It’s impossible to cook real authentic Ligurian cuisine without PDO Riviera Ligure’s extra-virgin olive oil. By the end of March the proof will be here for everyone to see. Starting with the world championship of mortar pesto. An event that unwinds on the 27th finishing on the 29th March at the final stage, after going through a long selection process. Only the best make it to Palazzo Ducale in Genoa. All of this to make the sauce that puts Liguria on the map. A sauce developed over time, certified in 19th century, even though the gastronomic historian Sergio Rossi has uncovered documents dating it back to the 17th and 18th century, that prove its origin, already destined for pasta. Two main ingredients being garlic and basil with the introduction of pine nuts, a touch of cheese, but above all, for us, the emulsion of the Ligurian oil. In fact for the finals the PDO Riviera Ligure extra-virgin olive oil was bottled with a special mention to the Ligurian Riviera. Basil and oil: two Ligurian Protected Designations together representing its identity.
And it doesn’t end here. Here in Genoa the Associazione dei Produttori Olivicoli della Liguria (Association of Ligurian Olive Producers) has organised an event, on Friday 28th March at 10:30 am at the fish market in Campagna in Calata Vignoso, inviting people to judge the different extra-virgin olive oils finishing off with a comparative taste of two different fried dishes prepared by the Chef of Agriturismo Cascina Salvega.
An important event in Genua for the food-lovers.
Extra-virgin olive oil is the star in both these two Genoese events, recalling the dimension of the alimentary history of the region’s capital. Genoa, the commercial and financial capital, made clear plans for its land which were revealed through time. The land produced fundamental food products such as oil and wine. The authorities of the Republic of Genoa were more focused on the production of oil. Just think of the “oil tax”: every community within the territory of the Republic of Genoa would have to provide, on an annual basis, a certain quantity of oil of the average production. This measure was monitored by an appropriate Magistrate and Ligurian east coast also had to bend over to the government’s requirements. The “roads of oil” were faced with difficulty upon the arrival to the rugged hills and the valleys and beyond. The journey from the Graveglia valley to the Vara valley also has a political sense to it as Genoa fought along with the Malaspina family for the control of Brugnato, a village founded by monks, and finally conquered it in the 16th Century. In Brugnato there is a sanctuary of the Madonna dell’Ulivo (Our Lady of the Olive Tree), a worthy reflection similar to the sanctuary of the Madonna dell’Oliveto (Our Lady of the Olive Groves) in Chiusavecchia in the Ligurian west Coast (Ponente). The building has a sixteenth-century look already boasting the signature Tuscan style. As the story goes, it was founded by the monks from Bobbio, at the same time as the birth of Brugnato village. In any case you can’t really make a mistake: inside a famous mural replicated in 1821 by the Luccan painter Vincenzo Comaschi (you can now find his work in the co-cathedral of Brugnato). Between Saint Peter and Lawrence there is the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus holding an olive branch. According to the legend a painting of the Virgin Mary was discovered on the stake of an olive wood where the sanctuary now stands. Surrounded all around, a true sign of fertile land, by chestnut trees and olive groves – the ‘diamond’ of Liguria.
