Elegant Natural Olive Wood

Here at Menus and Music we always look forward to seeing Raouf when he makes a personal delivery of his gorgeous olive wood products to our building.

Today he brought us a good supply of Salt Keepers, Serving Platters, Salad Bowls, Serving Spoons, and Serving Boats. After Raouf spreads the pieces out on a large table, my husband John and I once more engage in a friendly squabbling process that usually ends when we’ve chosen our favorites. John tends to pick pieces with character, he likes olive wood knots and bark, while I’m always looking for pieces with beautiful grains and elegant curves. This selection of individual pieces is quite a noisy process that results in the carefully chosen selections for your home that you see in our catalog.

Raouf was born in Tunisia and grew up in an olive growing region. He was offered a tennis scholarship to attend college in the USA, and then went to Switzerland to study economics and work on his PhD. Now he’s settled with his family in Northern California and imports hand-crafted, sustainable olive wood pieces that are made from ancient, nonproductive trees.

Richly grained olive wood is one of the hardest of all woods, tightly grained, and extremely dense. This makes it very slow to absorb stains, odors, and damaging moisture. Olive wood utensils are also naturally antibacterial, heat resistant, and they won’t scratch your non-stick pans or enamel-coated Dutch ovens.

With very little care, your olive wood products will last a lifetime. To clean olive wood, hand wash it with a mild detergent and warm water. Rinse under warm water and dry with a lint free cloth or air dry. Never leave olive wood utensils soaking in water, and do not put olive wood in the dishwasher. To oil your olive wood utensils, use a lint-free cloth or soft kitchen towel to gently rub edible mineral oil or vegetable oil over the entire surface. When you have finished applying the oil, remove any excess with a cloth. If the wood still looks dry, you can repeat this process. Store olive wood in a dry, clean place away from direct sunlight or heat.

I am so happy to offer you elegant natural olive wood for the kitchen and for serving your delicious food. This wood reaches back through time and its beauty sometimes makes us stop for a moment and really appreciate enjoying good food together.