Ciao Spring! Sea Urchins, Tastings, + More 😍
Shipping
Ciao! It’s Skyler and Giuseppe from EXAU. All orders are back to normal(-ish) shipping times, and last month we relaunched the memberships which SOLD OUT IN 6 HOURS *happy tears*. Y’all didn’t lose any time and we THANK YOU!! If you were not able to snag a membership, they’ll be reopening in July : )
Please allow up to 9 business days for your order(s) to arrive. For additional questions about shipping visit our FAQ.
Infiorescenza dell’Olivo
It’s a very exciting time of year, Spring is the season for beautiful blooms – magnolia, wisteria, and olives! The Infiorescenza dell’Olivo, or Olive Inflorescences, are the fruiting buds of the olive tree. They begin to grow in the last months of winter, and around mid-May to early June, bloom into beautiful flowers.
The process of olive inflorescences and of olive blossom pollination is fascinating. While wind and insects take care of pollination for us, it is important for olive farmers to understand the process. To learn why, and to read more in-depth about Olive Inflorescences and Pollination, check out our full post, here!
Tasting with Curious Appetite
Join us next Thursday for an olive oil tasting on IG live with Coral Sisk from Curious Appetite! Coral is a food writer, food guide, and sommelier. She lives between San Francisco, CA and Florence, Italy and has traveled extensively through Italy since 2012. It’s going to be juicy, so don’t forget to add to your calendar! Purchase oil below and taste along with us.
When: Thursday, May 20 at 11am PT (2pm ET)
Where: Curious Appetite Instagram
Sea Urchins with Lina
One of our favorite things about Calabria is the sea. We see the sea all day, every day. This spring, the weather has been particularly beautiful (with the exception of one storm), creating the perfect opportunity for foraging some of our favorite seafood.
Hidden in little alcoves among the shallow rocks of Le Castella are vibrant, prickly sea urchins; one of Lina and Giuseppe’s favorite seafoods. Each year as the weather grows warmer, Lina heads down to the rocks in search of ‘frutti di mare che possiamo preparare per pranzo’ (seafood that we can make for lunch).
The water is still very nippy but refreshing, because the early morning sun in Calabria is particularly warm this time of year. The saltwater is also ‘good for the bones’ (that’s a real quote). Lina abandons her shoes then delicately makes her way over the rocks, prepped with a random kitchen knife and plastic bag (Southern Italians always seem to have both available at all times). Meanwhile, I perch on a high rock and act as her sea urchin ‘spotter’. She expertly pries the prickly urchin off the rock before placing it into her plastic bag.
Once home she carefully rinses and cuts open the sea urchin. TBH, cleaning the insides of sea urchins is not Lina’s specialty, so this task is left to Giuseppe. I don’t know where he gathers the patience to aptly remove the undesirable bits from the interior of each one, but he does.
Once cleaned, the sea urchins can be eaten raw or placed into a bowl and used for a pasta sauce. As they continue to fill the rocky alcoves, we imagine a summer slurping sea urchins out of the shell.
EXAU in the Press
A podcast interview with Tiffany Rozier, founder, and host of Afro and Knives! Listen to the podcast here.
Elazar Sontag, Eater, wrote an intriguing (and accurate) article about climate change in the olive oil industry.
Follow us on Instagram or Facebook for more!
A presto,
-Skyler & Giuseppe
www.EXAUoliveoil.com