• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MsMarmiteLover

  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegan
  • Travel
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Wine
  • Gardens
  • Supperclubs/Events
  • About
    • Published Articles
    • Books
  • Shop
    • Cart

The oil crisis and Sicilian olive oil

November 17, 2015 3 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized

OLIVE OIL SICILY
OLIVE OIL SICILY
OLIVE OIL SICILY
OLIVE OIL SICILY
OLIVE OIL SICILY

There is a crisis in the olive belt, the Mediterranean fertile crescent that spreads from the Lebanon, via Israel, through Greece, Southern Spain and Portugal, the South of France and Southern Italy, which could destroy olive oil production. The bacteria ‘Xylella fastidious’, which admittedly sounds like a spell from Harry Potter, is spreading rapidly through Italy, starting from Puglia, the largest olive oil producing area, where they are having to chop down trees that are hundreds of years old. The first symptoms started in Europe in 2013, but this year, in 2015, the disease has literally gone viral.

The bug doesn’t just affect olive trees: it ravages citrus groves, vineyards, almond, palm and fruit trees, leaving them dessicated and withered. It has led to the destruction of a million olive trees in Italy so far. There is no cure, only containment, cutting down the infected trees and all those alongside them. The landscape of Southern Europe could be changed for generations, not to mention the economic, cultural destruction. Just as Asia is a rice culture, the Mediterranean is an olive oil culture. This historic product, mentioned in the bible, is essential to the food. 
CARMELO SCALIA, OLIVE OIL SICILY

This past week, I visited Sicily, which as an island off the toe of Italy remains unaffected so far. I went to find out about Pomora, a start-up food business initiated by two British men, Alun Johns and Paul McGuigan, which aims to produce and distribute high quality olive oil. These guys are not your horny-handed sons of the soil but soft-pawed office types hailing from the world of IT and digital marketing. Alun worked for Amazon.co.uk and Paul for online sports merchandisers, their business experience is the detached and laundered world of online. But they wanted to get their hands dirty so together with two farmers – Carmelo Scalia, who lives in Catania, huddling under the rich mineral soil of Mount Etna, and Antonio from Campania, inland – Pomora form an interesting mash-up of the ancient and the sparkling new. Johns and McGuigan were inspired during a trip to Sicily by the quality of the olive oil.

 “You can’t get olive oil like this in the supermarket in the UK,” Alun exclaimed.

 They work in tandem with their olive farmers, ensuring a fair trade, sustainable market for the product, using an ‘adopt a tree’ system. 

OLIVE OIL SICILY

On a clear blue mid-November day, warm enough to wear a summer dress, I visited the Sicilian oil mill owned by Carmelo Scalia. The floor was bustling with farmers and crates of olives. Smallholders drove up with shopping bags of olives in the back of their car while bigger farmers emptied trucks of green and purple olives into crates. One man turned up with just two buckets of olives – the fruit of half a day’s work, enough for perhaps just a couple of litres of olive oil. No matter, the important thing is that it’s your oil, from your trees. Almost every family has their own olive patch. The farmers give 50% of their oil to Carmelo in exchange for using the mill for free.

Two of the rules for labelling olive oil as extra virgin: 1) you must harvest and press the olives within 24 hours; 2) the weather must not be above 27ºC. Today is perfect at 23ºC, dry and sunny after two weeks of rain. Hence the industrious atmosphere with farmers queuing up, huddling in groups, sucking on cigarettes as they wait to get their olives pressed during this fair weather window of opportunity.

The smell as you enter the mill knocks you back off your feet: it’s the classic profile of good olive oil, fruity grassy scents in your nose and the front of your palate followed by the peppery bitterness, the characteric polyphenols as it hits the back of your throat.

The olive oil process:

 The olives are weighed. An average crate is around 200 kilo OLIVE OIL SICILY

1. The olives are weighed. An average crate is around 200 kilos. This year, most of the olives are green with the odd purple one. Last year, due to the wet weather, almost the whole crop was purple, for they had ripened, having been left on the trees till later in the year. Olive oil from purple or black olives has a different flavour profile; it’s smoother, less bitter, fruitier.

2. The olives are put into a huge hopper where most of the leaves are sifted out.
The olives are put into a huge hopper where most of the leaves are sifted out. OLIVE OIL SICILY
 3. The olives are lifted onto a machine which washes them and further separates out any leaves.
The olives are lifted onto a machine which washes them and further separates out any leaves. OLIVE OIL SICILY

4. Then the olives are crushed, spitting out the gravel-like stones, separated out to use as fuel to power the machine. 

5. The olives are ‘malaxed’,  massaged, allowing tiny oil droplets to coalesce into slightly bigger droplets, which makes it easier to extract the oil and increases yields. It looks like a foliate green tapenade swivelling on huge metal screws. In this part of the process, which takes 20 minutes, the olives are covered with a thin gas layer of nitrogen or carbon dioxide to prevent oxidisation. Oxygen is the enemy of good olive oil. This is a delicate operation, for the machine must not heat up the oil or the olives in order to retain the benefits of cold pressing.

6. Then the olives go through two centrifuges. The first, a horizontal centrifuge, dehusks the olives creating pomace as a side product, which is used as a fertiliser. The second centrifuge is faster and vertical, separating oil and water. Some olives are more watery than others, it depends on the variety and on which side of the slope they are grown. How much sun do they get? How ripe are the olives?

7. Lastly, the oil oozes from a tap into bottles or steel churns – thick, syrupy and verdant. The farmers then weigh how much oil they have extracted. From 200 kilos of olives, you get approximately 20 litres of olive oil. Once the oil has been collected at the end of the pressing process, it is put into large storage tanks (with any empty space in the tank filled with nitrogen rather than air to prevent oxidation) and allowed to settle (it’s not filtered). The longer you leave it to stand, the more of the tiny particles drop to the bottom and the clearer the oil becomes. You then bottle from a tap hole slightly above the bottom of the tank.

OLIVE OIL SICILY

Sometimes there are fights between farmers (I saw a bit of a spat between two farmers’ wives) about when their oil starts and the other finishes. But each farmer’s olive batch is carefully labelled, the labels following the process along the machine route and there are gaps between each new farmer’s lot. 

We tasted the latest Pomora batch at the mill; unctuous leaf-green ooze lubricating rough triangles of sourdough with a sprinkling of sea salt.  Like all good olive oils, there is a simultaneous bitterness and butteryness, fullness and astringency. It’s no surprise that olive oil is good for you when the flavour verges on the medicinal. 

If you are interested in getting quarterly deliveries of olive oil, you can sign up for a minimum of £58. This is two quarters, for which you will receive 6 x 250ml of olive oil. You will get the newest olive oil, flavoured olive oil or extra virgin olive oil, depending on the quarters that you choose – olive oil is a seasonal product when it’s this fresh. You can even go and visit your adopted tree. Strikes me that this would make a rather nice Christmas gift for a keen cook.  Check out Pomora here.
OLIVE OIL SICILY

Recent posts

Competition to win a Master series Microplane gift set

September 29, 2023

Dutch Baby apple and cheese pancake

September 17, 2023

La bomba paella rice

August 25, 2023

Previous Post: « How to make tacos: the perfect formula
Next Post: 23 foodie gifts for Christmas – Part 1: kitchen equipment »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jessica E

    November 22, 2015 at 9:44 pm

    What a fabulous idea! I've added this to my Christmas wish list…

    Reply
  2. Pasta Bites

    November 24, 2015 at 3:48 pm

    Thankfully this year's harvest is not, generally, as bad as last year's, due to a combination of favourable weather patterns… and indeed, I had a few bottles in my Christmas stocking (sotto l'albero) last year.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. A Christmas shopping wish list says:
    November 30, 2020 at 4:05 am

    […] too spicy for me. I used the lemon flavour on pasta and the rosemary flavour on home-made focaccia. I went to visit their Sicilian grower Carmelo Scalia a few years […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Jessica E Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

Subscribe to my mailing list

msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Apple rose blossom tarts with rose jam. Rose Appl Apple rose blossom tarts with rose jam.  Rose Apple Blossom Tarts

Serves 8

Equipment: 
Microwave
Cupcake or muffin tin

I use a red-skinned apple to make these, to get a hint of blush at the edges of the ‘petals’.

Ingredients:
4 Pink Lady or Royal Gala apples, cored, cut into quarters, sliced thinly into half moons
1 lemon, squeezed
1 pack all butter readymade puff pastry 320g, on a roll, cut into 8 strips about 6 cms long
100g of melted butter
1/2 jar of rose jam
1 or 2 tbsp cinnamon or cardamom, ground 
Pinch maldon salt
2 or 3 tbsp icing sugar

Instructions

Prepare a bowl of acidulated water (cold water with lemon juice) to prevent browning.
Core the apples, and cut them in quarters. Slice thinly into half-moons (a mandolin is useful for this). 
Put them into a large bowl of cold water with the lemon.
Microwave the bowl of sliced apples for 5 minutes until soft enough to bend slightly but not cook them.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Roll out the puff pastry. Divide into 8 sections by cutting the roll into quarters then halving each quarter. You will end up with 8 approximately 6cm strips.
Brush the strip with melted butter then paint with a layer of rose jam. You can then dust with either ground cinnamon or cardamom.
Lay the apple slices along the top of the pastry strip, overlapping them. Fold up the bottom half of the pastry strip to make an pleat with the skin side of the apple half moon poking over the top.
Roll up the folded pastry strips until they look like a rose made of apple at the top
Place ‘rose’ side up, in a buttered cupcake tin
Repeat until all are done and bake for 20 -30 minutes.
Using a tea strainer or small sieve, sprinkle with icing sugar.
A lovely vegetarian recipe from @lulugargari - a g A lovely vegetarian recipe from @lulugargari - a green bean and basil pesto with Italian lemon 🍋 pasta. Fresh, light. This was at an Italian cooking class/demo @eatalylondon hosted by @ilovefruitandvegfromeuropecouk @flickflock #london#italy🇮🇹
Digital chefs came from Italy yesterday to teach h Digital chefs came from Italy yesterday to teach how to make pumpkin, chilli, taleggio fondue Paccheri pasta- warming and filling for autumn days. Thanks to @ilovefruitandvegfromeuropecouk @flickflock @eatalylondon @danielerossichef @lulugargari for the event. We then got to go shopping in Italy with a £50 voucher. I spent it on mostardi di frutta, burratta, carciofi, cheeses,. My sis in law @bro0907 spent it on two bottles of wine. 😂 #italianfood #italianingredients #cookingclass #campaniafood
Inspired by @kathybrownstev’s book on edible flo Inspired by @kathybrownstev’s book on edible flowers I did an edible flower supper club featured in my first book ‘supper club’ This weekend I briefly visited her garden. Decades of work and creativity went into creating this English oasis. It’s an hour and a half out of london near Bedford. It closes at the end of September: open Tuesdays and this coming weekend. It was odd to go on holiday so near to where I live! We had a beautiful Airbnb in Pavenham. The countryside starts nearer to home than I thought. #uk #england #gardens
Visited The speciality fine food fair today for th Visited The speciality fine food fair today for the first time. So many tastings! Great to see new products. Particularly impressed by @lamiriharissa which is smoked and delicious run by Jo Lamiri’s children and @quirkymonkeycoffee which is mushroom infused coffee and hot chocolate run by an autistic guy Darwin setting up his own business. Good for him. #foodexplorer
Bones and all. Just made tomato sauce pasta from m Bones and all. Just made tomato sauce pasta from my home made sun dried tomato concentrate made @tenutacammarana in Sicily last summer. It’s the taste of sunshine. Plus my English home-grown tomatoes. #Tomatoes 🍅 🍅 🍅 #dinner #babyledweaning
I’ve made a South African/ Botswana dish that is I’ve made a South African/ Botswana dish that is creamy samp with chakalaka. Samp is corn like hominy or pozole a native Indian or Mexican food. It’s strange that it’s a staple food in Africa. Corn is a new world food I think. Samp itself is quite bland, often eaten with beans. Chakalaka is delicious with peppers, Piri piri seasoning, ginger garlic onions tomatoes and carrots and baked beans.
Samp from Botswana. It’s husked corn and makes a Samp from Botswana. It’s husked corn and makes a porridge like carb- creamy samp. I’m rinsing, soaking and cooking today and will combine it with chakalaka tomorrow. #southafrica #botswana #samp #newworldoldworld
Did my living room floor with @woca_denmark_uk_ire Did my living room floor with @woca_denmark_uk_ireland natural floor soap yesterday which smells lovely. But high traffic areas need rewarding. This is a Scandinavian technique- regularly waxing pale wood floors. I did this floor during the first year of lockdown. I prefer waxed floors to varnished. #interiors #woodfloors
Alliums in a purple pot. Note to self: plant more Alliums in a purple pot. Note to self: plant more bobble headed alliums. Love the colour and shape. This is in a neighbours garden who I met on Saturday while working in the front garden. Traditionally the British have front gardens but now they are turned into driveways and building are developed into flats. Only very rich people in london can afford houses. But the front is very important for the community- it’s how you meet your neighbours. On Saturday I visited 2 different sets of neighbours gardens- the first time since I moved to this street 23 years ago. Our front garden is communal and has been an unloved space- I’m trying to change that. Tonight I cleaned all the wheely bins. A yucky job but otherwise they smell so bad in summer. I was thinking about all the terrible dirty jobs that someone has to do- clearing up after a road accident, or sorting out sewers, or unblocking toilets. The stuff that nobody likes to think about. #frontgardens #neighbours #londoners
What I’ve been up to: awning from @victorianawni What I’ve been up to: awning from @victorianawnings which has transformed our al fresco eating possibilities. Also been working on the front garden of our building using talented work men I found on fb marketplace: railings by @lincsecproducts ( the gates were bought by me some years ago and I’ve scraped off the rust and repainted), the arch, which took me 3 years to find on fb marketplace for the right price and size. The wisteria which will grow over the arch planted by @christina_erskine ( I’ve always wanted a wisteria and they apparently add to the value of your house), the Swiss style bike/buggy shed. Needs to be painted dark green to match the walls. My friend Jim repaired the walls, the coping, and laid the  concrete plinth. Now need to find coping for the pillars or perhaps urns for more plants. 47cm2. #interiors #exteriordesign #gates #railings #bikeshed #awning #design
Made a vegetarian paella with La bomba rice from @ Made a vegetarian paella with La bomba rice from @brindisaspanishfoods I used red and green peppers, saffron, sherry, Nyora peppers, smoked almonds and green olives #vegetarian #vegetariansummer #paella
Quick snap of my bedroom chimney wall with the @sa Quick snap of my bedroom chimney wall with the @sanderson1860 wallpaper - finally done. Never wallpapered before. By the way I’m totally open to interiors collaborations email me: marmitelover@mac.com #interiordesign #wallpaper #london
Cooking powders or flavour bombs: two of my favour Cooking powders or flavour bombs: two of my favourite are ‘chaat’ which you can buy in Indian shops- here I’ve sprinkled yoghurt with lime/achaar chaat and decorated with day lily petals. My other favourite culinary powder is @tajinuk which gives instant mexicanness to any dish. #tajin #chaat
Me and my beautiful granddaughter Ophelia. I look Me and my beautiful granddaughter Ophelia. I look a mess ( really need to dye hair but it’s sooo expensive) but I don’t care because my heart just bursts when I cuddle this little being who has been in my life for 8 months. Babies are a blessing. #granfluencer pic: @clairebelljar
Made arepas last week with masarepa, a precooked m Made arepas last week with masarepa, a precooked maize meal, topped with Wensleydale cheese which isn’t too dissimilar to a fresh Latin American cheese. I also added fresh corn kernels for texture. #colombia #venezuela #arepas #vegetarian
Quinoa salad cooked in a mushroom stock cube solut Quinoa salad cooked in a mushroom stock cube solution with hazelnuts & preserved lemons, home grown curly parsley. I’m not cooking most of my grains in a rice steamer. Turn out fluffy & perfect every time. #quinoa #grainbowl #summerfood
I took this photo of Jane Birkin when she performe I took this photo of Jane Birkin when she performed at @theroundhouse in 2008. Shabby chic with a sweet voice. #RIP #janebirkin #concert #london #rockphotographer
Oxford food symposium 2023 lots of talks, meals an Oxford food symposium 2023 lots of talks, meals and drinks
‘Soft serve’ ice cream. Easy! Add condensed mi ‘Soft serve’ ice cream. Easy! Add condensed milk & vanilla to whipped cream and freeze! Pipe out. Buy a flake if you want a 99. #nochurnicecream #99 #icecream #summer23
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Archives

Copyright © 2023 msmarmitelover