The Olive's fruit is part of the traditional gastronomy of many countries in Europe, such as Portugal and Spain. Binomial name Olea europaea L. 19th century illustration The Olive (Olea europaea) is a species of small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean region, from Syria and the maritime parts of Asia Minor and northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian... Gastronomy is the study of relationship between culture and food. ... Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to some dispute as to Europes actual borders. ...

History

It is not known exactly when the wild olive passed under the care of the husbandman and became the fruitful garden olive.

The Boston Red Sox are the greatest baseball team to ever walk on the Earth. Whenever the introduction may have taken place, all tradition points to the limestone hills of Attica as the seat of its first cultivation on the Hellenic peninsula. When Poseidon and Athena contended for the future city, an olive sprang from the barren rock at the bidding of the goddess, the patron of those arts that were to bring undying influence to the rising state. That this myth has some relation to the first planting of the olive in Greece seems certain from the remarkable story told by Herodotus of the Epidaurians, who, on their crops failing, applied for counsel to the Delphic Sibyl oracle, and were enjoined to erect statues to Damia and Auxesia (symbols of fertility) carved from the wood of the true garden olive, then possessed only by the Athenians, who granted their request for a tree on condition of their making an annual sacrifice to Athena, its patron; they thus obeyed the command of the Pythian, and their lands became again fertile. The sacred tree of the goddess long stood on the Acropolis, and, though destroyed in the Persian invasion, sprouted again from the root--some suckers of which were said to have produced those olive trees of the Academy in an after age no less revered. This article is about Attica in Greece. ... Neptune reigns in the city centre, Bristol, formerly the largest port in England outside London. ... Drawing from a sculpture of Athena at the Louvre. ... Bust of Herodotus at Naples Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: , Herodotos) was a historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484 BC-ca. ... Michelangelos rendering of the Delphic Sibyl The Delphic Sibyl was a legendary figure who gave prophecies in the sacred precinct of Apollo at Delphi, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, Athína (IPA: )) is the capital of Greece and one of the most famous cities in the world, named after goddess Athena. ... The Acropolis of Athens, seen from the hill of the Pnyx to the west. ... Raphaels portrait of Plato, a detail of The School of Athens fresco An an institution for the study of (usually) higher learning. ...

By the time of Solon the olive had so spread that he found it necessary to enact laws to regulate the cultivation of the tree in Attica, from which country it was probably distributed gradually to all the Athenian allies and tributary states. To the Ionian coast, where it abounded in the time of Thales, it may have been in an earlier age brought by Phoenician vessels; some of the Sporades may have received it from the same source; the olives of Rhodes and Crete had perhaps a similar origin. Samos, if we may judge from the epithet of Aeschylus, must have had the fruitful plant long before the Persian Wars. Solon Solon (Greek: Σόλων, ca. ... Ionia (Greek Ιωνία; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was an ancient region of southwestern coastal Anatolia (now in Turkey) on the Aegean Sea. ... Thales of Miletus (ca. ... Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal plains of what are now Lebanon and Syria. ... Rhodes, Greek Ρόδος (pron. ... Crete (Greek Κρήτη Kriti; called Candia in the Venetian period and Turkish: Girit) is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. ... Aeschylus This article is about the ancient Greek playwright. ... The Greco-Persian Wars or Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Greek world and the Persian Empire that started about 500 BC and lasted until 448 BC. The term can also refer to the continual warfare of the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire against the Parthians and...

There are different varieties of marinated olives (black and green) sold by farmers and in shops

Yielding a grateful substitute for the butter and animal fats consumed by the races of the north, the olive, among the southern nations of antiquity, became an emblem not only of peace but of national wealth and domestic plenty; the branches borne in the Panathenaea, the wild olive spray of the Olympic victor, the olive crown of the Roman conqueror at ovation, and those of the equites at their imperial review alike typified gifts of peace that, in a barbarous age, could be secured by victory alone. Among the Greeks the oil was valued as an important article of diet, as well as for its external use. The Roman people employed it largely in food and cookery--the wealthy as an indispensable adjunct to the toilet; and in the luxurious days of the later empire it became a favorite axiom that long and pleasant life depended on two fluids, wine within and oil without. Pliny vaguely describes fifteen varieties of olive cultivated in his day, that called the Licinian being held in most esteem, and the oil obtained from it at Venafrum in Campania the finest known to Roman connoisseurs; the produce of Istria and Baetica was regarded as second only to that of the Italian peninsula. Download high resolution version (2920x1608, 800 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (2920x1608, 800 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Butter is commonly sold in sticks (pictured) or small blocks, and often served using a butterknife. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The Panathenaic Games were a set of games held every four years in Athens in Ancient Greece. ... For months before the Olympic Games, runners relay the Olympic Flame from Olympia to the opening ceremony. ... For other senses of this name, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ...

The gourmet of the empire valued the unripe fruit, steeped in brine, as a provocative to the palate, no less than his modern representative; and pickled olives, retaining their characteristic flavor, have been found among the buried stores of Pompeii. The bitter juice or refuse deposited during expression of the oil (called amurca), and the astringent leaves of the tree have many virtues attributed to them by ancient authors. The oil of the bitter wild olive was employed by the Roman physicians in medicine, but does not appear ever to have been used as food or in the culinary art. Pompeii is a ruined Roman city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. ... Amurca is the byproduct of processing olives for olive oil. ...

In modern times the olive has been spread widely over the world; and, though the Mediterranean lands that were its ancient home still yield the chief supply of the oil, the tree is now cultivated successfully in many regions unknown to its early distributors. Protected by high brick walls, a fruiting olive tree is in the Chelsea Physic Garden, London. Soon after the discovery of the Americas it was conveyed thither by the Spanish settlers. In Chile it flourishes as luxuriantly as in its native land, the trunk sometimes becoming of large girth, while oil of fair quality is yielded by the fruit. To Peru it was carried at a later date, but has not there been equally successful. Introduced into Mexico by the Jesuit missionaries of the 17th century, it was planted by similar agency in Upper California, where it stagnated under the careless management of the Anglo-Saxon conqueror. Olive cultivation has also been attempted in the south-eastern states, especially in South Carolina, Florida and Mississippi. In the eastern hemisphere the olive has been established in many inland districts which would have been anciently considered ill-adapted for its culture. To Armenia and Persia it was known at a comparatively early period of history, and many olive-yards now exist in Upper Egypt. The tree has been introduced into Chinese agriculture, and has become an important addition to the resources of the Australian planter. In Queensland the olive has found a climate specially suited to its wants; in South Australia, near Adelaide, it also grows vigorously; and there are probably few coast districts of the vast island continent where the tree would not flourish. It has likewise been successfully introduced into some parts of Cape Colony. The Chelsea Physic Garden (physic in the former sense of the science of healing), established by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London, is one of the oldest botanical gardens in Europe (second oldest in Britain), and its rock garden is the oldest English garden devoted to alpine plants. ... The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu), commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  - Total   - Width   - Length    - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 3rd 158,302 sq mi  410,000 km² 250 miles  400 km 770 miles  1,240 km 4. ... Official language(s) English Capital Columbia Largest city Columbia Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 40th 82,965 km² 320 km 420 km 6 32°430N to 35°12N 78°030W to 83°20W Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 26th 4,012... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 22nd 170,451 km² 260 km 800 km 17. ... Official language(s) English Capital Jackson Largest city Jackson Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 32nd 125,443 km² 275 km 545 km 3 30°13N to 35°N 88°7W to 91°41W Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 31st 2,697,243 23. ... Adelaide is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of South Australia, and is the fifth largest city in Australia, with a population of over 1. ...

The olive is used in different culinary disciplines: In mixed drinks it is the famous garnish of the martini; in sausages, it may be used in mortadella and so on. It is commonly used in breads as well. In scuba diving, the word cocktail also means a hazard with diving with some rebreathers: it means a caustic solution resulting from water reaching and dissolving the absorbent. ... The martini is a cocktail made with gin and dry white vermouth. ... Mortadella Mortadella is a finely hashed/ground heat-cured pork sausage with lard pieces, delicately flavored with garlic and anise seed and optionally with broken pieces of pistachio. ... European sweetbread (strucla) Four loaves French bread has a somewhat rigid crust Breads and Bread Rolls at a bakery Continental Italian Bread Tin Vienna Bread Bread in a traditional oven, in Portugal, with hot coal in front Pre-sliced bread has become more common in many countries Bread rolls Pain...

Cultivation of the olive is a key characteristic of Mediterranean mixed farming, and played a large part in the economic development of ancient Greece because of the suitability of olive oil as an export crop. For instance Attica, the region of Athens, was a grain importer and olive oil exporter from early historic times. The Athenian pottery industry was stimulated largely by the demand for containers in which to export olive oil. Ancient Greece is the term used to describe the Greek-speaking world in ancient times. ... For the cartoon character, see Olive Oyl. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, Athína (IPA: )) is the capital of Greece and one of the most famous cities in the world, named after goddess Athena. ...

Note also that the green olive and black olive are the same plant; green olives are pickled before ripened, where black olives are pickled after being ripened.

External links

Look up olive in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Olive

• "Olives 101" from Lindsay, an American distributor
• International Olive Oil Council Includes studies on health benefits
• Resource portal for olive oil
• The history and gastronomy of the olive & olive oil in Spain
• Medical uses
• Australian Olive Association Association growing, harvesting and processing factsheet
• Fusano Olive Company - photos of an olive harvest

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary is a Wikimedia Foundation project intended to be a free wiki dictionary (hence: Wiktionary) (including thesaurus and lexicon) in every language. ... Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ...

See also

• Olive tree

Binomial name Olea europaea L. 19th century illustration The Olive (Olea europaea) is a species of small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean region, from Syria and the maritime parts of Asia Minor and northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.