Hills of olive groves
We live in an area which produces excellent Extra virgin olive oil. So the locals say. But then they would, wouldn't they. They say it's the best in Greece.
View from the Olive Press
Farm trucks and tractors roll up to the oil press loaded with their sacks of family olives.
They back up to the presser when their turn comes, watch the sacks being emptied and make sure all their olives go up the conveyor belt.
The olive men sit around for hours making sure their olives are not mixed with others and waiting for the oil to be pumped out into these 5 litre bottles or 16 litre tins.
Meantime they chew the fat and have a few tots of raki.
Julie tests this year's vintage
Looks really thick and green. You wouldn't get me drinking the stuff. It's very strong and spicy
She's a clever lass and brought along a bag of bread. I didn't mind trying a couple of pieces of bread dipped in the oil. That's more like it
Danelle and Julie
They came to Poros to see the olive operation and almost missed out because of the weather. Finally it stopped raining and they got to visit 3 local olive oil 'factories'
The first oil starts flowing
Every drop of oil carries the taste of Poros....oil harvested from olive trees with their roots deep in ancient soil
Julie and Georgios the Mayor of Poros
His family owns and runs this press
New Zealanders
Our local oil is going to appear one day on supermarket shelves in these bottles
Spit spit spit
Can't wait to try it.
ReplyDeleteI prefer butter. However, I seem to be in the minority. These days it's oil that's healthy. So they say
DeleteI couldn't drink olive oil, but do like to dip bread in it. Freshly pressed must be wonderful.
ReplyDeleteA bit of bread and oil goes down pleasantly. Personally I prefer bread and butter 😅
DeleteI think it is a lovely tradition. And with the prices of olive oil here, a great economic boon
ReplyDeleteThe price here has gone down. It's only 5 euros a litre
DeleteThat's all so interesting! So you produce your own wine and olive oil... very cool!
ReplyDeleteNeither wine nor oil. But we do buy local
DeleteIt's funny, my youngest son and I were talking about Thanksgiving, and he asked me why my olive oil (that I bought at the festival) was special. I said it's from Greece! Those people know their olive oil. When I was on my tour, our director said to buy the olive oil from Crete. I did buy some, a tiny little bottle! I only use it on our salad now and then. I admit it is one of the best olive oils I've ever had.
ReplyDeleteWe lived in Crete for 3 years and I must admit it was the only oil I didn't like. It had a very strong taste.
DeleteEach village says theirs is best. It's what you're used to
I used to buy wonderful 'unfiltered' Olive Oil here, but it seems to have disappeared. No doubt some EU rule has banned it.
ReplyDeleteThat darn EU. They upset everyone's lives. We buy from the oil press now. Cheap and fresh. We hope. They've still got supplies of last years oil too
DeleteWhat a great post, I love olive oil. I buy a local Victorian one (commercial), it has more than doubled in price in the last year, as I believe it has everywhere. Marie, Melbourne, Australia
ReplyDeleteThis year the price of olive oil has gone down. We will buy ours from the press now we've been there. We usually buy from friends or neighbours.
DeleteI've heard Australia has a lot of olive oil now. They ve got the right climate
Great to see you keep the traditions alive.
ReplyDelete