Lorenzo's Olive oil

A couple of years ago, Christine and I were in Italy for our Slowfood convention in Turin. We left the group after the convention, and headed to Tuscania, in the beautiful Etruscan Valley. I wanted her to meet the Caponetti family that I love so much and I wanted to show her all of the Etruscan caves on the property. We arrived at Caponetti's and we were greeted by the family, Laura and Georgio. This close-knit family is a delight! It brings good feelings to your heart when you arrive. This is my Italian family. Christine and I shared this wonderful experience. It was my first trip to visit the Caponetti's during harvest of the olives. As you can see from the pictures, we really got into the olive harvest! All of the olives are harvested by hand there. They are then taken to the processor in town. You can see the stones that are used to get the oil from the olives. It was a wonderful experience.

My first visit was in 1998 in March, I found this Italian cooking school on the internet, and it sounded so good. I had never been out of the country, except for Mexico. I got on the plane and flew to Rome, where I was supposed to meet an Italian man by the name of Georgio. Two other ladies arrived at the same time, one from Cleveland named April, and one from Atlanta named Jill. Georgio greeted us and off we went to "Casa Caponetti". We made some stops on the way, their home is about hour and half from Rome. There to greet us first were their two dogs, Bloody Mary and Figaro. Then I met Laura, Georgie's wife, and Lorenzo and Chiara their two children. Chiara was still in high school that visit. They took me on tours for a week, they were the perfect fit for my first trip to Italy. Their motto is "A guest may become a friend". I became a friend.

On that first visit to Italy, Georgio took us to a restaurante, called Slowfood. That was my first experience with Slowfood and olive oil. Giorgio set it up so that we got to sample 6 different kinds of oil, Giorgio was the teacher. He explained that it is like tasting great wine. It was an experience I still remember.

I remember so plainly about 5 years back, I asked Lorenzo when he was coming to Paola to do a class on olive oil, and if he could talk for two hours on Olive oil. His response in his deep Italian voice "I can talk for two days on Olive oil". Laura and Lorenzo agreed to come to the US and give some classes for our Slowfood convivium. Their visit here was a great success. Everyone who met Lorenzo and Laura hope they will return some day. I care for Lorenzo like a brother.

We have now call Lorenzo "The King of Olive Oil". Lorenzo is so involved with his passion of the olives. I was so honored for Christine and me to help a little in the harvest of the olives. It was a real treat for us both.

Lorenzo's olive oil in my opinion, is one of the best in the world. I know the first time Leonard, Jasper's brother, saw it in a glass bottle with all of the little pieces of olives floating in the oil, he siad, "That is great olive oil". In the USA we filter out all of the good things from ours. In theirs you can taste the difference, it has to do with the land it is grown on. Lorenzo's olive oil can be brought into the United States, just go to their website, www.casacaponetti.com During harvest it is hard to get into a conversation with Lorenzo on anything but olives. He was up working before dawn and out after dark for many weeks. This is a man who loves his work.

A few months ago, Christine and I went to the Napa Valley and found that they are selling local olive oil there. There were many olive trees that surrounded the millions of grape vines. It was a beautiful scene. Olive oil is a big part of the "Mediterranean Diet" which is good for your health. Check it out!

www.casacaponetti.com