Roots and family genealogy mean a lot to Dennis Lurgio. And in the process of researching his family history he found another passion – premium, estate bottled, extra virgin olive oil. Growing up in a cold water flat on Pennfield Street during the 1940s, his grandparents rarely talked about the life they left behind in Italy. “My grandparents never looked back, they never talked about their roots,” he explained during a recent conversation in Venda.

It was while serving in the Air Force in England in 1964 that he became interested in his cultural heritage. His godfather gave him family documents, and during a vacation trip to Italy he looked through the Naples’ phone book but no Lurgios were listed. “I had no clues where to begin.” Besides, he and his wife Peg were busy raising two sons while he ran his business, Office Emporium, in Narragansett. In 1999 he tried again through an internet search of Italian telephone directories and this time ten Lurgios popped up on the screen. He began calling them from Narragansett and got a hit with the third person who answered the phone- a woman named Theresa who spoke English. “She was very nice, but cautious,” recalled Dennis. “That night I wrote her a letter and explained my search.” They became friends through phone calls and postcards; in July her family invited him to visit them in Olivito Citra, about 40 miles from Salerno.

“I was so excited. I can’t tell you the feelings I had. It was like our families knew each other all our lives. And it was the best food I ever had.” During that visit he was able to go through church records and found family documents going back to the 16th century. He discovered that all of the Lurgios in the town, which is in the Campgnia region, were distant relatives. While there he visited the Dell’Orto farm and discovered 300 year-old trees that probably provided his ancestors with olive oil. He brought back nine bottles of the Dell’Orto olive oil as gifts for relatives. Customers tried the estate-bottled oil and wanted more. “So I bought a pallet – 80 cases. That’s how it all started.” At the time he had no retail customers but taste tests convinced markets like Belmont Fruit and Rochs in Narragansett, East Side Marketplace and Venda in Providence to stock the product. It will soon be available in Whole Foods markets. Mary Ann Esposito uses Dell’Orto exclusively on her public television cooking show.

“It’s an easy sell because people can’t believe the taste,” says Dennis, who is the exclusive US distributor of Dell’Orto. The oil has a distinct green color and taste notes that are reminiscent of artichoke and green leaf. The top of the line DOP won the gold medal at the 2006 Los Angeles County Fair, the largest olive oil judging in the world. The extra virgin took a silver medal that same year. Because of its superb quality, increased shipping costs and the strength of the Euro against the dollar, Dell’Orto costs more than run-of-the-mill olive oils that are usually blends from Turkey and Tunesia. But it adds a sublime touch to dishes like bisteca alla Fiorentina. This is the olive oil to drizzle over soups and late summer slices of local tomatoes layered with fresh mozzerella cheese. The line includes an olive oil flavored with lemons from the Amalfi coast, and a red pepper “olive oil with a kick.” Dennis sold the Office Emporium in 2005, so he has time to expand the Lurgio Imports line with items carved from olive wood, olive oil based cosmetics and soon, a balsamic vinegar. “You know, growing up I hated olive oil until I tasted this. It used to remind me of cod liver oil. Now I’m having so much fun, I don’t consider it work.”

 

Imported by Lurgio Imports
Narragansett, Rhode Island
© 2006