Inside Counterfeit Extra Virgin Olive Oil, False Italian Origin, Adulteration, Organized Food Crime — and the Fight to Protect One of Italy’s Greatest Foods By Chef Gianluca Deiana Abis There is something almost sacred about olive oil in Italy. It is poured over bread before the first course arrives. It finishes a bowl of beans. It transforms grilled fish. It perfumes vegetables. It carries garlic into a pan, binds sauces, finishes soups, dresses salads and becomes part of th

A Culinary Life Beginning with Bread Chef Vincenzo Garofalo was born in Avellino, in Campania, and grew up around his grandfather’s bakery. Bread, pizza, and desserts gave him an early understanding that good food begins with ingredients, patience, and repeated work. His family also made pasta, preserves, olive oil, and wine while growing fresh produce. This was not a narrow culinary education. It connected baking to agriculture and taught him that the pantry begins long befo