September 16, 2024

Eat This Podcast: Olives Reborn

Xylella fastidiosa is the bacterium that in the past decade or so has killed around 11 million olive trees in the Salento, the heel of the boot of Italy.

People — including me — thought it might be the death of olive oil production in the Salento and the rest of Puglia. In the past couple of years, however, literal green shoots of resistant olive varieties have taken hold, and with them the opportunity for a new industry focused on high-quality, profitable olive oil. To learn more, I went to visit Silvestro Silvestori, who runs The Awaiting Table cookery school in Lecce.

Have a listen here

Take care