This summer we had the gift of spending 2 weeks in the midst of the largest olive growing region in the world in Andalucía, Spain.
Fuente Tojar
Cubertilla is a tiny place just outside the small white town of Fuente Tojar, near the baroque jewel of Priego de Córdoba, whose olive oil has its own Denomición de Origen.
There are something like 100 million olive trees in the province.
view from Úbeda
Zuheros
near Almedinilla
Every view, every road we traveled.
tapa at Zahorí restaurant, Priego de Córdoba
And of course they found their way into most meals.
On a Saturday morning we visited one of the most famous olive oil producers, Nuñez de Prado, in nearby Baena. Not much was happening at the mill, but the owner himself happily gave us a tour of the grounds, which have been in Baena since 1795.
The oil we purchased is called "Flor de Aceite", the flower of the oil, which is a grade above extra virgin. The oil is carefully extracted from the olives BEFORE they even go to the press, resulting in a cloudy, highly flavorful product. This oil has made the Saveur 100 list for 2009, and can be found at Dean & Deluca, Williams-Sonoma, and Whole Foods (although you will pay much, much more than we did at the source!)
