Extra virgin olive oil: from simple dressing to gastronomic wedding favour

In Puglia, extra virgin olive oil has become one of the most appreciated and sought-after wedding gifts

In the Mediterranean diet and in Apulian cooking, the oil is the ingredient and condiment that can never be missing. In Puglia, however, the extra virgin olive oil isn’t just a food but, it is a symbol of all the culture and culinary, economic, and social traditions of the region.

In Puglia oil is precious, a means of sustenance and a source of wealth for a land with an agricultural and peasant vocation.

Extra virgin olive oil is a product that over time has always remained authentic and original while attention to its organoleptic characteristics, its purity and quality has become increasingly high.

With the rediscovery of the countryside and the transformation of the rural environment into a trend of the new Apulian tourism, even extra virgin olive oil has been relaunched and re-evaluated as product of design and craftsmanship.

Among the branches that have benefited most from this relaunch of extra virgin olive oil, there is surely that of weddings. The green gold of Puglia has become a gastronomic wedding favour: a wedding gift that the spouses choose to thank their guests. Also, thanks to the craftsmanship of the potters and the vast production of terracotta jars, which have now become real objects of art.

However, the oil isn’t just a trendy wedding gift but, it is a present with a deep meaning linked to the celebration of marriage, whether civil or religious.

Why give extra virgin olive oil in a religious wedding?

For those who believe in the religious ceremony and choose to celebrate their wedding in church, extra virgin olive oil to give to their guests is a choice that is loaded with meanings and fundamental values of Christian and Catholic belief. 

As a matter of fact, in Christian symbolism, extra virgin olive oil is an ointment used for the blessing of political and religious positions. It is a product that represents peace and rebirth, purity and strong and long-lasting bonds, as well as symbolising the Holy Spirit.

A gastronomic wedding favour with extra virgin olive oil inside, even if it differs from traditional wedding favours depicting holy images, it is the right choice for weddings that want to enhance the religious component of the marriage.

You will give your guests a meaningful and also useful wedding favour for two reasons: extra virgin olive oil is an excellent seasoning and ingredient for the kitchen, and the jar itself that contains it can be reused as oil cruet or be transformed into a kitchen or design accessory.

Why give extra virgin olive oil in a civil wedding?

Have you chosen to celebrate your wedding with a civil ritual? The gastronomic wedding favour containing extra virgin olive oil is also a perfect gift for your wedding guests. 

Extra virgin olive oil isn’t only a product full of various and profound religious meanings, but it also represents important social values, particularly in areas linked to the agricultural economy.

Since ancient times, due to the difficulty and efforts to produce it, oil has been identified as status symbol of wealth.  And even today, the abundant availability of oil is interpreted as abundant economic availability.

In light of these beliefs, giving extra virgin olive oil is an auspicious gesture of wealth and prosperity, a perfect wedding gift to thank all the guests who participated in the ritual celebrations and the party.

Beyond these meanings, receiving the oil is always an appreciated gesture by the guests because the oil is a natural and healthy ingredient.

Gastronomic wedding favours with extra virgin olive oil: who are the spouses who choose them?

Regardless of the ritual, civil or religious, the choice of gastronomic favours with extra virgin olive oil represents a new style and a new sensitivity of the spouses towards marriage.

The style of their wedding is the country chic one: celebrations and parties set in country locations in rural areas in close contact with nature and in continuity with local traditions. These influences are so strong and rooted that even within the same region, the ways of celebrating a country chic wedding differ from one place to another.

A new sensibility toward wedding is also linked to the country chic style. The youngest couples of spouses rediscovered the unique elements of their land, moving away from the pomp of the weddings in vogue a few years ago, choosing celebrations with a more sober and intimate tone.

This style includes the choice of getting married in farms and farm-houses, ancient villas and mansions decorated with typical elements. The menu is prepared with local products, revised traditional recipes, and, above all, with particular attention to avoiding food waste.

At the end of this short list, there are the gastronomic wedding favours. Over time, the food products turned into wedding favours have become more and more numerous, but the most chosen and used one is precisely the oil.

Olivetta: Apulian gastronomic wedding favour

Olivetta, our gastronomic wedding favour with extra virgin olive oil, is a project born from the desire to link the peasant tradition, the country chic style, the Christian symbolism, and the beliefs about oil and olive trees.

The shape and name of our terracotta jar are an homage to Puglia and its peasant and olive-growing tradition. The colour and design of the three collections of Olivetta are a modern reinterpretation of a poor and humble object like the jar, to satisfy the country chic style. 

Its content, oil, is appreciated as natural and healthy ingredient and as a symbolic gift of civil and religious rituals.

For spouses who celebrate the religious ceremony, the Olivetta remembers of a kind of holy cruet with inside the precious oil symbol of Holy Spirit, Peace, and Blessing. Couples who, on the other hand, celebrate their wedding with a civil ceremony can find in Olivetta a lucky object for the auspicious value of prosperity and wealth associated with oil. 

In both cases, exchanging oil as a gift is a kind and gratitude gesture with which strengthen human relationships and emotional bonds.

The Coratina cultivar

The terracotta jars of Olivetta contain extra virgin olive oil only obtained from Cultivar Coratina variety of olives. This variety, one of the finest of those produced in Puglia, is obtained from the cold pressing of olives harvested from olive trees grown in the Northern Murgia of Bari. 

The variety of Cultivar Coratina is recognisable by its typical strong scent, fruity with almonds, and an aftertaste with nuances that vary from the bitter to spicy notes.

Conclusion

Extra virgin olive oil is a very dynamic and versatile product. After being accustomed to always use it as a condiment, in the last years we have discovered new and innovative uses in the field of craftsmanship, design, and above all wedding.  Extra virgin olive oil is nowadays synonymous with wedding gastronomic favour, terracotta jars and wedding gifts that form Puglia are sought-after and appreciated all over the world.