This Mediterranean travel memoir offers “an engaging mix of history, food travelogue, and botany lesson . . . There is much to enjoy here” (Library Journal). Inspired by her Syrian forebears’ intimate relationship with the olive, Julie Angus embarks on a voyage around the Mediterranean to unlock the secrets of the fruit that meant so much to them. Accompanied by her husband and their ten-month-old son, Angus collects samples from ancient trees to determine where the first olive tree originated; feasts on inky black tapenades and codfish drizzled with olive oil, among many other delights; witnesses the harvesting of olives in Greece; and visits perhaps the oldest olive tree in the world, on Crete. The result is a fascinating history and biography of this most influential and irresistible fruit. “It is a pleasure to try to keep up with this book; like its author, it covers an enormous amount of territory.” —Christopher Bakken, Wall Street Journal

Accompanied by her husband and their ten-month-old son, Angus collects samples from ancient trees to determine where the first olive tree originated, feasts on inky black tapenades and codfish drizzled with olive oil, witnesses the harvesting of olives in Greece, and visits perhaps the oldest olive tree in the world on Crete. The result is a fascinating history and biography of this most influential and irresistible fruit.

When Israel attacked Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, and Syria on June 5, 1967, husband and wife, Sally Bahous and Delmas Allen, knew that to ensure their safety they must soon leave Beirut, Lebanon, which had been their home for the last four years. With their three young children Carrie, Jimbo, and Sudie they boarded the USS Exilona bound for the United States. At that time more than forty years ago, author Sally Bahous didn't realize she would never return to Beirut. Based on letters Sally and Delmas wrote to their parents during the four years they lived in Beirut, this memoir vividly conveys the richness of Palestinian family life, history, and culture before and after Israel took possession of Palestinian lands, the political forces that originated and sustained Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands, and the injustice to the people that followed. Through a detailed portrayal of the daily lives of Sally's family in the Palestinian community already in exile in Beirut, Under Olive Trees describes the events and attitudes that led to that exile. Interwoven throughout are easy to- follow memories of life in Palestine before the exile to Beirut. Bahous paints a beautiful portrait of a life enriched by family and friends.

Despite the growing interest in olive oil, most people know very little about what it is or how it is made. This book provides a comprehensive treatment of olive oil from the tree to table, from a molecular and personal perspective. Growers often do not know what is happening at a molecular level or why certain practices produce superior or inferior results, for example, why adjusting a temperature rewards them with winning oils. This book aims to provide some of the answers as well as the importance of the chemicals responsible for the flavour and health effects. Readers will also get a deeper understanding of what makes an extra virgin olive oil authentic and how scientists are helping to fight fraud regarding this valuable commodity. Including anecdotes from growers of olives and producers of oils, the authors provide an accessible text for a wide audience from food science students to readers interested in the human story of olive oil production.

Vincenzo Consolo is counted by many critics among the most significant voices in contemporary world literature. This volume makes available for the first in English an edited and annotated volume of Consolo's short stories, essays, and other writings pertaining to the diverse cultures and histories of Sicily and the Mediterranean basin. The Mediterranean region holds a particular fascination for Consolo, who seeks through his writing to recover the memory of a Sicilian and Mediterranean history, which he feels is presently being threatened by the forces of late-capitalist Western culture. His writings about the region also voice a commitment to questions of ethics and human rights, which have been brought to the fore by recent tensions dividing this area and forcing a mass exodus of its people. At a time when this part of the world is under threat from unbridled globalization as well as dangerous forms of ethnic and religious fundamentalism, Consolo's words offer an insightful rethinking of regionalism within a global hierarchy of values. They remind us of the necessity of moderation and contingency, and in so doing, attempt to recover a moral and ethical dimension for our collective life.

In the tradition of Michael Pollan, Anthony Bourdain, and Mark Bittman, “a surprising, flavorsome tour of ancient cuisines” (Kirkus ★)—from Neolithic bread to ancient Roman fish sauce—and why reviving the foods of the past is the key to saving the future. Many of us are worried (or at least we should be) about the impacts of globalization, pollution, and biotechnology on our diets. Whether it's monoculture crops, hormone-fed beef, or high-fructose corn syrup, industrially-produced foods have troubling consequences for us and the planet. But as culinary diversity diminishes, many people are looking to a surprising place to safeguard the future: into the past. The Lost Supper explores an idea that is quickly spreading among restaurateurs, food producers, scientists, and gastronomes around the world: that the key to healthy and sustainable eating lies not in looking forward, but in looking back to the foods that have sustained us through our half-million-year existence as a species. Acclaimed author Taras Grescoe introduces readers to the surprising and forgotten flavors whose revival is captivating food-lovers around the world: ancient sourdough bread last baked by Egyptian pharaohs; raw-milk farmhouse cheese from critically endangered British dairy cattle; ham from Spanish pata negra pigs that have been foraging on acorns on a secluded island since before the United States was a nation; and olive oil from wild olive trees uniquely capable of resisting quickly evolving pests and modern pathogens. From Ancient Roman fish sauce to Aztec caviar to the long-thought-extinct silphium, The Lost Supper is a deep dive into the latest frontier of global gastronomy—the archaeology of taste. Through vivid writing, history, and first-hand culinary experience, Grescoe sets out a provocative case: in order to save these foods, he argues, we've got to eat them. Published in partnership with the David Suzuki Institute.

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