Žutica Olives
The dominant olive of the Montenegrin coast around Bar, home of Stara Maslina, one of Europe’s oldest olive trees.
The Žutica is the dominant olive of Montenegro’s short Adriatic coast, especially around the town of Bar — which is home to the Stara Maslina, the “Old Olive,” estimated at well over two thousand years old and among the oldest olive trees in Europe. Hardy and productive, the Žutica gives a fruity, characterful oil and a traditional table olive along this ancient stretch of coast.
- Origin
- Bar, Adriatic coast · Montenegro
- Type
- Oil & table
- Colour
- Green to black
- Flavour (oil)
- Fruity, characterful
- Famous for
- The Stara Maslina (~2,000+ years)
- Traits
- Hardy, long-lived
- Best for
- Adriatic oil and table olives
The olive of the Old Olive
Bar, on Montenegro’s coast, guards one of the olive world’s living wonders: the Stara Maslina, an olive tree estimated at more than two thousand years old, its vast hollow trunk still putting out leaves and fruit. It is a Žutica — the variety that carpets this coast — and a fitting emblem for it. The Žutica gives a fruity, robust oil and a traditional cured olive, in a small but ancient olive culture.
Montenegro’s olive output is small and mostly local, so Žutica oil is rarely exported — but the tradition is deep and the Stara Maslina draws visitors from around the world. It is one more reminder, alongside Crete’s and Spain’s ancient trees, of just how long this fruit has been with us.