071 Sunshine, Friendship, and Olive Oil In The Heart Of Sicily - with SARAH WOLFERSTAN

SARAH WOLFERSTAN of ALIVU SICILY grows and produces extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) alongside her Sicilian husband Paulo Guarino. Their olive groves are located in the very centre and heart of Sicily on the opposite hills to Enna. From their land, and very much in the distance, you can sometimes see smoke rising from Mt Etna. I had the privilege of joining Sarah, Paulo, friends and family for this year’s harvest – something I have wanted to do since Sarah and I recorded our first podcast in February 2021 (episode 033).

“At the heart of every olive there is a wild olive.”

As we picked olives, I wired up Sarah for sound and I recorded our discussion about olive tree varieties, growing olives, the importance of olive oil, and choosing quality EVOO (ensuring its three main qualities are present). Sarah talks generally about Sicily, the necessity to farm regeneratively, and the importance of us all to consume food and olive oil conscientiously. By the end of our conversation you could be lured to this land to grow olives and live a different kind of life full-time or part-time, or at least pay Sicily a visit.

Alivu Sicily aims to help and educate people about olive oil, food, heritage, the environment, nature and sustainability through what they are doing in Sicily.

Sarah advises that generally “the best olive oil is fresh and local.”

If you want to get in touch with Sarah and Paulo you can find out more here:

Website: https://www.alivusicily.com/

Instagram: @alivusicily https://www.instagram.com/alivusicily/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alivusicily

Email: alivusicily@gmail.com

Some of the other organisations and people mentioned in this podcast are:

• Anna Tasca Lanza Sicilian Food Culture – cook the farm in Sicily https://annatascalanza.com/
• Farm-Ed – olive oil talks. https://www.farm-ed.co.uk/
• Women In Olive Oil, UK - https://www.womeninoliveoil.org/
• Citizens of Soil. https://www.citizensofsoil.com/

“Olive oil is not a silver bullet but do eat as much good evoo as you can. Put it on your soups, dip your bread in it, pour it over salads and reap the health benefits.”

In the UK we consume (per head) 1 litre a year whereas in Italy it is 15 litres. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do!

To learn more about your podcast host EMMA go to my website or to Instagram for my Sicilian travels @ontheroadwithRhoswyn or @travelling_through https://www.travellingthrough.co.uk/

And as always, a big thanks to MARISKA Martina at https://www.mariskamartina.com/ for creating our wonderful podcast jingle!

p.s. this is the third and final recording from my recent travels in Sicily