-Caveat Lector- http://www.aolmaia.com/fo1olive.html
THE OLIVE OIL This nectar is obtained by the cold working pressure of olives picked up by hand and brought to the oil mill in a brief time. These olives are washed, milled and then kept under a pressing machine. The obtained must pass in a separator that separe oil from working's water, and then is strained. The olive oil is defined "extravergine" if it has an acidity lower than 2%. The characteristics of a very good "extravergine" oil are the following: the light green colour, with gold grales, the intense smell of grass and green leaves, the flavour a little piquant and a light taste of artichoke. The most fit tuscan varieties to have an esteemed oil are the following: MORAIOLO, for the low acidity; FRANTOIANO for the smell and the sapidity; LECCINO for the fine spicy sensation. Eating does not mean filling yourself up with food. It is history, culture living together, reassurance, pleasure and tradition. In the Mediterranean culture olive oil typically represents these ties. To pay homage to this indisputable player in Mediterranean civilisation, we have to rediscover this valuable product, to recognise its advantages and its irreplaceable contribution to man's nutrition. The variety of wild olive tree in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean sea is a thorny bush which produces a small fruit with large seeds and little flesh, quiet different from the cultivated variety which is not thorny and produces a fleshy fruit reach in oil. The cultivated olive tree probably doesn't originate from the oleaster or wild olive even if the two varieties have quiet similar genetic and chromosomal features. The cultivated olive tree probably comes from a hybrid of two species - maybe from the Olea Africana it would have inherited the elongated leaves and from an unknown one the fleshy element and high oil content. The main differences between the wild and the cultivated varieties are due to man who has selected, cultivated, nurtured the olive trees for thousands of years deeply changing its features. Almost six thousands years ago, during the Copper Age, the early farmers living in the coastal regions of the Eastern Mediterranean ( Syria) cultivated a type of olive tree bearing a large fruit and began to select the varieties systematically. They discovered that they could with difficulty obtain a dense and oily liquid, beneficial and useful in protecting their skin, with a rather pleasing aromatic taste and which could be easily burnt. The study of the long process of selection is extremely complicated as it is not always possible to recognise the different varieties from the vegetable remains. It was actually with the advent of the first urban civilisations that we can confirm the relation between the civil and olive-culture development, which has remained constant throughout the history of the Mediterranean basin. The continually increasing demand for oil and wine in Mesopotamia, Egypt and Anatolia determined the prosperity of settlements in the coastal areas favourable for the cultivation of olive trees and vines. The cultivation of olive is confirmed by archaeological sites dating back to 3.500 b.C., with the findings of big olive stones and the large quantity of coal from burnt olive wood, used as a fuel or as a building material. These remains are sometimes found a semi- desert areas where the olive tree could not have grown spontaneously and therefore is a proof of the first human efforts to spread the cultivation of the olive. In the area of Syria, Ebla was one of the main centers on the caravan trade roads which supplied the products of an already "Mediterranean diet" (wine instead of bee, olive oil instead of sesame oil), connecting Egypt, the Mesopotamian settlements and Assirya, the main state companies and the most important business centres in the world. Sophisticated Egyptian objects, alabaster vases and lamps, jewels, gold, silver and precious stones were traded for local products: fabrics, bronze manufactures, olive oil and wine. In the 4th century b.C. Athens was about to become one of the most important and splendid capitols in the history of mankind. However the problems resulting from an internal demographic growth forced Athens and other cities in Greece to implement economic changes and a major development in exportation to meet the need for cereal products. According to legend all the olive trees in Athens came from the first tree which the goddess Athena caused to sprout during her contest against the god Poseidon for the domination of the city. In fact if a person had cut down one of the sacred olive trees direct descendants of the one that Athena planted, they could have been condemned to death or to exile and all their property confiscated. Solon, one of the seven sages of ancient Greece, gave to the city a code laws, which exalted the role of the Athenian olive culture. According to this code it was absolutely prohibited to cut down an olive tree, if not for the service of the sanctuary or the community, anyway up to a maximum of two per years. As well, the exportation from the city of any agricultural product different than olive, was forbidden. There were also precise rules established in minute details for the practice of agriculture, for example the planting in rows and the distance between the olive trees. Oil was one the goods most in demand in Mediterranean trade during the archaic period. Oil amphora from Athens, Corinth and other cities have been found in colonial settlements from the Black Sea to Africa, in Spain, in Etruscan emporiums and in Phoenician cities, as well as in "barbarian" settlements, where olive oil was held as an exotic and valuable product. The dominion of Rome around the Mediterranean represents the ancient era of major development of the olive culture. Production, trade and consumption of olive oil were significantly interwoven with the development of the agrarian system and of land property organisation. During the Roman period important refinements in oil production technology were introduced and numerous Latin words on agronomy were written from the beginning of the 2nd century b.C. by authors such as Catone, Columella, the Saserna and others, laying down guidelines for landowners as to the best way of cultivating their lands and all the most efficient ways for pruning, fertilising, harvesting and tending the olive trees. After the end of the 3rd Punic War the entire Mediterranean area witnessed the spread of the olive tree. The importance of the Italian production, where the cultivation of the olive had been introduced by the Greeks to the local peoples and the Etruscans, was supplanted by the provinces' one, in the imperial age. Along the course Quadalquivir in Betica the land was covered by immense olive groves whose oil supplied the capital and the armies stationed along the northern borders of the Roman Impire, where olive trees could not grow. During the Middle Ages olive oil became quite rare and valuable and in some cases was used as a currency. Since the early 5th century, state controls on oil began to diminish and almost vanish. The religious orders owned the most of the still cultivated olives groves and olive oil was found only on the tables of the very rich people and especially the ecclesiastical ones. In the monasteries there were the "cellar-men" responsible for the daily distribution of olive oil. Olive oil during the Middle Ages was also used for the catholic liturgy. The Sacred Oils and the Chrism necessary for performing the sacraments were blessed during "Chrism mass" which the bishop presided over on Maundy Thursday. The consecrated oil distributed to the different churches had to last all the year long. Also the lamps which adorned the altar in front of the image of God could only use olive oil, as prescribed in the scriptures. Today the olive tree has spread beyond the Mediterranean areas to all continents of the world, except the Poles. There are olive groves in South Africa, China and Vietnam, in southern Oceania, in North, Central and south America and the total world-wide production of olive oil has been steadily increasing since the beginning of 1900. The ancients use to say "the Mediterranean begins and finishes with olive tree", to mean the intimate and close links between the plant and the geographical area, considered an organism quite distinct from the cold and wet provinces. Between 1830 and 1840, the Holy See started a policy of incentives so that in the single area now called Umbria 40.000 olive trees were planted. Since then Italian olive-culture has continued to grow in quantity and quality. The techniques of planting and pruning have changed. The olive groves of low productivity have been replanted and the mechanisation of the harvesting in some zones has become a reality. The introduction of new techniques in pressing, together with the overall advances in harvesting, have made possible an enormous qualitative growth. Extra-virgin-olive-oil (olio extravergine d'oliva) is obtained from the mechanical grinding and pressing of olives in special temperature conditions so as not to cause any changes in the product. The only processes allowed are the washing and the pressing of the olives, the decanting, the centrifugation and the filtering of the oil. The maximum of acidity in oleic acid is gr. 1 on gr. 100. Extravergine olive oil is the queen of the kitchen in the Mediterranean. There is a vast range of choice. Every producer in every region, like for wine, is able to offer an unique product, in respecting the typicalness of the traditional taste of the area. As i the case of wine, the type food determines which oil is to be used. For delicate dishes, raw or cooked, a soft and slightly fruity flavour oil is most indicated. For tasty dishes a full-bodied oil is suggested, even with a bouquet and a strong fruity and spicy flavour. Some examples include: a Ligurian extra-virgin oil for an excellent mayonnaise, a delicate new oil for a broiled fish, a strong flavoured oil for bottled beans, a Tuscan flavoursome oil for bruschetta and ribollita. Grilled meat is an already taste dish but a little of Pugliese oil at the end of cooking will add that extra something. If the meat is raw, as for carpaccio or albese, try the oil from Liguria. For grilled fish, we recommend a fine clear oil while a strong Sicilian oil is requested on salads. Also the olive oil can be successfully used for cakes, pie pastry and biscuits. The olive tree and the oil obtained from its fruit was already known by the peoples of the south-eastern Mediterranean, particularly the Palestinians and Phoenicians. However, they didn't use it as a dressing, also because their methods and production were more limited compared to those of the forunners of the Greeks, the mythical Cretans, for whom this culture was a major source of wealth right up to 2,500 BC. Methods of cultivation, harvesting and pressing were perfected further by the Greeks. Sample fruits were taken from different plants, pressed into a sieve of very small holes and the oil filtering through collected into a small container. From the colour and taste of this sample they checked the maturity of the olive and decided on the best moment for the harvest. This happened, more or less as today, by shaking the tree, beating it with long sticks or stripping it by hand. The extraction of the oil was carried out immediately after the olives were harvested. These were ground and crushed by rotating cylinders where the pressure could be increased until the seeds were extracted but without also crushing them. Then, using a press, a mixture of oil and water was squeezed out, which was left for period, after which the watery substance - the bitter, sour part - was removed. Further pressings, up to three, produced oil but of an inferior quality and different taste. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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