Customer Reviews

The Olive in California: History of an Immigrant Tree

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This is an interesting and handsome history which focuses on the people who initiated and developed the olive oil and canned olive industry in California from pre Junipero Serra times into the 1990s. There are drawings and black and white photos, a chronology, a couple of lists (with comments) of olive oil makers and olive processors in California from 1869 to the present, a list of olive cultivars imported into California (and some synonymous names for the types), a listing of nurseries that provided the trees from 1872, and a solid bibliography.

The material was thoroughly researched by Dr. Taylor and written in a style accessible to academics, professionals, and interested consumers or hobbyists such as myself. She tells the story of how the olive came to California, how the industry developed and how California producers competed with the giants in Spain and Italy, and how the canned ripe olive became, after a scary bout with botulism in 1919, the most important product of the California olive growers, up to the near present day when boutique and upscale California olive oil has become something of a rage--although a major part of this growth has taken place since this book when to publication in 2000. Taylor captures the feel of California's mission days, the ranchero days, the gold rush days, and the great growth thereafter through an olive-colored lens. She writes about how the trees were cultivated, how the fruit was picked and processed, and how the product compared and compares to the European competition.

I got interested in olive trees after discovering some long abandoned groves in and around the Sacramento, California area. What surprised me was how abundant the fruit even though the trees were untended and overgrown, and had been that way for decades, and even though they were crowded by other types of trees, such as scrub oaks, wild figs, digger pines and others. In many places, including on and around the UC Davis campus, the shady trees heavy with fruit in the fall are like stately ornaments of California's past. But what a waste to see the dark, ripe olives just fall to the ground to become black greasy spots! Why is this? The main reason is known to anyone who has ever plucked a ripe olive off the tree and taken a bite. It tastes awful! Olives have to be processed, usually in brine with many changes of water before they become edible. And to press the oil from the olive requires equipment, knowledge and skill.

Although this book does go into many aspects of processing, it does not go into enough detail to help the beginning olive enthusiast. I'm still looking for the book that explains the processing techniques explicitly, especially for small producers.

This book has good information. Yet I frequently found myself staring at the pages in disbelief.

The author states that in 1848 the population of California was several hundred. In fact there were thousands of Native Americans (tho many would be subsequently killed by white newcomers). This genocidal oversight admittedly caused me to cast a critical eye on the rest of the book.

Still, with all the objectivity I can muster, the writing to me seems stodgy and halting, formal and uninspired, like someone published a research report. That's how the content feels too: the dots might be mostly there but few seem connected with analysis, commentary, or sense of humor.

Those of us who have enjoyed California olives for a long time will read many previously unknown facts about this complicated and risky agricultural pursuit.

Dr. Taylor has obviously spent long hours and many miles in her research of the subject. The Bibliography alone consumes 20 pages! Furthermore, there are 10 pages of Acknowledgements.

The end result is a comprehensive chronicle of olives in California with a strong emphasis on ripe olive processes (both olive oil and pickled in cans). Her writing style reflects a love of the subject.