Day 22 - The Olive Oil Journey

I was asked an interesting question today from my grandfather: did you hit your goals?

I'd like to express my view on goals. Especially when starting up (in my very subjective view), it's unrealistic to solely work towards goals. It caps the imagination and creates arbitrary boundaries that I personally don't agree with. I have some goals that are in the back of my mind every day, like completing and sending out this blog, but many other goals are rather spontaneous and don't serve as a main focal point.

Day 22

Bari, Italy | November 15th, 2022

I woke up, wrote a bit, and headed out for an olive grove visit.

I'll admit today was very cool. When I paid a second visit to Eataly in April one bottle stuck out over all the rest. Yeah it happened to be the most expensive, but at that point, it didn’t matter. I wanted to taste the best, and there was no other way besides using an old unused birthday gift card on a $51 of Frantoio Muraglia. The oil was quite pleasant at the time and I was happy about making the purchase.

Fast forward to today and I spent 2 hours at the Frantoio Muraglia facility in Andria, Italy, about a 1 hour drive from my base location in Bari. Andria is an Olive Oil hotspot that generations ago was complete farmland and now has developed into a small city. Muraglia's milling location is in the center of Andria which they claim was standalone 60 years ago.

Additionally, I had the opportunity to briefly interview Giussepe, the export manager of the brand, and talk about their mission and view on the Olive Oil industry. Subtle or not-so-subtle disclosure I am starting a podcast and once ready will release this and other interviews I conduct within my episodes. Or you may or may not find clips in TikTok when I have time after the trip…

When I left (samples & bottle in hand) I was ravenous and of course, opted in for some Pizza. I stuffed my face quickly and tried to visit a producer named Mimi, but after 25 minutes of not being able to locate the facility nor understanding the Italian instructions on the phone, I decide to head back to Bari (I was pretty exhausted). It took 40 minutes between arriving at my "destination" and getting the parking slip into my car. Finding a spot, parallel parking in super narrow quarters, breaking a 20 Euro bill, locating a machine, and walking back to car just adds up.

The next block of time was spent doing some work / napping and then I had a plan - after pizza of course. I wanted to make a video of people sampling different infused oils (that Muraglia gave me). After being rejected by 6 different groups of people for not wanting to be in a video (they only would do no face), I found my way to a bar with some exchange students and eventually a party on a pier of all drunk 22 year old's ripping heaters. 15 minutes of trying to fit in later I decided to call it a night and head back home through the old town of Bari.

1 Olive Oil Takeaway

The color of Olive oil in my opinion has very little correlation with flavor. I've tasted some terrible green oils and great yellow-brown oils. Many times the chlorophyll present in "Novello" or Fresh Oil will cause the green color to persist, but I still wouldn't jump to conclusions on flavor and quality.

-Jack

Thank you for reading and welcome to the blog! I'm traveling through Europe on a quest to find great Olive Oil.