DISCOVERING OIL: Tales from an olive grove in Umbria.

By Brian and Lynne Chatterton.

Pulcini Press have told us that our book will be published in New Zealand
in the next couple of weeks and will probably be available in Australia by
November.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The book is about our experience of restoring and extending an
olive grove in the hills of Umbria, how we discovered olive oil, and what
we had to do to achieve a premium oil from our own trees.

In writing about this we have done our best to keep a balance
between the ever changing practical day to day operations of managing an
olive grove and the more scientific prescriptions for fertiliser use, pest
control and so on.

. The usual romantic image of olive growing in Central Italy is that
of the sun always shining and friendly peasants toiling in the fields while
the owner sips chilled white wine under the shade of the olives. Our part
of Umbria has poor stoney soil and we have frost, snow, drought and hail.
We pick, prune and care for our olives ourselves.

Even the best oils can be ruined by poor processing so some
understanding of the operations of the press helps the grower ensure their
good management is not put in peril at the mill. A part of the book is
about the mill and bottling.

The final section of the book is concerned with regulation and
advertising, how this affects the marketing of oil and how to interpret
marketing language to identify a good oil. Some ideas based on domestic
Italian use of home grown oil are provided. We have not attempted to
include a complete recipe book of Italian food but merely sketch in some
indicator dishes that show how we and our Italian neighbors use olive oil
not just as an alternative fat but as a vital flavor ingredient.

CONTENTS

Part one - The trees, the olives and the oil.

1. Olives in the Umbrian landscape.

2. What is a premium oil?

Part two - Down on the olive grove.

3. Landcare and treecare.

4. Planting a new olive grove.

5. Recuperating old trees and pruning.

6. Picking for flavor and quality.

Part three - To the frantoio.

7. Bees around the olive mill.

8. The mysteries of the bottle.

Part four - From the market to the table.

9. The market for olive oil.

10 Olive oil in food and other uses.

The book has 115 pages, a soft cover, color front and back and four B & W
photos.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Brian and Lynne Chatterton bought a hill farm in Umbria in the
heart of Italy in 1990. The stone farm house, built originally by monks
from a nearby abbey, had been deserted for thirty years and the olive grove
was being reclaimed by the surrounding forest. This is an account of their
experiences in restoring their olive grove, planting more trees, and
discovering the traditional and scientific methods of olive growing and oil
pressing.

Before moving to Italy, Brian and Lynne grew grapes, and farmed
cereals and sheep in the Barossa Valley in South Australia as well as
making red wine and a unique white port. Brian was Minister of Agriculture
in the Dunstan Government during the 1970's and Lynne was Rural Policy
Adviser to Don Dunstan. Besides growing olives in the hills of Umbria they
now advise on dryland farming in North Africa and West Asia. In between
Lynne is trying to find time to write a book about food.

HOW TO BUY THE BOOK

In New Zealand:-

1. Call at Hunter's Wines where it will be on sale at the Wine Shop.
Hunters Wines are ten minute out of Blenheim. Take the road north to Picton
and turn left on Rapaura Road. The winery is well signposted.

If you are going to Hunter's Garden Marlborough from the 5th to 7th
November (Brian Bicknell from Serasin Estate will be talking on olive oil)
take the opportunity to call at the winery.

2. By mail order.

Contact Hunter's

* by letter at:

P.O. Box 839 Blenheim, New Zealand.

* by fax (03) 572 8457

* by phone (03) 572 8489

* by email hunters@voyager.co.nz

* by internet (ordering and payment -- not yet available for the
book only wine) - http://webnz.com/hunters/

3. THE PRICE.

The recommended retail price in New Zealand is $39 per copy
including GST. Posting and packing for mail order is extra.


In Australia:-

Pulcini Press have a distributor in Adelaide and we will provide
details when copies have been shipped to Australia.


The rest of the world:-


Pulcini Press do not have any other distribution at present but in any case
the additional cost of shipping will mean that direct mail order from New
Zealand (where the book is printed) will remain the cheapest option for
most people. The country code for phone and fax to New Zealand is 64.

The New Zealand recommended retail price of $NZ39 translates into
approximately $21 US, £12.50 sterling, and Lire 38,000 at the moment but
exchange rates vary from day to day. Packing and post is extra.

Cheers Brian and Lynne Chatterton.