is the most recommended oil for good health and if you are on a weightloss plan, better to use a little olive oil than butter or margarine. Like all foods, olive oil should be used in moderation. Still when you look at all that has been written about the diet of Meditterean countries like Portugal and the Middle East as well, they have among the best health statistics in the world next to the Japanese and other Oriental countries with healthy diets. By the way,Japan also grows olives and has olive oil. Tells you something, doesn't it. I hope this will give you the inclination to try a little olive oil and sink your teeth into a few olives if you've never tried them before. It'll be a treat I assure you. To find out more about the history and other interesting facts about olives and olive oils of Portugal check the web site under Olives and Olive oil.
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