olive oil (जैतुनको तेल)
About olive oil (जैतुनको तेल)
While olive oil isn't traditionally a staple in Nepali cuisine, its awareness and usage are gradually increasing, especially in urban areas. It is primarily available as an imported product. With rising health consciousness, some Nepali households and restaurants are incorporating olive oil, particularly extra virgin olive oil, as a healthier alternative to more traditional cooking oils like mustard oil and ghee. It's finding its way into modern Nepali dishes, salads, and sometimes as a finishing oil. Though Nepal does not have a large scale commercial olive oil production, the increased exposure to the product by globalization has brought it to the markets. There has also been recent cultivation of olive tree in some pockets of Nepal, with the hope to be more locally produced in future.
Nutritional info
These are the major micro nutrients found in olive oil
Seasonality
Olive oil itself doesn't have a seasonality in Nepal, as it is an imported product. The olive harvest in olive-growing regions of the world typically occurs in the autumn/winter months (October to January), but this doesn't directly translate to seasonality in Nepal's market. Olive oil is generally available year-round in Nepal through imports from various countries. Though small-scale pilot projects of olive cultivation exist in Nepal but the amount produced is insignificant compared to the total consumption.
History
Historically, olive oil was not part of traditional Nepali agricultural practices or cuisine. Nepal's climate and terrain are not ideal for olive cultivation. The traditional cooking fats in Nepal have always been mustard oil, ghee and other vegetable oils produced locally. Olive oil, being a Mediterranean product, was introduced to Nepal primarily through global trade and western culinary influences. There's no recorded history of olive cultivation in Nepal prior to the recent times. It's likely that the use of olive oil in Nepal only began to gain momentum with the increase in international trade and exposure to western cuisine and culture. The introduction was slow, and initially limited to more urban and cosmopolitan settings where access to imported goods was more prevalent. Any localized production is still very limited and in its infancy.