“Olive oil and the other ingredients of our life” article series

At Giuliana and Gianni's, in their beautiful house surrounded by olive trees and hydrangeas, the pleasure of hospitality lives on, the pleasure of welcoming friends and acquaintances who drop by without warning. Here one experiences the true beauty of being together.

Gianni is a polite, peaceful man, he never complains, unless you get him talking about the bureaucracy that gets in the way of his passion for growing olives. We often pay a visit to him with Mario, on the pretext of talking about olive oil, but in truth following our curiosity to find out what’s cooking in Giuliana's kitchen.

Since 1949, this unique place on the outskirts of Perugia in the centre of Italy has been a home and an oil mill. On Sunday mornings, friends know that breakfast is served at Gianni's, with Donna Lidia, Gianni's mother, who died this summer at the age of 103, sitting at the head of the table. One morning, as we came in, we found Donna Lidia preparing green beans, and Mario sat down next to her with a knife. “No, no knife, green beans should be prepared by hand...”. After a while Giuliana took the trimmed beans and put them in a pot of boiling water, then took them out just a few minutes later, still bright green.

We then drizzled toasted bread with their Dolce Agogia olive oil, added a pinch of salt and then everything was silent. In our plates the green of the olive oil exalted that of the green beans. Mario eats and shakes his head, Gianni pours some wine and smiles, Lidia and Giuliana too. It is only 9 am.

Excerpt from L'olio e gli altri ingredienti della nostra vita by Maurizio Pescari (Rubbettino, 2021). Translation and adaptation Camille Frachon.