Butter is the inverse of this map
Now give us olive oil production per capita map. Probably looks the same
Almost. I doubt there is any (European) olive oil production outside the Mediterranean.
There is some! Argentina, Chile, and Australia grow a fair bit. Nowhere near as much as the major Mediterranean producers, certainly, but not nothing
I suppose they’ve got the climate for it. Same reason those three are some of the biggest wine producers outside of Europe
Sure. Yet, I was referring to Europe, as this is a map of Europe and neighbouring regions.
There will be:
(Two examples of olive groves in Germany.)
I think I heard Spain is the largest producer?
Yeah, by far. They account for 40+% of the entire world’s production, so they’re making so much more than anyone else that it’s basically a guarantee they’re the top per capita too
Yeah for example most olives in America come from Spain even though we also make our own olives.
Make a consumption/production map
It’s the eggs of Europe. Who can afford olive oil!!?! Let alone good quality olive oil
Unlike eggs you can get a few 2L bottles of good quality oil from Italia/Greece/Corsica every few years and keep them for a super long time, if you mostly use the mediocre olive oil we can get in every supermarket for cheap for the bulk of your cooking
The quality of olive oil degrades over time. It won’t become rancid if stored properly, but it will lose its flavor, to the point where a one or two year old bottle of good expensive olive oil will be about as good as a fresh bottle of cheap olive oil, especially if you broke the seal on it a while back.
If you get good olive oil use it as soon as possible, that’s when it’ll taste the best and when you’ll get the most bang for your buck
Many people save good quality extra virgin olive oil for special occasions, but it’s a fresh product that should be consumed! … We recommend using up the oil within 30 to 60 days upon opening
Yeah this is my point though. I have family in Greece and they buy 10-15 liters of olive oil at a time. It lasts them a year or even less!
My reference to eggs, was that it is and should be common food ingredient for everyone, but is often a luxury product for most
It’s gone down a lot recently
I need to see a regional map. Because south of France is olive oil obsessed while north of France won’t touch it. So the french value is kind of not meaningful since it’s the average.
Let’s see butter consumption per capita and I’m sure me any my Lurpak gang in DK comes out on top 🇩🇰
Bretons have entered the chat
It’s expensive as fuck here in Denmark. twice or more the price of sunflower oil.
Don’t worry, also in Italy. But it’s so good, and we can’t easily replace it in our cuisine.
lets add butter and sunflower oil to this map
I guess lots of diaspora people buying oil when they come in the country and bringing it home are counted as local consumption, i.e. when we go to greece we come back with a car full of olive oil
I want to see a cross reference to other things, like gdp per capita and life expectancy and happiness index and all that other stuff
When I lived in Spain decades ago a few dudes I knew and I would take tablespoons of olive oil down the hatch before a night of hard drinking to coat the stomach. I don’t know if it worked but it was funny.
Scientifically speaking, a rich meal of fat, protein and carbohydrates, along with staying hydrated, is the best way to prepare for drinking. Eating anything worthwhile at all helps cut down sobering in half, but that’s the best combo to avoid a bad recovery.
Source: I don’t drink
What are they doing with all that oil? Is it used to oil fighters for Greco-Roman wrestling?
In Portugal at least vegetable oil is only used for deep frying. All other uses, olive oil is generally preferred. Then in Greece you have dishes many like hummus and similar that use lots of it too.
Greece doesnt have hummus. It exists in supermarkets but it is niche. It is probably considered more exotic in Greece than most of Europe.
However olive oil is used in all foods and for frying too. It is the nectar of Gods.
I don’t know the names, but there are similar things.
Olive oil is used in pretty much all recipes, except for frying.
I fry with olive oil.
How much of that oil is fake olive oil?
How do you fake olive oil?
By using other oils and additives, fully or as a mix. It can also involve faking the label promises of “extra virgin”.
Examples:
https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2025/05/08/olive-oil-a-major-target-for-food-fraud/
How to spot fake olive oil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ1dKZfi1E8 (it’s not easy)
A short documentary about olive oil fraud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOjhqfld3X8
I know fake olive oil is very prevalent in the US but I haven’t heard anything about Europe.
I guess olive oil in turkey has competition from sunflower oil
