When Nancy Harmon Jenkins (The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook) purchased an abandoned farm on a hillside in Tuscany in the late 1960s, she didn't realize she had embarked on a lifelong inquiry into one popular Mediterranean food. Virgin Territory: Exploring the World of Olive Oil is a fascinating compendium of all her hard-earned knowledge, distilled into manageable bites that cover every aspect of oil production and usage. Jenkins narrates the historical evolution of olive oil from pre-biblical times to the present, explains the process by which olives become oil, discusses the qualities of good and bad oils and includes interviews with oil producers.
She traveled the world visiting the various regions that grow olives to make oil, and includes more than 100 Mediterranean dishes that feature this unctuous staple. These include simple recipes--Sicilian fried almonds, epityrum (a sort of caper-free tapenade from ancient Rome) and oven-roasted kale--as well as more complex dishes, such as veal shoulder with caper-anchovy sauce and Lebanese lamb-and-bulgur meatballs.
Jenkins believes that olive oil can be used in almost any recipe that "calls for fat, whether butter, lard, coconut oil, or some more esoteric substance," and she provides conversion tips that allow readers to modify their own recipes to use extra-virgin olive oil in everything. But, she cautions, "regular olive oil, light olive oil, or--perish the thought--pomace oil has no place in any kitchen that is dedicated to creating healthful, delicious food. Only extra-virgin will do." After reading Jenkins's informative analysis and trying her recipes, readers will agree. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer