In Sardegna l’olio di lentisco (oll’e stincu) è stato fino al XX secolo il grasso alimentare vegetale più consumato dopo l’olio d’oliva e dell’olio di olivastro. L’olio d’oliva di una certa qualità era infatti destinato alle mense dei ricchi e per le occasioni particolari, mentre gran parte dell’olio prodotto, essendo di scarsa qualità, era utilizzato prevalentemente per alimentare le lampade. L’olio di lentisco era forse apprezzato per le sue spiccate proprietà aromatiche, di gran lunga superiori a quelle dell’olio lampante, ma in ogni modo si trattava di un alimento destinato alle mense dei poveri, a cui si faceva largo ricorso in periodi di carestia e in occasioni di scarso raccolto dagli olivi e dagli olivastri.
The lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus,) is an evergreen shrub of the Anacardiaceae family. In some areas it is called lentisk. The plant has a bushy, rarely arboreal habit, usually up to 3-4 meters in height. The crown is generally dense due to the dense, glaucescent, globular-shaped branching. The whole plant gives off a strong resinous smell. The bark is gray cinerina, the wood is rosy.
In Sardinia, lentisk oil (oll’e stincu) was until the twentieth century the most consumed vegetable fat after olive oil and olive oil. The olive oil of a certain quality was in fact destined to the tables of the rich and for special occasions, while most of the oil produced, being of poor quality, was mainly used to feed the lamps. The lentisk oil was perhaps appreciated for its strong aromatic properties, far superior to those of the lampante oil, but in any case it was a food destined for the soup halls of the poor, which was widely used in periods of famine and on occasions of poor harvest from olive trees and olive trees.
