In Sicily there is a long tradition in the production of olive oil. As a visitor to the island, you will inevitably come into contact with this natural product, because Sicilian restaurants almost always cook with local products. The soils and the strong sunshine on “Trinacria” give the outstanding olive oils their unique flavor and fruity aroma.
As an individual vacationer in a vacation home or apartment, you probably cook for yourself more often and try out typical regional recipes. Simple dishes with olive oil can be prepared in the kitchen of any vacation apartment, for example salads, soups and of course pasta in numerous variations. Pasta alla siciliana tastes delicious with a sauce of shallots, dried tomatoes, garlic, pesto and a strong pinch of sweet curry, which gives it that oriental zing. Also delicious: a mixture of onions, tomatoes, anchovies and eggplant. Eating a home-cooked meal on the terrace or in the garden of a vacation accommodation overlooking the sea puts many vacationers in an almost paradise-like state.
Watch the label when buying olive oil.
Modern technologies have also found their way into Sicily, so that traditional olive oil production has long since ceased to be cultivated everywhere. But it still exists, the production of extra virgin olive oil (Olio Extravergine d’Oliva), which is considered the most valuable product of the highest quality. If it carries the addition “non filtrato”, one offers you a top product. Those who label their olive oil with this designation must comply with various strict regulations. These include that the oil is neither chemically treated nor heated. The acidity level must not exceed one percent. Extra virgin also means that the olive oil has been pressed exclusively by mechanical means.
What is offered to you as Olio Vergine d’Oliva, Raffinato or Olio d’Oliva has undergone a chemical treatment or has only been enriched with Olio Extravergine d’Oliva so that taste and color correspond to the usual standard. In the villages of Sicily, olives are often still cold pressed and not filtered. The oil obtained remains in large vats for several months. Once the suspended particles have settled to the bottom, the olive oil is scooped from the top of the vat and bottled. One of the strongholds of olive oil production is Castelvetrano, a town of about 32,000 inhabitants in northwestern Sicily, about 70 km south of Trapani. Great olive oil is also produced on the east coast near Catania.