Where in the world does olive oil come from???

Mmmmm, so delicious on garlic bread, or with mozzarella and tomatoes, or salad, or anything (I really do mean anything. Italians put olive oil on everything!).... Mmmm, olive oil... This deliciousness is so wonderful. It all starts with a little tiny olive, and ends up being liquid gold. But really, how does that happen? Now let me try to explain this whole process a little bit. (Warning: it will not be perfect. You can ask Paul for a super detailed explanation)

It all starts with the olive trees. There are hundreds of different kinds of olive trees, but we only grow a few types (sadly, I'm not sure which ones). In the late fall, around November, the fruit of the olive trees ripen, turning black from the bright green they were previously. (See pic) In older times, picking the olives was simple. Like with any other fruit, you wait for it to fall on it's own. Thank goodness for gravity! But now in modern times, it's totally different. Large parachutes, some reminding me of the ponyvak we use in taborok, are laid underneath the trees. The pickers then go up in the trees, stand under, etc. to get down the olives. (We at CC don't wait for all of the olives to turn black. We pick all stages at once; green, green-black, and black) There are several methods to get the olives. 1. Use your hand. (Duh.) 2. Use a little hand-sized rake to 'comb' them off. Looks like you are trying to brush someone's hair. 3. Use a power tool which vibrates and shakes off the olives in the places you can't reach. We use the first two methods. I'm not sure if we own the power tool (I'm pretty sure we don't. We are waaay to ecological for power tools or modern things.). So after the olives fall onto the parachutes, they are put in crates and stored for a few days (in reality, they should be taken to the press within hours of picking to ensure the best oil. Yeah, ok!). When you've got enough olives, you take it to the press to make the oil! Yay!





At The Press AKA Bonsi Fattoria

So apparently, this Bonsi Factory, where we take our olives to make the oil, was some sort of farm house that belonged to a rich family, blahblah, ended up being an olive press and has some sort of castle-like building where rich people have their weddings and get horrible pictures taken of themselves (Some of them were really cheesy. A heart-shaped arch where you say your vows with the castle in the background. I mean, Come on!). Anyways, this place makes both wines and olive oils. Since we are in the Chianti area, lots of red wine made, but currently they were drying the white grapes to make delicious Vin Santo, a dessert wine (reminds me of a Tokaji bor, kesoiszuret/harslevelu, my faves! The Chianti wines, are too acidic for me. We have a house wine, that is absolutely horrible, but we do sell a wine that is pretty decent). They used to have a big cellar where they have barrels that hold up to 5200 liters (!!!) of wine. They were HUGE!

Back to olives. The olives are put in gigantic crates that are stored floor to ceiling. Don't know the exact amount they can hold, but oh boy, they sure do have a lot of olives in them! From the crates the olives are dumped into this huge box (can't think of a better description) with a hole on the bottom of it from where they go onto an assembly line to be washed. After being washed, the olives get crushed into this ugly brown looking paste (everything is included, the pits, the meat, and some leaves as well). From that paste the oil is extracted and deliciousness pours from a fossit into your choice of container. The oil is not clear at first since the fruit particles are still in it, but if it's left alone for a few months, the particles will sink to the bottom of the container and on the top is the clear oil. Back in the day, they used to have these giant pots with the insides glazed. The shape was perfect because the top and bottom were narrower than the middle, so it was easy to get the oil when it was finally ready.


Quick sum of the week. Rain, fog, rain, fog, rain, hail, rain, fog, sunshine, rain, fog, cold. This was the weather, meaning not a lot of olive picking. Currently there are around 20 volunteers, plus us, so we have a good number, but it is such a shame that during the time when we had the most people is when it rained. Though, Paul's goal was to pick a 1000 kg's of olives this week. The volunteers were outside for about three days in total and picked close to 1700 kg! Go them! I haven't been outside yet since Friederike and I take turns being in the kitchen and house. If there is not a lot to do in the house, that person would go out, that is if there is no rain. But of course with all this bad weather, we were both stuck in the house, though she did get to go out one of the afternoons.
We have many volunteers from all over the world. Spain, UK, South Africa, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Romania, and USA. And of course us, but we don't count. :P We have all ages, from age 2(?) and up to who knows what. There is a family here with two little boys, one about 4, the other 2. They are so adorable, most of the time all we hear is 'Mama!' but it's refreshing to see another age group of kids here, other than Pietro and Alberto.

Today was a nice day. In the morning it was foggy, so the volunteers didn't go out, but in the afternoon it cleared up nicely. I needed some air after cleaning the dishwasher (the worst.) so F and I decided to take a walk and visit the workers. It was nice to be outside in decent weather and see how the olive harvest goes (I hope this is not the only time I get to be near the olive trees!). After the visit, I sat down and gazed at the valley. I can never be thankful enough of being here. The valley shows me something new every day. Today is was especially beautiful because the sun was shining through some clouds and I could see the rays, which were shining on to a little village, as if they were spotlights. Such serenity came over me and I started talking to God. It felt so good. My heart was filled and I was totally refreshed afterward. I still can't believe how perfectly God created everything in this world, with such harmony.

Anything else? I don't think so. 31 days until I go home! YAAY!