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EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL: Lecture by Gaia Massai

The Italian Cultural Institute is pleased to present EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, a lecture and oil tasting by Gaia Massai.

Tickets: $20 General Public/ $15 IIC Students.
Reservation is required. To register please call 416.921.3802 ext. 228

“The peoples of the Mediterranean began to come forth from barbarism when they learned to cultivate the olive and the vine.” So writes Thucydides in the V Century b.C. The story of the olive accompanies the development of Mediterranean civilization and represents one of the most meaningful symbols and components of the area which we have today. In Italy the annual production of olive oil is of 450,000 tons. But why is olive oil good for our health? What is the difference between extra virgin oil, virgin oil and pure oil? To learn about olive oil is to learn about millenary old food culture and traditions, different soil and climate. The lecture will be followed by the tasting of 3 different olive oils.

Gaia Massai is a leading expert on modern Italian wine and oil production and their cultural ramification. She is the manager of the Fattoria di San Quintino, her family’s 200 hectare estate of which 20 are vineyards and olive trees, situated between Florence and Pisa, and is President of the Hills of San Miniato Association. She received her Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Conservation of Nature (University of Florence) in 2003 and has been living in Toronto since the end of 2007.
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Main topics
● Brief history of Olive Oil
● Health benefits and nutritional facts
● How to buy, store and cook with olive oil
● How to taste olive oil

  • Organized by: Istituto Italiano di Cultura