L’olio d’oliva
Oil of olives
Oil of olive
It is a juice made from olives It is the most important ingredient used for cooking and giving
flavor to fresh vegetables in the Mediterrean diet.
Olives
They grow on very big trees, which in Italian are called “ulivi”
They can be “green” or “black” and they are mixed to make oil
Olives (rude)
Olives (for eating)
The first step to make oil is the olives harvest.It usually takes place in October/November
The Olives Harvest
The Olives Harvest
The Olives Harvest
The Olives Harvest
The Olives Harvest
Olives harvest
Oil must be done within 24 hours from the harvest
Olives put in opened boxs are brought from the countryside to a place called “frantoio”(in English Oil Mill)
Olives are washed
After the washing, olives are pressed
Did you know that the ancient Greeks used to press olives 5000 years ago?
The method used by Greeks is still used today.
They used the olive press, which is a very heavy stone, that was usually pulled by a donkey.
Olive Press
Olive press
The olive paste
It generally stays under the stones for 30 to 40 minutes. This has three objectives:
to guarantee that the olives are well ground to allow enough time for the olive drops to
join to form the largest droplets of oil to allow the fruit enzymes to produce some of
the oil aromas and taste
When the paste is ready…
It is put on fiber disks, which are stacked on the top of each other
These disks are put on a hydraulic piston, forming a pile. Pressure is applied on the disks, thus compacting the solid phase of the olive paste and percolating the liquid phases
Finally, the liquid is purified
The process is called “Decantation” and it separates liquid from all the small solid substances througout a faster vertical centrifuge
Oil is ready to be used e put in bottles