Saturday, April 16, 2022

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Moroccan Olives

      This one was a find at yet another Shop-Rite supermarket, which I found myself near for work-related reasons.  I've actually covered another Moroccan product before, in my post about their sardines on September 7, 2019.  Anyway, these olives were handled (or distributed by) the Bella Sales Company, out of Tampa, Florida.  But the olives themselves were grown in the nation of Morocco.

     I had some difficulty learning anything about the manufacturer.  The major issue is that Bella is evidently a brand name, and not a company in and of itself.  I say "evidently" because I'm not 100% sure of this.  Anyway, as far as I can tell, Bella is owned by the Vigo company.  A Sicilian immigrant, Antonino Alessi (who usually goes by Tony) and Rosalie Alessi (his wife?) decided to start a business in Florida in 1947.  It started as Vigo, but the Alessi line was quickly added.  Bella, meanwhile, may have been begun in 1982.  Vigo products include breadcrumbs, rice, cheeses, mushrooms, oils, seafood, spices, vinegars, and vegetables.  Alessi appears to mostly sauces, tomatoes, and spice grinders decorated with the names, colors, and insignias of various college sports programs.  Bella is a mystery--aside from the olives I got, a question on a website mentioned some kind of garlic-based product.  I don't know why, but the Bella line's products are not included on the Vigo Importing Company website.  The founders have since passed off control of the business, as Anthony Alessi, Jr. is the President, and Alfred Alessi is the V.P.  (I assume these are Tony and Rosalie's sons.)


Bella oil cured olives, with olive oil:  The ingredients are simple--olives, salt, sunflower oil, and olive oil.  I'm kind of amused that the olives are soaked in oil made from other olives, rather like they were bathed in the blood of their kin.  Moving on, the olives were black, and not pitted.  Plain they tasted pretty much like any other black olive, or decent.  They were wrinkle-y, salty, and oily, not surprisingly.  I should mention that in general I don't like green olives, but do like black olives.  Next I tried them on water crackers with corned beef and ketchup.  This combo was quite good.  I strongly suspect that they would have been tasty as part of other common dishes with olives, such as a pizza topping, but I can't confirm this since I didn't try them this way.  But I am confident in saying that these were good olives--if you like black olives in general I think these will do just fine.


     I started to look up famous Moroccans, to flesh this post out a little, when I had feelings of deja vu.  I went back, and that's when I found the September 7, 2019 Moroccan sardine post.  Fortunately, Morocco has had many notable folks, so the following will be different, and not repeats.  Starting with scientists, Baruj Benacerrat was born in Venezuela, but to Moroccan parents (and eventually he became an American).  He shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1980.  Staying on Nobel winners, Serge Haroche was born in Morocco to a Moroccan dad and Russian mom.  (Later he moved to France.)  He shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2012.  Then there's Muhammad al-Idrisi, who lived from 1100-1165.  He was born in the Spanish city of Ceuta, in Northern Africa, with Moroccan ancestry.  He was a famous cartographer, geographer, and Egyptologist, arguably most famous for New Tabula Rogeriana, one of the most advanced medieval world maps.

     Switching to the world of acting, Sofia Pernas was born in Morocco, to a Moroccan mother and Spanish father, and is now American.  She appeared in such films as "Age of the Dragons" (2011) and "Roger Corman's Operation Rogue" (2014), but is probably most recognized for her main roles in television's "The Brave" (2017-18) and "Blood & Treasure" (2019-).  Then there's Jamel Debbouze, who was born in France to Moroccan parents.  He's been an actor, comedian, screenwriter, and director.  He's probably best known for roles in "Amelie" (2001), "She Hate Me" (2004), "Angel-A" (2005), and "Days of Glory" (2006), and for writing, directing, and voice acting in "Why I Did (Not) Eat My Father" (2015).  Said Taghmaoui was also born in France to Moroccan parents.  He appeared in such films as ""Hideous Kinky" (1998), "Three Kings" (1999), "I Heart Huckabees" (2004), "Vantage Point" (2005), "American Hustle" (2013), "Wonder Woman" (2017), and "John Wick: Chapter 3-Parabellum" (2019).  Michel Qissi was born in Morocco, but moved to Belgium when he was 2 years old.  He became friends with Jean-Claude Van Damme, and they appeared in several movies together, including "Breakin'" (1984), "Bloodsport" (1986), "Kickboxer" (1989), in which he was the main villain, and "Lionheart" (1989).  He also was in "Kickboxer 2" (1991), this time without Van Damme.  Finally, Imane Anys, who is Moroccan-born but then moved to Canada, is an Internet personality and gamer on Twitch Streaming, and Youtube, using the stage name of Pokimane.


















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