This trip has changed the way I will look at an olive forever more. First of all it's not just an olive. Spain is the number one exporter of olives in the world. It makes a huge contribution to the Spanish economy. The trees are everywhere, lining the rolling hills of the countryside for hundreds of kilometers. Olives are big business here.
These olives appear at your table when you order a beer. Many of the tapas have various types of olives as well. The black ones are my favourite.
However, we also got an education in olive oil on this trip. It is an interesting science that produces high quality oil, a balance of soil, rain, water and time, for a harvest that can begin as early as October. This time of year, June, the olives are tiny, waiting for the heat of summer to grow and ripen.
Last night, we visited an olive orchard, at Hacienda Merrha, outside Seville. The family here has grown olives for two hundred years. Some olive trees live that long. This place has over 6000 trees and produces a high quality olive oil that has won many competitions.
At this orchard, they begin to harvest the olives for the table in September. Others they let grow until October for the first harvest for oil. It takes 11-12 kg of olives to produce one liter of extra virgin olive oil in this harvest. It takes 7-8 kg of olives, left to grow until November, to make one liter of extra virgin olive oil. The riper the olives, the less you need to get the oil, but the quality of the oil diminishes the longer the olives ripen. Most of the olive oil we consume is made in January, when the quality of the oil is greatly diminished.
In front of Hacienda Meerha
Olives must be processed the same day they are picked. Hand-picking has long been replaced by machines which shake the trunk of the tree, causing the olives to fall onto the net spread out below. The olives are cleaned and processed immediately.
We enjoyed dinner in the courtyard of this Spanish home, which reminded me of the many movies I watched with Dad in my youth. The bell positioned over the gate, the courtyard, the walls of the home were like the movie settings of Spain and Mexico. It was a lovely dinner with olive oil and bread, chicken or fish, orange flavoured oil over chocolate ice cream.
Orange and vanilla flavoured oil
The health benefits of olive oil are another reason why we should consider its use at our tables. If we are going to use it regularly, let's eat something that tastes good.
Courtyard where dinner was served
It was a tasty, learning experience, shared with great people. An olive, in many ways, is so much more than just an olive.
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