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Oliveto - Olive trees - Photo (c)
robylunque
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The olive oil
This nectar is obtained by the cold working pressure of
olives picked up by hand and brought to the oil mill in
a brief time. These olives are washed, milled and then
kept under a pressing machine.
The obtained must pass in
a separator that separates oil from working's water, and
then is strained. The olive oil is defined
"extra virgin" if it has an acidity lower than 0.8
% (and if fulfils other quality requirements,
"virgin" with an acidity lower than 2%,
"lampante" with an acidity higher than 2%.
The characteristics of a very good "extra-virgin" oil
are the following: the light green color, with gold
grales, the intense smell of grass and green leaves, the
flavor a little piquant and a light taste of artichoke.
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The most fit Tuscan varieties to have an esteemed oil
are the following:
MORAIOLO, for the low acidity;
FRANTOIANO for the smell and the sapidity;
LECCINO for the fine spicy sensation.
Eating does not mean filling yourself up with food. It
is history, culture living together, reassurance,
pleasure and tradition. In the Mediterranean culture
olive oil typically represents these ties.
To pay homage
to this indisputable player in Mediterranean
civilization, we have to rediscover this valuable
product, to recognize its advantages and its
irreplaceable contribution to man's nutrition.
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Leccino olives - Photo (c)
Luigi FDV
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The
variety of wild olive tree in the countries bordering on
the Mediterranean sea is a thorny bush which produces a
small fruit with large seeds and little flesh, quiet
different from the cultivated variety which is not
thorny and produces a fleshy fruit reach in oil.
The
cultivated olive tree probably doesn't originate from
the oleaster or wild olive even if the two varieties
have quiet similar genetic and chromosomal features. The
cultivated olive tree probably comes from a hybrid of
two species - maybe from the Olea Africana it would have
inherited the elongated leaves and from an unknown one
the fleshy element and high oil content.
The main
differences between the wild and the cultivated
varieties are due to man who has selected, cultivated,
nurtured the olive trees for thousands of years deeply
changing its features. Almost six thousands years ago,
during the Copper Age, the early farmers living in the
coastal regions of the Eastern Mediterranean (Syria)
cultivated a type of olive tree bearing a large fruit
and began to select the varieties systematically.
They
discovered that they could with difficulty obtain a
dense and oily liquid, beneficial and useful in
protecting their skin, with a rather pleasing aromatic
taste and which could be easily burnt. The study of the
long process of selection is extremely complicated as it
is not always possible to recognize the different
varieties from the vegetable remains.
It was actually with the advent of the first urban
civilizations that we can confirm the relation between
the civil and olive-culture development, which has
remained constant throughout the history of the
Mediterranean basin.
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Ancient olive press in Egypt
(c)
Dominique Schreckling (tcom)
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The continually increasing demand for oil and wine in
Mesopotamia, Egypt and Anatolia determined the
prosperity of settlements in the coastal areas
favorable for the cultivation of olive trees and vines.
The cultivation of olive is confirmed by archaeological
sites dating back to 3.500 B.C., with the findings of
big olive stones and the large quantity of coal from
burnt olive wood, used as a fuel or as a building
material.
These remains are sometimes found a
semi-desert areas where the olive tree could not have
grown spontaneously and therefore is a proof of the
first human efforts to spread the cultivation of the
olive. In the area of Syria, Ebla was one of the main
centers on the caravan trade roads which supplied the
products of an already
"Mediterranean diet"
(wine instead of beer, olive oil instead of sesame oil),
connecting Egypt, the Mesopotamian settlements and
Assyria, the main state companies and the most important
business centers in the world. Sophisticated Egyptian
objects, alabaster vases and lamps, jewels, gold, silver
and precious stones were traded for local products:
fabrics, bronze manufactures, olive oil and wine.
In the 4th century B.C. Athens was about to become one
of the most important and splendid capitols in the
history of mankind.
However the problems resulting from
an internal demographic growth forced Athens and other
cities in Greece to implement economic changes and a
major development in exportation to meet the need for
cereal products.
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According to legend all the olive trees in Athens came
from the first tree which the goddess Athena caused to
sprout during her contest against the god Poseidon for
the domination of the city. In fact if a person had cut
down one of the sacred olive trees direct descendants of
the one that Athena planted, they could have been
condemned to death or to exile and all their property
confiscated.
Solon, one of the seven sages of ancient
Greece, gave to the city a code laws, which exalted the
role of the Athenian olive culture. According to this
code it was absolutely prohibited to cut down an olive
tree, if not for the service of the sanctuary or the
community, anyway up to a maximum of two per years. As
well, the exportation from the city of any agricultural
product different than olive, was forbidden.
There were
also precise rules established in minute details for the
practice of agriculture, for example the planting in
rows and the distance between the olive trees.
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Oil was one the goods most in demand in Mediterranean
trade during the archaic period. Oil amphora from
Athens, Corinth and other cities have been found in
colonial settlements from the Black Sea to Africa, in
Spain, in Etruscan emporiums and in Phoenician cities,
as well as in "barbarian" settlements, where olive oil
was held as an exotic and valuable product.
The dominion of Rome around the Mediterranean represents
the ancient era of major development of the olive
culture. Production, trade and consumption of olive oil
were significantly interwoven with the development of
the agrarian system and of land property organization.
During the Roman period important refinements in oil
production technology were introduced and numerous Latin
words on agronomy were written from the beginning of the
2nd century B.C. by authors such as Catone, Columella,
the Saserna and others, laying down guidelines for
landowners as to the best way of cultivating their lands
and all the most efficient ways for pruning, fertilizing,
harvesting and tending the olive trees.
After the end of the 3rd Punic War the entire
Mediterranean area witnessed the spread of the olive
tree. The importance of the Italian production, where
the cultivation of the olive had been introduced by the
Greeks to the local peoples and the Etruscans, was
supplanted by the provinces' one, in the imperial age.
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Olive tree in Agrigento, Sicily - Photo (c)
Dario Dado
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Along the course Quadalquivir in Betica the land was
covered by immense olive groves whose oil supplied the
capital and the armies stationed along the northern
borders of the Roman Empire, where olive trees could not
grow. During the Middle Ages olive oil became quite rare
and valuable and in some cases was used as a currency.
Since the early 5th century, state controls on oil began
to diminish and almost vanish. The religious orders
owned the most of the still cultivated olives groves and
olive oil was found only on the tables of the very rich
people and especially the ecclesiastical ones. In the
monasteries there were the "cellar-men" responsible for
the daily distribution of olive oil.
Olive oil during the Middle Ages was also used for the
catholic liturgy. The Sacred Oils and the Chrism
necessary for performing the sacraments were blessed
during "Chrism mass" which the bishop presided over on
Maundy Thursday. The consecrated oil distributed to the
different churches had to last all the year long. Also
the lamps which adorned the altar in front of the image
of God could only use olive oil, as prescribed in the
scriptures.
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Extra-virgin olive oil
Photo (c)
quintinsmith_ip
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Today the olive tree has spread beyond the Mediterranean
areas to all continents of the world, except the Poles.
There are olive groves in South Africa, China and
Vietnam, in southern Oceania, in North, Central and
south America and the total world-wide production of
olive oil has been steadily increasing since the
beginning of 1900.
The ancients use to say "the Mediterranean begins and
finishes with olive tree", to mean the intimate and
close links between the plant and the geographical area,
considered an organism quite distinct from the cold and
wet provinces.
Between 1830 and 1840, the Holy See
started a policy of incentives so that in the single
area now called Umbria 40.000 olive trees were planted.
Since then Italian olive-culture has continued to grow
in quantity and quality. The techniques of planting and
pruning have changed.
The olive groves of low
productivity have been replanted and the mechanization
of the harvesting in some zones has become a reality.
The introduction of new techniques in pressing, together
with the overall advances in harvesting, have made
possible an enormous qualitative growth.
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Extra-virgin-olive-oil (olio extra-vergine
d'oliva) is obtained from the mechanical grinding and
pressing of olives in special temperature conditions so
as not to cause any changes in the product. The only
processes allowed are the washing and the pressing of
the olives, the decanting, the centrifugation and the
filtering of the oil. The maximum of acidity in oleic
acid is gr. 1 on gr. 100.
Extravergine olive oil is the queen of the
kitchen in the Mediterranean. There is a vast range of
choice. Every producer in every region, like for wine,
is able to offer an unique product, in respecting the
typical traditional taste of the area. As in
the case of wine, the type food determines which oil is
to be used.
For delicate dishes, raw or cooked, a soft and slightly
fruity flavor oil is most indicated. For tasty dishes a
full-bodied oil is suggested, even with a bouquet and a
strong fruity and spicy flavor. Some examples include:
a Ligurian extra-virgin oil for an excellent mayonnaise,
a delicate new oil for a broiled fish, a strong
flavored oil for bottled beans, a Tuscan flavorsome
oil for bruschetta and ribollita.
Grilled meat is an already taste dish but a little of
Pugliese oil at the end of cooking will add that extra
something. If the meat is raw, as for carpaccio
or albese, try the oil from Liguria. For
grilled fish, we recommend a fine clear oil while a
strong Sicilian oil is requested on salads. Also the
olive oil can be successfully used for cakes, pie pastry
and biscuits.
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Olives
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The olive tree and the oil obtained from its fruit was
already known by the peoples of the south-eastern
Mediterranean, particularly the Palestinians and
Phoenicians. However, they didn't use it as a dressing,
also because their methods and production were more
limited compared to those of the forunners of the
Greeks, the mythical Cretans, for whom this culture was
a major source of wealth right up to 2,500 BC. Methods
of cultivation, harvesting and pressing were perfected
further by the Greeks.
Sample fruits were taken from
different plants, pressed into a sieve of very small
holes and the oil filtering through collected into a
small container. From the color and taste of this
sample they checked the maturity of the olive and
decided on the best moment for the harvest. This
happened, more or less as today, by shaking the tree,
beating it with long sticks or stripping it by hand. The
extraction of the oil was carried out immediately after
the olives were harvested.
These were ground and crushed
by rotating cylinders where the pressure could be
increased until the seeds were extracted but without
also crushing them. Then, using a press, a mixture of
oil and water was squeezed out, which was left for
period, after which the watery substance - the bitter,
sour part - was removed. Further pressings, up to three,
produced oil but of an inferior quality and different
taste.
Courtesy of AOLMAIA
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(c) 1997-2008 E. Massetti
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