Green Gold: Our Love Affair with Olive Oil
Olive oil is not what you think it is. According to Tom Mueller, author of Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, an olive is a stone fruit like a plum or cherry\u2014meaning that the green-gold liquid we extract from it \u201cis, quite literally, fruit juice.\u201d And, while we\u2019re blowing your minds, have you ever stopped to wonder what \u201cExtra Virgin\u201d means? \u201cIt\u2019s like extra dead or semi-pregnant,\u201d Mueller said. \u201cI mean, it doesn\u2019t make any sense at all.\u201d This episode we visit two groves\u2014one in the Old World, one in the New\u2014to get to the bottom of olive oil\u2019s many mysteries. Listen in this episode as we find out why the ancient Romans rubbed it all over their bodies, and whether the olive oil on our kitchen counters really is what it says on the label.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices