The Road Most Traveled

VINCENT: You know what they put on french fries in Holland instead of ketchup? J
ULES: What?
VINCENT: Mayonnaise.
JULES: Goddamn!
VINCENT: I seen 'em do it. And I don't mean a little bit on the side of the plate, they fuckin' drown 'em in it.
~From the movie Pulp Fiction~

A traveler is never truly happy unless on the road, and my road takes me back to Texas via Amsterdam. This is a city, which I know well and am always drawn back to. I’ll layover in Amsterdam for a mere 24 hours, however this is plenty of time to take in the city. Tonight I’ll stroll around Damn Square hop in and out of pubs and enjoy many fresh short glasses of Heineken, as is the tradition there. In the morning I’ll enjoy a breakfast of Gouda cheese on fresh bread with a few cups of hot tea. Then it’s a nice walk to the Rijksmuseum to bask in the rays of the great Dutch masters of light. From there it’s a tram back to the main station and a train to Schipol airport. I’ll be in Texas not long after that. I’ll see y’all down the road!

THE YEAR OF THE OLIVE

“And there is something I have not heard to have grown ever in the land of Asia, or in the great Dorian island of Pelops, a tree not planted by hands, but self created, a terror to the spears of enemies, that flourishes most greatly in this land, the leaf of the gray-green nurturer of children, the olive. This shall no young man nor any that dwells with old age destroy and bring to nothing; for it is looked upon by the ever seeing eye of Zeus Morios and by gray eyed Athena”
~Sophocles~

Well, Sophocles was just a bit ethnocentric (Athenian ethnicity), but you get point. The olive’s contribution to the development of western civilization cannot be understated. Homer called it "liquid gold." Olive oil was awarded to the winners of the Panathenaic Games (making them extremely wealthy) and the first Olympic torch was a burning olive branch. In the Greek mythological tradition, Eirini, the Goddess of Peace, is depicted carrying an olive branch. It was also believed that the Greek gods were born under the branches of the olive tree. The significance and importance of the olive later became central in Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions as well.

Carbon dating traces olive trees back to Neolithic times, however, actual cultivation did not occur until much later. The first cultivation of the olive tree worldwide took place in Greece, and more specific in Crete. This happened about 3500 BC in the Early Minoan times. From Crete, the cultivation and production of oil spread to neighboring islands up into the mainland and throughout the Mediterranean. As old civilizations came to pass, and new ones emerged, olive oil literally fueled the Mediterranean economies. Olive oil was chiefly responsible for establishing the commercial prowess of Athens at a time when the entire Mediterranean region was in depression. In ancient Greece and later Rome, olive oil was the hottest commodity; advanced ships were built for the sole purpose of transporting it from Greece to trading posts around the Mediterranean. In the 6th century BC, Solon, the great Athenian legislator, drafted the first law for the protection of the olive. Between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC ancient philosophers, physicians and historians undertook its botanical classifications and referred to the curative properties of olive oil. From the Bronze Age to modern day, Greece became the world's most important exporter of qualitative olive oil. In fact, Greece continues to remain the world’s largest exporter of extra virgin olive oil.

When Romans occupied Greece, the olive oil production continued and Romans were able to learn the secrets of cultivation. During Byzantine times things did not change. The production of the olive oil in Greek territories was significant because of the vast size of the Empire. The Empire itself included almost half of the olive oil productive areas in the known world and the product was exported throughout the world. During this time the olive tree and its oil had a special position in the Christian Orthodox church; it was a symbol of love and peace, an essential part of several solemn rites, from the service of baptism to the oil lamps used in churches and the little shrine that is part of every Greek household. These traditions continue to this day. When Turks conquered and occupied much of Greece the production of olive oil was not affected. Undoubtedly, a great part of the total production belonged to the Turkish Government, but the rest remained in Greek hands. After the liberation, the olive tree areas were separated into two areas according to the Greek law: the private properties (those areas which belonged to Greeks during the Turkish occupation), and the national areas (those areas which belonged to the Turks respectively). My wife’s trees have been in the family through Turkish, Italian, and German occupation. Olive trees have an almost titanic resistance, a vital force that renders them nearly immortal. Despite harsh winters and burning summers, they continue to grow, proud and strong reaching towards the sky, bearing fruit that nourishes and heals, inspires and amazes. This force is at the heart and soul of the Greek Character.

According to the Chinese calendar, the New Year is being celebrated as the year of the sheep. However, here in Rhodes people are referring to this season as the year of the Olive. We have received well above seasonal averages of rainfall and thus the olive trees are, as Emeril Lagasse would say, “Happy Happy Happy”. We just finished our own harvest and have been rewarded buy both nature and our labor with an abundance of oil this season. The harvesting season here runs from October to March. The majority of harvesting occurs from November to January. I must say that it’s quit labor intensive although highly rewarding. The technology for pressing olives has undoubtedly changed over the centuries but harvesting has remained basically unchanged. I doubt the Minoans did it much differently.

Here on the island, and throughout Greece, many families harvest their own trees in order to have their very own family oil. Nowadays, the time spent tending to trees, harvesting, pressing, and storing oil, could be better maximized earning money elsewhere and simply buying oil from the store. But knowing the cultural legacy the olive has on the Greek psyche it’s easy to understand that that is simply not an option. My father-in-law tells me that is mother would disown him if he neglected the family trees. I believe him. It was not long ago here that most people’s survival depended wholly on those trees, and there are still plenty of people alive to remind us. The love and high esteem for the olive tree is passed on from generation to generation and from family to family. With the birth of a child an olive tree is planted which will grow and develop along with the child. When the child starts school at the age of six, the olive tree is ready to produce its fruit. The tree grows up with the family, only it will have a much longer life and will still be around to be tended by the next generation, and the one after that. Each year, it yields its annual crop of olives in return for the labor and love expended on it.

I have always enjoyed olive oil; long before I ever set foot anywhere in the Mediterranean, but little did I know. Olive oil is used to cook everything and as a dressing on everything. Sometimes I think the food is drowning in oil, but nobody’s protesting. You see, it’s the olive oil that sustains life; all the rest is just a garnish.