Olive growers from the Croatian peninsula of Istria have a long tradition. They produce olive oil that has a world famous, award-winning taste.
Olive grower Antonio Pastrovicchio talked about the success of Istrian olives through hard work and how that has brought Istria top rankings.
“It’s a lot of work, only work. We have embraced serious labor 20 years ago and now we are slowly seeing results of that. We were the second for a couple of years, behind Tuscany, but now we succeeded being the first for two years in a row,” said Pastrovicchio.
Olive oil is an essential part of the Istrian diet. The olive oil produced here must have a particular taste to suit expectations.
Olive grower Nicoletta Balija talked about how Istria has adopted to changing cultivation methods and changing tastes.
“For example, 50 years ago, the olive oil that has been produced here in Istria was absolutely different from what we have now, because the cultivating methods were different, the time when olives used to be picked was different, and of course people were expecting a different quality and different flavours in the oil. So, the oil that my grandfather produced was not bitter, it was not spicy it was not so aromatic as we have it today.”
