Olives and Olive Oil

The olive is a product of the Mediterranean basin and olive oil is known as "liquid gold" or "green gold." It is the fruit of the evergreen known as "olive tree" (olea europea) and comes from the latin oliva.The olive Branch symbolizes peace.

Spain is the largest olive oil producer with 40% of the world production. Only 20% is consumed at home so they sell part of the harvest to Italy. The Italian companies that bottle and commercialize Spanish olive oil now have to specify in their labels the origin of the oil. It will say: "Bottled in Italy, product of Spain." So, when you are buying it, check the back of the label to make sure that you are buying Italian olive oil, Spanish, or a blend of oils from Spain, Greece, Italy and/or Turkey.

Our family has been lucky enough to participate in the harvest of olives and its process to olive oil, thanks to my aunt and uncle who owned an olive grove in L'Atmella de Mar, Tarragona, a couple of miles from the sea. 

When my uncle and aunt bought this property it wasn't precisely to harvest olives, but rather to build a small house to store my uncle's antique cars and to have a place to work on them. However, my aunt became an enthusiast of harvesting the olives to make marinated olives, olive oil and soap. That was impossible for one person and her enthusiasm was contagious so soon enough sons, daughters-in-law, nephews and nieces became involved in the harvesting and processing of the olives and olive oil.

Nobody in the family had harvested olives before so we got the help of a farmer. The first thing was to make sure that the trees were pruned properly so they grew no higher than 5 to 6 feet tall and their crowns were round.

The next step was buying the very thin net to put on the ground to collect the olives, the hand rakes to rake the branches,the sacks to fill with olives and the "tinajas" - a large earthenware jar to store the olive oil after it was pressed. 

Collection and process:

In that area of Spain the harvesting is from about the end of December to the end of January. It is important to wear old comfortable clothes and gloves because the olives at the time of harvest are coated with oil.

My aunt and uncle's grove is in terraces with very pretty stone retaining walls. We  collected the olives in order by rows and terraces. There was a variety of olive trees mixed together to get the best quality olive oil. We put the nets on the ground and raked the leaves so the olives fell to the nets. It  looked like it was raining olives. From the nets we transferred the olives to the sacks and then, when we had the 100 kg. minimum, to the mill. We had to make sure that no stones were mixed with the olives.

The mill was an incredible place with the original big stone press in the form of cones. In the first layer there was a mat made of esparto grass, then a layer of olives, another mat with more olives, a mat with more olives and so on until it got to the top of the press. Then the press with the old stones started to turn. The green liquid started to drip and then flow to an underground deposit. We spooned and tasted the green liquid for flavor. A few days later, we went back with the earthenware jars to fill them. We set them in a dark basement and let them settle for a while so the sediments got to the bottom. I believe our largest harvest was 150 liters. It was the best olive oil I have ever had. The smell of the olives in the oil was amazing. We only used the olive oil from the first press, which is   extra virgin.

My aunt also made marinated olives. Olives are bitter so first you have to get rid of the bitterness with multiple soakings and rinses of water. After you get rid of the bitterness, you can start adding herbs, garlic, paprika, orange peels, orange juice, olive oil or vinegar.

The harvesting of the olives was incredible and those couple of weekends spending quality time with family are priceless. Today the olive grove and the little cute house are for sale.