Food and Drink Atlas

How The World Eats
Ingredients

Olive Oil

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Oil pressed from the fruit of the olive tree, the defining fat of Italian, French, Middle Eastern and wider Mediterranean cuisine, used for cooking, dressing and preservation and central to religious and ceremonial use across the ancient Mediterranean world besides its culinary role. Olive domestication and early pressing are both attested archaeologically in the Levant and wider eastern Mediterranean.

Facts
Disputed
Earliest Documented Use, From (Year)
6000 BCE to 4000 BCE 1
Dating for early olive domestication and oil pressing varies by site across the eastern Mediterranean and the Levant; a range is given rather than a single year.
Origin Region
The eastern Mediterranean and the Levant 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Used By

Sources
1. The Oxford Companion to Food
Alan Davidson, Oxford University Press, 2014
Larousse Gastronomique
Hamlyn, 2009Used By: Italian Cuisine, entry: Olive Oil
Larousse Gastronomique
Hamlyn, 2009Used By: Middle Eastern Cuisine, entry: Olive Oil
Un Pais de Tapas (Real Academia de Gastronomia, Spain)
Real Academia de Gastronomia (Spain)Used By: Spanish CuisineView the Source
Paella, Rice With Everything (Smithsonian Magazine)
Derek Workman, Smithsonian Magazine, 2011Used By: PaellaView the Source
Archaeologists Discover Ancient Roman Olive Oil Production Facilities in North Africa (Smithsonian Magazine)
Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 2025Used By: North African CuisineView the Source
Moroccan Cuisine (Wikipedia)
WikipediaUsed By: Moroccan CuisineView the Source
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