The Olive Tree

If I am asked to choose only ONE tree for my garden, it will be an olive tree. Alas, olive trees do not grow just anywhere or in any climate. And certainly not in Malaysia .

I am not particularly fond of olives, but the olive tree is something else for me. Long before I ever saw one, an English colleague Elizabeth, who was working at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) office in Hanoi at the time I was there used to tell me about her big old live tree in her country house in Todi, Italy. I developed a fascination for the tree listening to her stories about it.

Later when Elizabeth returned to her HQ in Rome, I too was transferred to that eternal city and I finally saw an olive tree (not hers though) and I fell in love with it ever since.

The olive tree is indeed special and has may significance. An olive branch is a symbol of peace. The tree live to hundreds of years, the old trunks making interesting formations. Its trunk and root can be made into many useful objects. The trees can be pruned to maintains its size and the older the trees get the more fruits they are likely to bear. I like the friendly branches and especially the leaves with their two-toned furry surface.

Nowadays the olive trees have become ornamental, grown in big terra cotta pots and used as decoration.

When I arrived in Lima, Peru, I did not like the house I inherited and immediately embarked on a search for a new house. I inspected some 20 houses, yet in the end settled for the very first house I saw. It was extremely well-designed and practical and had a nice garden each in front and at the back and was very well–furnished since the landlady was an interior decorator. But above all else, it was because the house was situated in an olive park, with many old trees that originated from the time of the Conquistadors (the Spanish introduced olive trees to Peru). In fact in the house high-walled gardens there were three very old, shady olive trees with beautiful rustic trunks. The landlady told me that the trees were protected by the local authority and she would sought their advice if she wanted to prune them.

In the second year I lived in that house, the olive trees had a record abundance of fruits. But you cannot eat olive fruits raw, they must be picked or pressed for their sought-after oil. My cook Leonor and the housemaid Hacinta would pick buckets of the black fruits that had fallen to the ground, or pluck them from the branches. Leonor soaked this in brine or salted water until they were pickled. And for the next few months I saw them, especially Hacinta, endlessly enjoying the pickled fruits, which she strangely ate in buns!

The olive oil is obviously good for health. Unfortunately for cooking Malay food, it just does not work!. Try cooking Malay food with olive oil and you will find the taste complete gone wrong.

The last thing I did before leaving Lima was to plant a small olive tree in front of our office building. That was seven years ago – I wonder how the tree is today....

Rossana, the next time you are back in Lima please check it out. Keith can make some photos and sent them to me. Muchas gracias!