DOP Riviera Ligure extra virgin olive oil: quality in Genoa for “Agricoltura in Piazza”

A safe landing place. Liguria-Agricoltura in Piazza (Agriculture in the Square), in Genoa, from Friday 26 to Sunday 28 September. At Porto Antico – the Old Port – in fact. The Liguria Region and Unioncamere Liguria have organised the second edition of an event that was a great success in 2012. It is an exceptional showcase for Ligurian production, which is actually a national excellence in the context of Italy’s national identities. We mentioned a safe landing place. For DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) Riviera Ligure extra virgin olive oil, this is assured because a space is provided where DOP Riviera Ligure olive oil will stand alongside DOP Basilico Genovese and thus aromas of pesto will abound. The space is precisely in Mandraccio Square: an area of the old port where you could once find the most secure and protected docking. And just a short distance away, from as early as the 13th century, there was the clapa olei, i.e. the “oil stone” or oil market. In the midst of the storehouses of legumes and wheat, and the fish market. Ligurian oil at the centre, then, Ligurian oil which regains its historical place at the “door” of the region. The DOP Riviera Ligure stand provides a fully-fledged showcase for olive oil, with great visibility for the producers and specific pathways of knowledge of DOP Riviera Ligure olive oil. Children (but also adults) can have fun playing the game of DOP Riviera Ligure olive oil and everyone can learn the secrets of cooking with our recipe books, the “Ricettoli”. These publications have been designed in relation to the sub-areas of DOP Riviera Ligure, and thus with attention to regional specialities: there is a huge gastronomic difference between the West and East of Liguria and occasions like Liguria-Agricoltura in Piazza also see the DOP Riviera Ligure Olive Oil Protection Consortium fully involved in providing consumers with the correct cultural information. In addition to all this, attention should be paid to the exhibition layout in which Ligurian DOP specialties are present alongside 12 open kitchens of restaurants belonging to the Liguria Gourmet trademark. These restaurants offer dishes of the Ligurian tradition and obviously use products with designation of origin in the region, together with local ingredients. There could be no better place, therefore, to immerse yourselves in the vortex of the flavour of DOP Riviera Ligure olive oil: the public at the old port is in the right place. And so it has been for centuries.