The Poem for Breakfast played a very practical and educational role in the early days of La Cultivada.

It carried the narrative of a project just starting out, and embodied the initial values of this new brand.

I didn’t come from the world of business, but rather from the world of art.

My university education and academic interests were rooted in the arts and humanities.

What’s more, La Cultivada was born in a deeply lyrical land — Andalusia, land of poets — and at a time when the logic of the market wasn’t as relentless as it is today.

I wrote this little poem because, with it in my memory, each verse allowed me to tell a story:

“Arbequina and Andalusian”

My father was a pioneer in cultivating the arbequina variety of olive in Andalusia.

Our terroir gave this oil, which typically came from Lérida in the north of Spain, different nuances that were unlike the Catalan version.

Our Arbequina variety olive oil was our very first oil.

“Tiny Cultivated olive”

The arbequina is a very small olive, and this line gave me a way to talk about the secrets of our cultivation.

“Your secret Light nourishes us”

A way of expressing the nutritional benefits of extra virgin olive oil…

“Your Essence gives us life”

…and the health benefits of EVOO too.

“Revealing you, breathing you in, savouring you…”

The secrets behind EVOO tasting.

“Oh beloved fruit, what joy you bring!”

The happiness that comes with each new harvest:

discovering new notes in aroma and flavour.

“Beautiful daughter of the Olive tree”

The perfect moment to speak about this sacred tree and its symbolic value across all cultures. After all, man does not live by bread alone.

“Mother of pure Liquid Gold”

Olive oil is born of healthy fruit: time to explain the extraction process.

“Eternal Spring of Sweetness”

At that time in Andalusia, only picual variety olive oils were produced; they were overripe and bitter, with an unbalanced spiciness that caught in the throat. Our oil, by contrast, was smooth, full of flavour and very versatile.

Our Arbequina EVOO oil won over hearts and palates, and continues to do so thanks to its mild and mellow flavours with hints of almond and apple.

Would you like to hear the poem recited by actor María Ballesteros?

 

Elena Vecino

Read here my blog.