We love olive oil and we are lucky enough to live in region where it is made. In fact, much of Tunisia looks like a screen cap of the PC game Ceasar III, or more accurately a screen cap of what the game would look like after you let it run while you went for a sandwich. This part of Africa was actually the site of the first Roman province outside of Italy. Tunisians produce 4 times as much olive oil as they consume. They consume a lot of olive oil at over 11 kg per person per year.
If you live in California, you can enjoy olive oil even if you are a locavore.
The conventional way that locals buy olive oil is in reused 1.5 liter water bottles that are filled from a large steel tank. I did this myself a couple of times. I didn’t think that it counted as plastic consumption since the bottle was being reused. I was recently reminded that these bottles are not recommended for reuse. It was time to figure out an alternative.
I briefly considered using a wine bottle for my olive oil but the taboo on alcohol is taken very seriously by many local Muslims. I got to experience this while getting supplies for our Christmas baking. The cashiers do not touch bottles of alcohol. I had to get the deli person to write down the UPC so I could go to the front to pay and get a receipt and then I went back to the back for the furtive transaction. I don’t want to offend the guy that sells me my olive oil.
My next though was to purchase an empty 1 liter glass bottle. The supermarket had some nice ones for about 1 USD. While I was carrying one of these around in the store, I realized how silly I was being. I put the bottle back on the shelf and walked over to where they sold glass bottles of premium olive oil. Local people don’t buy these very much because they are no better than what can be purchased on any corner. They cost more. Interestingly enough, they cost about 1 USD more per liter.
If I get any brilliant ideas for reusing an olive oil can, I may consider buying one. Until then I will be refilling a glass bottle.
