Spain: One man’s work, a family’s legacy
This recipe and story were shared by Francisco Marcobal, from Valderrobres, Spain. When Paco (a spanish nickname for Francisco) Marcobal was a child, he would go to school with his pockets full of olives. Everything ended up stained, of course, but it was worth it. The olives he carried were made at home by his […]
Lebanon: Olives, Our Sacred Family Roots
This recipe and story were shared by Katia Massoud, from Fanar, Lebanon. Each year, when the first autumn rains fall in late October, the olive harvest begins in Lebanon. For us, it’s far more than a seasonal task – it’s a ritual, a family tradition that binds us to our land and to generations before […]
France: What We Plant Together, We Enjoy Together
This recipe and story were shared by Zoé Waller with support of Romain, from Eygalières, France. In Eygalières, a village in the south of France, in the heart of the Alpilles, the olive recipe is considered a community recipe. It is not passed down from family to family, but rather shared among neighbors, each contributing […]
Turkey: Sari Ulak devotion
This recipe was provided by David McKenzie, through an interview with Hatice Kalin and her family in Tarsus, Turkey. When visiting Kösebalcı, a village near Tarsus in southern Turkey, journalist David McKenzie met Hatice Kalin and her family. In the face of issues arising from the spread of large monocultures of olive varieties unsuited to […]
Lebanon: Patience until the rain makes the olive’s gift more abundant
This recipe was provided by Lea Kharrat and her grandfather, from Kfardebian, Lebanon. At the end of 2023, more than 40,000 olive trees were destroyed in fires caused by Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Between October and November 2024 alone, over 9,000 hectares of land were burned as a […]
