Olives

Cue (NZERS), Issue 11, 15 November 1944, Page 3

Olives

TO the average Kiwi, who has wanI dered the Mediterranean lands, taking an occasional poke at Jerry, the olive has become a symbol. Indeed, the olive can be said to be one of the primary industries in Syria, Greece, Tunisia and Italy. Yielding a substitute Tor the butter and animal fats in our own diet, as dessert, to enhance the flavour of wine, for massage of athletes, and even as fuel for lamps the olive was nearly a universal provider around the Mediterranean. No wonder it became the symbol of peace and prosperity. Since its first cultivation in Syria, the olive has spread in great waves following the march of early civilisation. To Armenia and Persia it was known at an early period of history. In Upper Egypt it flourished round the temples of Karnak and Asswan, being known in those parts to this day. The cultivation of the olive was one of Athens’ gifts ; to Greece; it was carried by the Greeks to Italy and so to Southern France and Spain. From Spain it was conveyed to America by the early Spanish settlers, .flourishing in Chile as luxuriantly as in its native land. It was carried to Peru and to Mexico by the Jesuit missionaries;, its growth has extended - to California, Florida and the Mississippi..On marched the legions of progress and in their train the olive tree, on to Afghanistan and China, Australia and the Cape. To the ancient Greek, olive oil was indispensable; he used it in many ways as food and every time he entered a contest in the gymnasium, rubbed himself down with it. We are told that Alexander, when . he entered the Persian capital of Susa, saw some fabrics, two centuries old, that had been kept supple by olive oil. Olives were (and are) usually picked in the winter months, the branches being beaten with pliant rods to shake down the fruit. They are then collected in baskets and bruised in a mill. Next they are placed in containers on a stone press block. The

simplest and earliest press was merely a long beam wedged into the rocks. The far end was weighed down by bags of stones, probably small boys and finally, human muscle. A heave and the olive oil was flowing. The mash was often pressed several times, the quality of the oil being poorer each time. Occasionally ’’summer oil” was made from green olives, but the price was high because the fruit was hand-picked. The ripe fruit contains 20% —60% of oil depending on the climate and care of cultivation, Californian and North African olives containing less oil than those of Italy and France. The finest quality, oil, the modern equivalent of summer oil, is called ’’virgin oil” and is prepared from hand-picked, not quite ripe fruit, by gentle pressure. The modern process may use a press ranging from the tyoe described above to hydraulic ones. In practice the fruit is pressed twice, yielding first and second grade ’’edible oil.”' To obtain the best grade edible oil it is essential that the oil be removed from the pulp as soon as possible,' otherwise rancidity sets in with the formation of free, fatty acids. The oil is mixed with hot water and pressed again to yield ’’technical oil” for soap and other manufactures. The bulk of the oil is used for cooking and preserving (sardines),; for oiling wood and for the manufacture of castile soap. < ~ - In Italy you may have noticed deep scores down the side of olive tree trunks. That is where the embryonic buds, which form swellings on the stem, have been cut out of part of the trunk. They are planted and grow readily into new trees. In favourable conditions the olive will

grow almost as readily as the willow, cuttings or layers being generally preferred as a means of cultivation. It can also be grown from seed. The fruit is preferably hand-picked, but is often beaten down with poles or allowed to drop naturally. Such fruit is often left lying on the ground awaiting the convenience

of the owner, this carelessness being responsible for much of the inferior oil. The trees grow best in a calcareous soil, but will grow in any light soil or even welldrained clay. The olives we generally see are picked while green, washed in alkali, then in water and z pickled in brine.