The New York Times > International > Europe > Massarosa Journal: The Olive Oil Seems Fine. Whether It's Italian Is the Issue.
I am reading Mort Rosenblum's charming book , which cannot quite decide whether it is a travel book about food, or a food book about travel, or a sociological review of a a major agricultural business. Rosenblum reveals in the book that the much vaunted Italian olive industry does not produce enough oil even for domestic Italian consumption. As a result, most of what Italy exports is not Italian oil at all — Spain is by far the biggest producer, but is largely able to export only through established Italian markets. So it was with some surprise that I noticed an article in today's New York Times describing the Italian oil industry, which mostly trades in other countries' oil. Either this is an interesting coincidence, or I just happened to notice what I was interested in at the moment.