I wonder if the olive wood reports are coming from the places (like Spain or Italy) where it’s easy to get fresh olive wood… In the States kitchen supply stores (including Bed Bath & Beyond) sell olive-wood spoons ($5 or so), bowls and such, but I don’t know how much processing (e.g. thermal) did that wood go through.
I buy olio nuovohere and can attest that it’s very different from the supermarket olive oil.
I wonder if the olive wood reports are coming from the places (like Spain or Italy) where it’s easy to get fresh olive wood...
The anecdotes don’t seem to specify that it must be fresh, no. Consider gjm’s anecdote right here: I doubt a chess board made of olive wood is all that fresh when it’s bought by the end-consumer, and if the freshness made a big difference and the chessboard was just months old, then the effect should’ve noticeably gone away. (That wood lasts a long time makes sense—the oils and other chemicals must be able to take a long time to leach out in at least some cases, because otherwise, there would be little point to things like cedar-lined closets.)
I buy olio nuovo here and can attest that it’s very different from the supermarket olive oil.
Mm. I was kind of hoping for an Amazon link, since I need to do an order on there soon anyway for Christmas gifts.
Just to avoid misunderstandings: what the cat freaked out over was actually the box that held the pieces. I do not know for certain that the box is actually made of olive wood. I do not know for certain whether it’s the wood of the box or the residual smell of one or other set of pieces.
I do agree, though, that it seems fairly clear that great freshness isn’t needed. The set wasn’t terribly new when the cat that freaked out over it joined the household.
I wonder if the olive wood reports are coming from the places (like Spain or Italy) where it’s easy to get fresh olive wood… In the States kitchen supply stores (including Bed Bath & Beyond) sell olive-wood spoons ($5 or so), bowls and such, but I don’t know how much processing (e.g. thermal) did that wood go through.
I buy olio nuovo here and can attest that it’s very different from the supermarket olive oil.
The anecdotes don’t seem to specify that it must be fresh, no. Consider gjm’s anecdote right here: I doubt a chess board made of olive wood is all that fresh when it’s bought by the end-consumer, and if the freshness made a big difference and the chessboard was just months old, then the effect should’ve noticeably gone away. (That wood lasts a long time makes sense—the oils and other chemicals must be able to take a long time to leach out in at least some cases, because otherwise, there would be little point to things like cedar-lined closets.)
Mm. I was kind of hoping for an Amazon link, since I need to do an order on there soon anyway for Christmas gifts.
That place (olio2go) has an Amazon storefront, I think they have some but not all of their olive oils there. You want the 2015 harvest, of course.
Well, I bought it and also some olive wood. Both cats ignored both of them. So far not so good.
I know some cat people—I’ll ask if they want to volunteer to transform their cats into guinea pigs...
Just to avoid misunderstandings: what the cat freaked out over was actually the box that held the pieces. I do not know for certain that the box is actually made of olive wood. I do not know for certain whether it’s the wood of the box or the residual smell of one or other set of pieces.
I do agree, though, that it seems fairly clear that great freshness isn’t needed. The set wasn’t terribly new when the cat that freaked out over it joined the household.
Is the box lacquered or varnished? It’s uncommon for items like this to be left unsealed.
It is, to the best of my recollection, neither lacquered nor varnished.