Olives e l'olio

Olive trees are everywhere in Italy, and in the past month we've learned a little about them:

The trees are unbelievably hardy and live to be very old (several hundred years). They require frequent pruning, usually done in February, and will generate lots of sprouts from these cuts and from the base of the tree. There are many varieties of olives, and the trees have different shapes, many with branches hanging down toward the ground to allow easier picking.

To pick olives, you spread a large net under the tree and use your fingers, small plastic rakes or even machines to pick the olives into the net. Machines pick the olives by shaking them off the branches (we called the one we used 'the italian tickler').

Table olives take a long time to prepare and involve months of soaking in salt to make the olives edible. Only the nicest olives are used for the table, and - surprisingly - these kind of olives do not appear often on restaurant menus.

Olive oil, on the other hand, is everywhere. Olio is the condiment of choice in Italy and is eaten with bread, on salad, on pasta, in soup and even on pizza. Fresh from the press, it is greenish in color and slightly bitter. After a few days, the color turns more yellow, and the flavor mellows over time. For long-term storage, oil should be kept in an opaque container or dark glass (not the clear glass we buy in the States).

Ryan and I are about to learn more about the olive oil process - at our third farm in Poppiano we will be bottling and labeling oil for sale. Exciting stuff!