Mediterranean cuisine

Taste Atlas, an online guide for traditional foods and known for annually showcasing the world's best kitchens and dishes, has sparked debate with its lists of the best and worst Turkish flavors.

Türkiye's tradition of olive cultivation has been officially recognized and included in UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list, according to a statement from Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.

The police in Thessaloniki detained two people who imported sunflower oil from Bulgaria, added impurities to it and sold it as extra virgin olive oil, the Greek national television ERT reported.

The fake olive oil was offered both on the Greek and Bulgarian markets.

Dozens of stray sheep were collected by police officers of the Hania Police Department on the island of Crete, according to local reports on Saturday.

More specifically, 44 sheep were found unattended after having caused damage to olive trees.

Their seizure was part of ongoing initiatives by authorities in response to complaints of damage to farmland by stray animals.

This year's olive oil production is projected to be drastically reduced, owing not just to previous years' overproduction, which exhausted the trees, but also to a lack of workhands.

The forecasts that said that this year's production would reach 50% of last year's (340,000 tons) now look like an optimistic scenario as the quantity of olive oil produced may fall below 150,000 tons.

In an olive grove on the outskirts of Athens, grower Konstantinos Markou pushes aside the shoots of new growth to reveal the stump of a tree - a roughly 150-year-old specimen, he said, that was among 15 cut down on his neighbor's land by thieves eager to turn it into money.

Sakellaropoulos Organic Farms were honored with the rare distinction of “Best European Olive Producer”, by the European Council of Gastronomy and Oenology (CEUCO)

At this time of year, the trees on Alan Risolo's land in central Italy should be groaning with olives. But extreme weather blamed on climate change has ruined his harvest.

"Production has fallen by 80 percent," said the 43-year-old farmer from Sabina, north of Rome.

These days, think twice before you lavishly ladle olive oil onto your pasta, salad or crusty bread.

Olive oil, a daily staple of Mediterranean cuisine and the life of many a salad throughout Europe, is experiencing a staggering rise in price. It's a prime example of how food still outruns overall inflation in the European Union.

The Meloni government has also banned the use of insect flour for the preparation of pasta or pizza