- March 23, 2026Old-fashioned oils rely on up-to-date equipment and the skill of the miller
- March 9, 2026Today, a bigger problem than fraud is transportation and storage.
- September 16, 2024The diease that has already killed 11 million olive trees in the south of Puglia might be a blessing in disguise
- August 12, 2019Ignorance, paranoia and greed have damaged the olives of the Salento almost beyond recognition.
- March 1, 2019I’ve more or less given up on the story of Xylella in Italy. It is just too distressing. But I continue to follow the news as best as I can, which today brought a post containing this little nugget: Three thousand eradicated trees, as foreseen by Silletti’s plan, would have represented a drop in the ocean, a small price to pay – however painful it might have been – to avoid a catastrophe. Three thousand, or about four million? You do the math. Self-serving, …
- March 10, 2017Where’s the romance in milking 300 sheep by hand, twice a day?
- July 25, 2016Climate change and global trade combine to make it ever more likely that new pests and diseases will threaten food supplies. A classic example is playing out now in Puglia, the region that includes the heel of Italy’s boot. The disease is caused by a bacterium — Xylella fastidiosa — that clogs the xylem vessels that carry water up from the roots. No water means leaves shrivel and scorch and eventually the host plant can die. In 2013, Xylella was found for the first time in …
Is histamine intolerance a thing?
Marieke Hendriksen, in our recent conversation, told me how her... Read more →