Nocellara del Belice is an

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

cultivar from the Valle del Belice area of south-western

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. It is a dual-purpose olive, grown both for

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and for the table. It is used to make "Valle del Belìce"

extra-virgin olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...

, which is pressed from a minimum of 70% Nocellara del Belice olives. As a table olive it may be treated by various methods, one of which is named for the

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

Castelvetrano Castelvetrano ( scn, Castiḍḍuvitranu) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy. The archeological site of Selinunte is located within the municipal territory. The municipality borders with Campobello di ...

in the Valle del Belice; these may be marketed as Castelvetrano olives in the United States and elsewhere, and are large, green olives with a mild, buttery flavor. The Nocellara del Belice olive has two DOP protections: both Valle del Belìce DOP olive oil and Nocellara del Belice DOP table olives have protected status in the European Union. Nocellara del Belice olives are grown primarily in Sicily, but also in India, Pakistan and South Africa.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nocellara Del Belice Italian products with protected designation of origin Olive cultivars Castelvetrano