115: On Tunisian olive oil as a form of resistance with Kaïa's Sarah Ben Romdane

Of all the cooking essentials we buy and consume, few are as taken for granted or even misrepresented as extra virgin olive oil. Imagine you’re in France scanning the shelves in your local market for a new bottle. The labels might lead you to believe the oil is 100% French, Italian or Greek but inspect the fine print and a fuller picture emerges: Pressed in Italy, Produced Outside of the European Union. And that’s if the bottles specify that distinction at all. But if I learned anything from reporting a story for Afar Magazine about today’s guest, it’s just how much of the olive oil that’s exported in the world is from another country and another region entirely. Tunisia is the world’s 3rd largest exporter and the 1st outside of the E.U. and yet most people would be surprised to know this. Sarah Ben Romdane, the French-Tunisian founder of the brand Kaïa who splits her time between Paris and Tunisian city of Medhia, joins me today to go into context of the olive oil business, the role French colonialism plays in Tunisia’s erasure from the olive oil story, and how having a foot in Paris can help change the narrative. 

Mentioned in this episode:

My Afar Magazine story

Kaïa

The brand on Instagram

Taste of Paris

Chanceux

La Grande Epicerie

Sabah NYC

Thanks to Matthew Jordan for technical production and editing on this episode!