Growing up, olives never had a place in my food consumption. Then I studied in southern Spain where olives are served with every meal… where my host mom would use generous portions of olive oil for cooking, poured from a huge jug kept on the floor by the stove…and where I toured an olive oil factory and was surrounded by olive trees anytime I left the city. Needless to say, I left Spain with a newfound love for good olives (and red wine and flamenco but that’s beside the point 😉).
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I figured Spain would have the largest olive farms but I just recently learned that the honor actually goes to Saudi Arabia. In the north of Saudi, in what is considered the Mediterranean basin, is the largest olive plantation in the world with millions of trees. Guinness says so, so it must be true. The government even employs an “Olive Research Unit” to discover ways of improving and maintaining the olive presence in Saudi.
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Despite their investment in olive growth, Saudi doesn’t even come close to producing as much as its population uses, so they rely on importing olives and olive oil as well. This kind of demand explains why grocery delis look like an olive buffet. 😍🍈 There are varieties from Syria, Greece, Jordan, Tunisia, and on and on. If you’re not an olive lover, just make a trip to Spain or Saudi and we’ll help you out. 😁
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