Ciao !
During one of my first olive harvests in Italy I was in Umbria with our producer. My plan was to spend a brief day and a half visiting the oliveto and meeting the family. My reality was four days of meeting EVERY relative and friend of the family, attending a cousin's wedding, sitting AT THEIR table, and spending an entire day helping the matriach cook for the wedding, later learned that the smacks of her spatula across my shoulders were signs of affection. I was also introduced to a "friend" who dealt in quasi-legal truffles which he kept in his garage and only opened the door in the dark of night.
I LOVED IT ALL!
But, what I remember more vividly than any of these other events was the FETTUNTA.
The Fettunta is the recipe and the event to welcome the new olive oil.
In Tuscan dialect fetta means slice, unta means oily, you put them together and you have a beloved harvest celebration. They typically toast bread over the fire - to the point of almost char- and douse it with the new oil.
Of course where there is fire there is PROSECCO!
Everyone toasts a "Cin-Cin" to the new oil. It's not only delicious, it's brings everyone together to celebrate the hard work of the season and the completion of the olive harvest. Italians are highly protective of their olive oil often spending days and nights at the frantoio to insure their oil is not "contaminated" with anyone else's.
WE WOULD LIKE TO INVITE YOU TO OUR FETTUNTA... | 
