The sun baked olive groves of the Mediterranean are woven into ancient literature and history. Between the 7th & 3rd centuries B.C., philosophers, physicians and historians classified olive oil and referred to its curative properties. Homer and Liny praised its virtues and Hippo crates regarded it as both a food and a medicine. The Hebrews used olive oil in sacred ceremonies and saw the olive as a symbol of peace and prosperity. The Acropolis in Athens is always depicted with an ancient olive tree growing on it. According to Greek mythology, the goddess Athena placed it there to win the favor of the inhabitants of the city.
Olive trees have a life span of 300-400 years. Some grow to be 700 years and older. (Plato's olive tree is still alive, though no longer productive). Before a site is selected to start an olive grove, it is observed, often for many years. It must be free of strong winds, winter floods or other faults. Each tree planted is surrounded by a low wall of stones, so that the soil around the roots will not be disturbed by rain. To produce the finest olive oils, the grower carefully tends each tree, coaxing the most abundant fruits to spring forth.
The olive oils of some small producers are treated like fine vintage wines, and are often grown by wine producers. Some of these oils are priced like fine wines as well. The great varieties of subtle flavors and textures from different regions, producers & vintages make them well worth trying. Used sparingly in salads and dips, a bottle should last weeks or months.
On a hill looking down on a valley with terraced olive groves rising one above the other and above the sea. Shades of green, dry earth, gray and blue. This is Anatolia and this is the habitat of the olive tree. Poor, calcareous soil and rock. Long hot summers (but not more than 40oC -104oF). Hillsides to let life-giving winds blow freely through the branches. The sea, never far, softens harsh winters (temperatures not less than -40C (8oF) or at least not for long). Annual rainfall 450-650 mm (18-26 inches).
Just what the olive tree needs. Not much. But the demands are precise. And Anatolia is the last place on earth to refuse the olive tree a favor isn't that the way it always goes with couples that were just meant for each other? Excellent quality olive oil starts from. Olive tree cultivation is hard work. Not long but hard, The bulk of the work concentrates in two points: -pruning and harvesting There are four types of pruning: training (when the tree is young), production or maintenance pruning, rejuvenation pruning and regeneration pruning. It is the first thing the farmer does right after harvesting to prepare the tree for the next crop. Water the olive tree and you beg it to give you the oil. Prune it well and you order it grandpa used to say. Very practical, given that water has a clear preference for fertile plains over rocky hillsides. But pruning is not easy and it requires experience and skill. So it is only natural that good prunes get boasting fits twice a year, when the olive oil is still young from the press and at pruning time when they are lords and masters of the field. The fact that these two times almost coincide works wonders for community peace.
Harvesting time is from November to March, depending on the area and the variety. Olives meant for oil have to be picked when they are 3/4 black. That is the golden rule quantity/quality-wise. When they are greener, there is not enough oil, when they are all black, oil quality goes down. The place simply buzzes. The olives have to be hand picked one by one (and most of them tend to be smaller than an inch). Hard to make this enterprise cost effective.
They are then placed in baskets and carried out of the field., straight on to the press! The reason is if the olives are stored before pressing oxidization begins and quality goes down.
It is the frame of mind everybody gets into when it comes to olive oil. The oil has to come out perfect. And that is everybody's job. With 70% of all production in Anatolia being Extra Virgin Olive Oil, it is not a quantity but a quality game and everybody abides by the rules.
Olive oil is not made. It is just there. You squeeze the olive and out it comes, the only oil that can be consumed as it is obtained from the fruit without having to suffer the trials and tribulations seed oils go through. And the 3000 olive oil presses in Anatolia often work 24 hours a day.
The vast array of olive oil flavors and colors in Anatolia, the distinct features of different varieties of olive oils, the strong personality of the olive oil itself demand expert knowledge. In close cooperation with the producer, he selects the best batches for packaging. The industry is actually involved in nothing more than storing, quality control and packaging. No more urns and cellars at this stage. Temperatures are kept constant in high quality tanks. Monitoring ensures almost zero fluctuations.
Quality control is more of a science than an art. Companies check more than 25 parameters in every olive oil batch. It is a very high cost procedure, but the consumer can be certain that it is there and that the specifications he will find on labels correspond to the contents of the container. Numerous agreements have been drawn up and legislation keeps piling up in recent years to assure company reliability. The types of olive oil are;
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - top grade, low acidity, comes from the first pressing of the choicest, handpicked olives. Mechanically pressed, requiring no heat or chemicals. Extra virgin olive oil has natural antioxidants which keep it from going rancid. Flavor, color & consistency vary, like fine wines, due to different olive varieties, location and weather. It is the best quality olive oil.
Virgin Olive Oil - slightly more acidity, pressed from olives that are not necessarily top grade, may be from a second or third pressing of pulp, also mechanically pressed. This grade and extra virgin are the only truly "cold pressed" oils.
"Pure" Olive Oil - Also called commercial grade oil. It is extracted from pulp and pits left after the second pressing of lower quality olives. Heat, high pressure and solvents are used. Sometimes a small amount of better quality olive oil is blended in. "Pure" refers to the fact that no non-olive oils are mixed in. A very talented and very shy olive oil.