A moderate sized but educated crowd of olive and
olive oil enthusiasts attended this year’s arts and olive festival on the
Cañada College campus south of San Francisco. Last year the shock
of 9/11 the week before discouraged attendance. This year
beautiful weather enticed attendees to the olive tree studded campus for
olive oil tasting and to view olive oriented arts and crafts.
Vendors reported several changes, additions and
improvements to their product line. Sharon Cohn has tackled the job
of resurrecting her B.R. Cohn label now that it has been repurchased from
the failed Kalm Group. Her nicely decorated booth was graced with a
ribbon from the Sept 2002 AmericasMart Atlanta trade show where her
estate oil won the award for “Best Healthy or Low Fat Food Entry”.
Pretty amazing for an entry that’s all fat. The estate oil is
pressed from Picholine olives. Although commonly planted 100 years
ago, oils containing this variety are rare in California.
Olive Oil tasters at the Aeolia Booth
Merritt Edmunds of Balzana Olive Oil, one of the few
oil vendors following strict health code measures, parceled out bread
cubes to tasters with sanitary tongs. Balzana olives are crushed by
stone wheels by Allessio Carli at Pietra Santa in Hollister.
The Olive Grove Nursery/Tree Movers sold 1 and 2
year old trees to festival goers. Some of the Arbequina trees less than 2
years old had heavy fruit. Owners Patricia and Wendell Davis had some
great pictures of 40 foot trees being hoisted out of the ground for
transplantation. Wendell recently moved a 20 foot tree for entrance
landscaping at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. Flower
show chairman Duane Kelly judged it the best entrance to the show in 15
years.
Ray Lopez offered tastes of his Bonita Ranch oil
from the foothills. He and others reported that over 7 days of
greater than 100 degree heat in that area has stopped the olive fly in
its tracks. He has an oil made from the interesting combination of
Mission, Manzanillo and Nevadillo Blanco olives. Hare Hollow was
premiering their Eureka lemon olive oil infused with herbs of Provence.
The lemons are crushed with late harvest mission olives then infused with
the dry herbs.
Olivas de Oro owner Frank Manacho gave tastes of his
unfiltered organic Mission Manzanillo blend. We saw quite a few
people leaving the festival with his distinctive cobalt blue bottle. Big
Paw Grub had several interesting new infusions and a new high priced but
well balanced premium oil. Aeolia had olives and olive oil
for tasting. Armstrong olives had the biggest selection of cured olives
at the show. This year the Armstrongs have given the show over to
their distributor. Bistro Blend by Spenger Foods and Brando’s both
were offering imported oils.
Many new olive ranchers came by the Olive Oil Source
booth to look at olive pruning, harvesting and milling equipment.
Jim Sinuna and Jeane Struck have just planted their first 500 Koroneiki
and Arbequina trees near Healdsburg with the help of Jeff Allen at Allen
Landscaping. Many others told of their recent purchase or desire to
purchase land for olives in the coastal valleys or Sierra foothills.
Philip Monego was looking for more information after recently purchasing
40 acres near Paso Robles, Ca. He has several acres already planted
with Sevillano olives and will be planting more oil varieties. Several
eager backyard olive oil makers took a
First PressTMolive oil press home. Cañada College grounds keeping staff spray
the olive trees on campus to prevent fruit so demonstrations of the
pneumatic harvester were difficult. Lisa Deane related that an
operator with a hand held pneumatic harvester can remove 300 lbs of
olives an hour. Typically a three man crew can do the job of 10-20
people on ladders hand picking.
Demonstrating pneumatic 2 1/2 inch limb lopper,
pneumatic harvester in foreground at Olive Oil Source booth
Nina Keene with the Mission Olive Project explained
their goal of restoring the olive groves at each California mission.
Trees propagated from original mission stock by Santa Cruz Olive Tree
Nursery were for sale as well as Penna olives, Sciabica olive oil, and
other fund raising items. Local volunteers are planning events at
Soledad Mission and Santa Cruz Mission to support the orchard efforts;
see the Events listing.
The next olive oriented festival will be the
2nd annual Mission San Jose Chamber of
Commerce Olive Festival October 26, 2002 on Dominican Sisters grounds
behind the Old Mission San Jose Museum. Address is 43325
Mission Blvd., in the Mission San Jose District in Fremont. Contact
Connie Andrade at 510-873-7701 for exhibitor information.
Gene Lawler, who has given olive curing classes at the
Canada College Olive Festival for several years, has shared his recipe
for green olives. One of the joys of an olive festival is hearing
everyone's family recipe for curing olives. Although they may
disagree on additives and cure times, all agree that home made olives
beat the store bought article by a mile.
GREEN OLIVE RECIPE
Use two 5 gallon buckets with 11 lbs. olives in each bucket.
Wash and sort green olives. Do not dry.
DAY #1 For each bucket put 2 gals. cold water plus 8 tbls lye. Dissolve
lye in water. Let stand ½ hour, then add olives. Place weight on top of
olives. Let stand 24 hours.
DAY #2 Drain olives, wash well. In bucket put 2 gal. water, plus 4 tbls.
lye for each bucket. Add olives and let stand 48 hours.
DAY #4 Drain olives, wash well. In bucket put 2 gal. water, plus 4 tbls.
canning salt (plain salt) for each bucket. Add olives and let stand 24
hours.
DAY #5 Drain olives, wash well. In bucket put 2 gal. water plus 18 tbls.
salt for each bucket. (18 tbls. = 1 cup + 2 tbls.) Let stand 24 hours.
DAY # 6 Drain olives, wash well. In bucket put 2 gal. water plus 8 tbls.
salt per bucket. Let stand 24 hours.
DAY #7 Drain olives, wash well. In bucket put 2 gal. water plus 10 tbls.
salt. Leave for 24 hours.
DAY #8 Same as Day # 7. 10 tbls. salt
DAY #9 Drain olives, wash well. In each bucket put 2 gal. water plus ½
cup salt and 4 tbls. white vinegar. Let stand 3 to 4 days. Can stand one
week before canning. Rinse olives before canning.
TO CAN Sterilize quart jars, heat lids. Pack olives into
hot jars, add a clove of garlic to each jar. Boil one gal. water with ½
cup canning salt. Fill each filled jar of olives with this liquid. Leave
½ inch air space. Process in canner one hour, medium boil. i.e. Cover
jars with water, and tighten lids tight before canning. Let cool out of
draft. Do not tighten lids while jars are cooling.
NOTE: VINEGAR SHOULD BE AT LEAST 5% ACIDITY
16 tbls = 1 cup, 8 tbls = 1/2 , 4 tbls = ¼ cup
Tree
Planting/Olive oil Appreciation Class in Santa
Rosa
September 14, 2002 Dennis Black, Vice President of
NovaVine Grapevine Nursery, directed a class on Planting Olive Trees and
Olive Oil Appreciation at Santa Rosa Junior College. There were 27
attendees; current growers, people interested in planting their own
orchard, those interested in sensory appreciation and those wanting to
learn more about the Olive Oil industry.
The day started with a short history of the Olive
tree, and the emerging role that California has played in the last 150
years. Shari DeJoseph, Orchard Manager for McEvoy Ranch, outlined
her experience. She described orchard planning and how to maximum
the propagation cycle to achieve their excellent McEvoy Ranch Olive Oil.
Shari was very generous with her time, answering many questions
participants had about how to plant the perfect orchard.
Web sites were then discussed, to save the students
time, and money, and speed up the learning curve. Other helpful advice
was offered such as how to contact UC Extension experts like Paul Vossen
and how to obtain the many UC publications that have been written.
Pairing food with different oils was the next
topic. Three very distinction Olive Oils were poured so the students
could visualize the type of food that they might want to combine
with each oil. Oils used were The California Olive Ranch, for the
Arbequina Olive Oil, Brando’s Bella Italia for the Coratine Olive Oil,
and McEvoy for the Tuscany blend.
Over 22 different types of Olive Oil’s were
displayed and available to the students to taste, in bottles of all
different shapes and sizes. Olivas de Oro Estate Grown, and Storm
Ranch Olive Oil were good enough to provide the class with hands outs
explaining the care that goes into earning the California Olive Oil
Council Extra Virgin seal. Corti Brothers provided their
newsletter, which gave the students a first hand look at writings of a
profession critic.
Rick Jones, a representative of The Olive Press and
a member of the COOC taste panel, gave a complete description of the
milling process from fruit being delivered to the mill, to golden oil
going into the bottle. Because of its proximity to students in this
area, several of the class had already utilized the services of the Olive
Press and spoken with the General Manager, Deborah Rodgers.
One of the surprises of the day for the class was
guest speakers Albert Katz, President of the COOC, and Roberto Zecca,
past president of the COOC and current leader of the COOC taste panels.
Attendees were able to taste six California and Italian oils while
hearing their rich history. The six olive oils were Castellare di Ugnana,
DaVero EVO, DaVero Tuscan, Frantoio green label, Simone Santini, and
Storm Ranch Olive Oil.
Roberto, just returned from New Zealand where he
was a guest Judge, provided a grading sheet which he had used down under.
The first go around, Roberto explain all parts of the grading sheet and
then asked the class to describe their sensory experience, and how they
would grade. Albert Katz during this time gave background on the
olive producers, how the oil was made, and the different experiences each
producer had gone through to be where they were today. Information
was also given on the valuable services of the California Olive Oil
Council.
For those interested in similar classes, watch the
events listing in the newsletter and on the home page of The Olive Oil
Source. Some upcoming events:
Strictly Olive Oil's Betty Pustarfi will be
conducting an afternoon of olive oil tasting and information at Kathy and
Alfred Herbermann's new olive grove in Carmel Valley. The event is
scheduled for October 13, and will feature olive oils from around the
world, including California.
Hidden Villa ranch offers olive curing and olive oil
making seminars in the San Francisco Bay area. Look at
www.hiddenvilla.org
UC Davis Extension presents Sensory Evaluation of Olive
Oil, Fri.-Sat., March 7-8, 9 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., at UC Davis. Learn to
recognize olive oil defects and make objective assessments of olive oil
quality. Tastings of commercial olive oils from California and Europe are
interspersed with lectures. $375 fee includes two lunches and all
tastings. Call (800) 752-0881, email aginfo@unexmail.ucdavis.edu or visit
us online at www.extension.ucdavis.edu/agriculture.
Pneumatic Harvesters
Get rid of ladders and
comply with OSHA regulations. Pneumatic harvesters reach up to
11 feet high and increase worker productivity. Call for details
-805-688-1014
Olive Field Day
Sierra Gold and The Burchell
Nursery, Inc sponsors.
In 1999, California Olive Ranch, Inc.
bought more than 700 acres of rangeland in Butte County, CALIFORNIA,
to develop a world-class olive orchard for the production of superior
Extra Virgin Olive Oil. An innovative model of cultivation (Hedge row
system) is used, not only to solve the high cost associated with hand
harvesting, but also to improve the quality of the final product. See
an olive orchard mechanically harvested, the olives processed in the
largest and most sophisticated olive oil processing plant in the U.S.
and finally taste the result of this hard work, a fragrant, delicate
and flavorful extra virgin olive oil.
Also present: Mr. Albert Katz (President of the California
Olive Oil Council), Mr. Roberto Zecca (Leader of the California Olive
Oil Council taste panel), Mr. Paul Vossen (University of California
Davis, Extension Farm Advisor) and Mr. Darrell Corti (wine and olive
oil expert).
For reservations please contact: Sierra Gold Nurseries
(October 16th) 1-800-243-GOLD or The Burchell Nursery, Inc.
(October 17th) 1-800-828-TREE
Olive growers have started their harvest, although it will be
another week before operations kick into full gear. Early varieties
are now being picked. Thus far, growers report they've been able to
find enough workers to harvest their olives. But they say labor
rates have risen at the same time that crop returns are down.
Farmers will see
olive prices from canners drop an average of $75 dollars a ton
compared to last year. courtesy Food and Farm
News
Price squeeze hits olives
California olive growers are coping with lower prices and higher
production costs. Canneries are offering prices about 10 percent
lower than last year's, even though olive production is expected to
be lighter. Growers say prices are being driven lower by imported
olives. Farmers in regions infested with the olive fruit fly face
higher
production costs, because they must spend as much as $100 dollars
an acre to combat the pest. courtesy Food and Farm News
Consumers will pay for taste, health and quality
According to a survey by the Grocery Manufacturers
of America, consumers are twice as likely to choose a high quality
brand if it costs more than a low quality product that costs less.
25% reported that they would pay a higher price for a product with
added health benefits and 41% would pay more for a taste they
enjoy.
Food Research says Nuts to Adulterators
Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association (CCFRA),
UK has recently started a project to detect olive oil adulterated
with hazelnut oil. In Europe hazelnut oil is cheap in
comparison to olive oil and is a common illegal dilutant.
Olive acreage shrinks
In the California Olive growers newsletter, Council
head Adin Hester says Tulare County olive acreage has declined to
about 16,000 acres - still almost half the acreage in the state.
The county has lost all its processors in the past decade and in
the past few years about 1500 acres of olives have been bulldozed.
Buy Premium Olive Oils Online
Betty Pustarfi, olive oil consultant, has signed on
as a reviewer of oils for premium olive oils site
www.oliveoilgourmet.com
John asks: Can you
please direct me to some place that I can participate in a hands on olive
curing class. I would like to be able to pick the olives and cure them
myself. Thanks.
OOS replies:
Hidden Villa ranch offers olive curing and olive oil making seminars in
the San Francisco Bay area. Look at
www.hiddenvilla.org Also try contacting your local college for
extension courses or seminars.
Z.P. from South Africa writes:
In the Name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, Most Merciful 1400 years ago,
the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) advised his followers
to apply olive oil to their bodies, and himself use to be seen with a lot
of oil on his head. Since many of his advises are tallying with medical
science, I would like to know the effect of applying olive oil on the
head? For eg. Does it have a heating effect on the head or a cooling one?
OOS responds: The use of oil is found
in many religions and cultures. It has been used during special
ceremonies and also as a general health measure. During baptism in the
Christian church, holy oil, which is often olive oil, may be used for
anointment. At the Chrism mass olive oil blessed by the bishop, "chrism",
is used in the ceremony. Like the grape, the Christian missionaries
brought the olive tree with them to California for food but also for
ceremonial use. Olive oil was used to anoint the early kings of the
Greeks and Jews. The Greeks anointed winning athletes and as you say, it
is used in the Muslim religion. Olive oil has also been used to anoint
the dead in many cultures.
It has also been used for every day health measures. The Greeks used oil
to clean their bodies. In lieu of soap, at the baths, olive oil was
applied to the body then scraped off with special tools. In the time of
Muhammad, putting oil on the hair may have been considered a health
measure as it discouraged lice and seborrheic dermatitis (dandruff). I
don't think it would have had either a cooling or heating effect on the
head. Olive oil on the body may help prevent dry skin conditions and
eczema and is a mild antibacterial agent just as natural skin oils are.
Shannon writes: Does North FL offer
an appropriate climate for growing olives??
OOS responds: California Olive
Growers Manual says; 'Winter temps. fluctuating between 35F and 65F (1.5C
and 18C). Supplying the needed winter chilling for subsequent flower
development. Summer temps. Photosynthesis is optimal in olive at
temperatures between 59 and 86 degrees F (15-30C). Photosynthesis may be
greatly reduced by 'excessive' heat. We know of many people growing
ornamental olives in your area however a commercial operation probably
wouldn't be feasible.
V. asks: Currently on a special diet
for candida/psoriasis that is yeast, wheat, gluten sugar (including
fruits) and anything that is fermented-FREE.
On a list that recommends foods to eat, olives are listed...black olives
canned only, as I assume these are not cured. Are cured olives considered
a fermentation?
OOS replies: All olives must be cured
to be edible. Olives are cured with lye and or brine. Olives are not
fermented like a pickle, sauerkraut or Kim Chee. Fermentation implies a
deliberate introduction of bacteria or fungus. I don't know of any
commercial processes where this is the case. Dry cure olives may
accidentally ferment a bit as part of the drying process, just like a sun
dried apricot might.
Douglas asks: I am a landscape artist
and have been wanting to paint an olive orchard, especially old, gnarly
trees. Where can I go to find them? I live in Utah and we only have the
ornamental Russian variety.
OOS replies: If you want large
gnarled trunks, in the U.S. you would have the best luck in the
California central valley where many highways pass trees over 100 years
old. Company data on our
search page includes tree ages. Look for a company with old
trees and call for a visit.
Many trees are much more massive than the usual tree seen
in Italy, France, or Spain. The reason may be that in Mediterranean
countries the tree is heavily pruned to discourage the olive fly and for
ease of picking. In the past few decades Italy in particular has been hit
by severe long freezes which killed many old trees back to the roots.
They have come back but the trunks are fairly puny. The large trees we
see in California have been forgotten, are not picked or pruned, yet
benefit from flood irrigation in nearby fields and very fertile soil. In
northern Africa the trees are not pruned as aggressively so tend to grow
higher and are bigger.
Closer to you would be some groves in Arizona or Texas -
see our
custom search page for locations of olive oil companies. Most
early western U.S. missions were planted with olive trees. Older U.S.
cities with arboretums usually have a nice specimen if they are in the
right climate zone. The San Antonio Botanical Gardens is reported to have
some nice older specimen.
Linda asks: Can you please tell me if
extra virgin olive oil is healthier than regular virgin or "unvirgin"
olive oil. ... My friend insists that we should only consume extra virgin
olive oil
OOS replies: The difference between
the olive oils you listed is their acidity level, which affects mostly
taste, not nutritional content. Lower acidity oils, such as extra virgin,
tend to have more anti-oxidants, but that is not reflected in their
classification. Anti-oxidants in olive oil may help prevent heart disease
and cancer so sticking with extra virgin seems to make sense. Pomace
olive oil is processed with hexane and other solvents just as most seed
oils like canola, corn, safflower, soy, etc. This removes many of the
minor constituents which may be the healthiest part of this natural
product.
Mike asks: Is there such a product as
charcoal from olive branches?
OOS replies: Olive wood is reputed to
make excellent charcoal and is frequently used as such in the
Mediterranean and Middle East. I know of no commercial source of olive
charcoal in the U.S. Olive wood is commonly available in California as
more canning olive trees succumb to the bulldozer blade because of
pressure from cheap imported canned black olives. The Mission Olive
Project - contact through COOC, sells
olive wood as a fundraiser. Perhaps you could make your own charcoal.
Frank inquires: I've an olive tree
growing well in my back yard but it produces no flowers. Does it need
another tree {a pollinator?} If so what variety should I get. I purchased
this one from a nursery & I'm sure they don't know what they are selling.
I really have only room for one tree in my back yard.
OOS replies: Many olives are self
pollinating. Olive pollen can drift for hundreds of miles so if there are
other olives in your neighborhood you should be OK. If your olive had no
pollinator it would be flowering but the fruit wouldn't set. The most
common ornamental olive in home garden nurseries is the fruitless
variety. It is fruitless to avoid the olive mess.
Events:
-------- 2002 --------
October
The 43rd Annual Soledad Mission fiesta and the 30th
Annual Grape Stomp will take place Sunday, October
7 at the Missions grounds at 36641 Fort Romie Road. Mass will
be celebrated at 10:30 am followed by BBQ pork spare rib dinner ($8)
served from 11:30 am – 2:00 pm. The day is sponsored by the Soledad
Mission Restoration Committee and all proceeds benefit Mission
restoration and maintenance which includes restoration of the groves
Sixth Annual Consorzio Cal-Italia Tasting
on Saturday, October 12, 2002 at the
Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason, San Francisco - 200 Cal-Italian wines
produced from over 20 different Italian grape varieties, as well as a
dazzling array of olive oils, cheeses, salamis, biscotti and sorbetti.
Betty Pustarfi conducts an Olive Oil Tasting in Carmel
Valley, October 13. Strictly Olive Oil's
Betty Pustarfi will be conducting an afternoon of olive oil tasting and
information at Kathy and Alfred Herbermann's new olive grove in Carmel
Valley. The event will feature olive oils from around the world,
including California.
California Olive Field Day October
16-17th 2002 - see details in ad to left. For
reservations please contact: Sierra Gold Nurseries (October 16th)
1-800-243-GOLD or The Burchell Nursery, Inc. (October 17th)
1-800-828-TREE
2nd annual Mission San Jose Chamber of Commerce Olive
Festival October 26, 2002 on Dominican
Sisters grounds behind the Old Mission San Jose Museum, 43325 Mission
Blvd., in the Mission San Jose District in Fremont. contact Connie
Andrade at 510-873-7701 for exhibitor info.
November
Olitech Olive cultivation and processing technology
November 2-4, Parma, Italy 5th
Exhibition
of olive growing and oil producing technologies
2002 California Farm Conference
November 2002
Info
The Ultimate Tuscan Experience: Superb Wines & Olive Oil
Harvest Nov - 9-15 wine and olive oil
tour - for
info
EIMA International Machinery Manufacturers
Exhibitions - November 16-19, 2002
Bologna
Sonoma Valley Olive Festival
Blessing of the Olives Weekend
December 6–8, 2002
• Founders Dinner, The Feast of the Olive
• Culinary Legends — Past & Present
• Blessing of the Olives & Reception
• Two-Crop Taste
• NEW! Martini Madness Shake-Up
• NEW! “Olive Chef”
• Olive Press Open House
Canino rural Olive Festival
December 8, 2003 in Canino, Italy.
California League of Food Processors
Expo and Showcase February 3-5 Sacramento Convention Center, CA
Sonoma Valley Olive Festival
Taste of the Olive Weekend
February 7–9, 2003• Olives a’la Carte
• Olives A to Z
• Essence of Sonoma
Sonoma Valley Olive FestivalIl
Mercato WeekendFebruary
21–23, 2003
• Celebrate & taste the new wines & olive oils
• Il Mercato, An Artisan Marketplace
• Olio Nuovo, A Tasting of New Oils
SIMA - The Paris International
Agri-business Exhibition February 23-27
Paris-Nord exhibition centre - France - tilling, harvesting and
irrigation equipment
March
UC Davis Extension presents Sensory Evaluation of Olive
Oil, Fri.-Sat., March 7-8,
9 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., at UC Davis. Learn to recognize olive oil defects and
make objective assessments of olive oil quality. Tastings of commercial
olive oils from California and Europe are interspersed with lectures.
$375 fee includes two lunches and all tastings. Call (800) 752-0881,
email aginfo@unexmail.ucdavis.edu or visit us online at
www.extension.ucdavis.edu/agriculture.
April
Enolitech/SOL/Vinitaly April 10-14,
Verona Italy 6th Exhibition Technologies For Viticolture,
Oenology And Of Technologies For Olive Growing And Olive Oil Production
9th International Exhibition of olive oil, virgin and extra-virgin olive
oils.
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