Bread and Oil: Majorcan Culture's Last Stand

By Tomas Graves

Book Overview

Coarse bread bathed in olive oil, then rubbed with tomato or garlic and salt, is common to all the Mediterranean cultures from France to Algeria, from Morocco to Greece. On the island of Majorca, it is known as pa amb oli, bread and oil. Tom s Graves takes this healthy peasant staple as a starting point to explore not only Mediterranean cooking, agriculture, and traditions but also the historical crosscurrents that have rescued this simple dish from disappearing along with a way of life that had remained essentially unchanged since Roman times.
Pa amb oli has come to symbolize for Majorcans all that is still honest and valid in the island, which became a major tourist destination in the 1960s and has been looking for its soul ever since. Bread and Oil celebrates the Majorcan character as reflected in its eating habits--simplicity, serenity, resourcefulness, and no qualms about getting one's hands oily.

"Bread and Oil . . . explores local traditions--the cooks and the restaurants, the bakers and sausage makers, wine-growers--and the provenance of its flour and bread, olives and olive oil, and the sensational vegetables and fruits."--Independent

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0299179907
• ISBN13: 9780299179908
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

A Cultural Treat

Tomas Graves captures the cultural nuances of Mallorca in his narrative. The book is a translation of the original Catalan text and some linguistic intimacy with his native readers seems to disappear in English. As a frequent visitor to the island, his descriptions of local life and customs had a lot of relevance to me that could easily be lost on someone who has not been to Mallorca or only experienced the island's garish holiday life. As he describes his favorite rembrances of island life and his personal experiences expressed around the singular theme of bread and oil, the repetiveness of the theme is noticeable, but Graves seems to expect the reader to bear with him as he shares his thoughts and stories. I enjoyed his verbal pictures of Mallorca enough to buy his latest book, Tuning Up at Dawn, which is about his Mallorcan remembrances of life as a musician.