The Peranazna olive

The only and most important factor that makes this oil absolutely unique is the olive itself.  One can argue over production techniques, but the quality of the fruit is quite beyond discussion.

The Peranzana is a pure cultivar, it is not a hybrid.  The Peranzana originally came from Provence, and “peranzana” is the dialect form for “provenzale”, the Italian for “provençal”, from Provence.

It was introduced to the Daunia by Raimondo di Sangro in the mid-1700s.  The di Sangro family was, at the time, one of the most important families of Europe, having family ties with the Bourbons of Spain and France, the Dukes of Bougogne, and claims to being descendents, down the family tree, of Charlemagne.  Raimondo was Prince of San Severo and Duke of Torremaggiore, and it was actually he who introduced the PERANZANA onto his estate, which coincides with the triangle of land between San Severo, Torremaggiore and San Paolo di Civitate.  This is why the only place where the Peranzana can be found is in this tiny corner of Italy.

The Peranzana is a medium-sized olive, and the oil it produces is low in acidity with a very balanced flavour.  This means that once the oil has been extracted, it is ready for consumption without any need for a maturation period or blending with other oils.  The Coratina olive, for example, produces a very bitter, spicy oil.  In order to make this oil more palatable, it either needs a long maturation period – which can make it go off, or it needs to be blended with other oils that are sweeter or without flavour.  The Ogliarola and Taggiasca olives are the complete opposite.  These oils need to be mixed with stronger oils in order to enhance their own flavour.

It is possible to gauge the flavour of the oil depending on the moment the fruit is harvested.  This means it is possible to make an oil suitable to everyone’s taste without compromising the oil’s purity or quality.  What we have here is a perfectly natural product.

In Italy, olive growing covers an area of 1,176,000 hectares, 98.6% of which is in full-time production.  This terrain is distributed among the Regions of Italy as follows: