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B.R. Cohn Winery Fetes Olive Oil Festival

Glen Ellen - On May 15 olive oil producers met a crowd of enthusiasts eager to taste this season's oils.   The festival was organized by  COOC board member Greg Reisinger at the B.R.Cohn Winery.  
Lila Jaeger
About 15 producers laid out their wares in a grassy field under a canopy of old growth Picholine olive trees. Oil was available for tasting and purchase.  The day was punctuated by cooking  and olive pressing demonstrations.
Ridgely Evers of Da Vero

The Ferrari of Home Made Olive Presses

by John Deane

If you have a grove of olive trees or just a few along your driveway, you probably have wondered how difficult it would be to make your own olive oil. You could buy a full production press which usually start in the $10,000 range or you could make your own. A U.C. Davis flyer describes the building of a press from a bumper jack, rope and plywood. The olives are boiled in lye, left to sit, pressed, boiled, etc. Not a good way to make extra virgin olive oil.

While in Italy researching designs for a hobby press, I was introduced to a do-it-yourselfer who had the training and skill to make a truly beautiful one. Mr. Tonelli is a retired machinery engineer living on a verdant hillside near Imperia on the Italian Riviera. He owns a picturesque old grove of olives which clings to the terraced hills in view of the Mediterranean.
Passing paved patios, rabbit hutches and a vegetable garden, we were taken to the pressing room. Mr. Tonelli showed us his machine with the pride of a father.

Olives were ground into a paste which went into a double walled chamber where it was gently agitated and warmed. "Free run oil" could drip out the ends of the chamber which were finely slotted. After adequate mixing, the paste dropped into a tank of warm water where it was again gently agitated. The oil rose to the top and was skimmed off with a clever little revolving flipper. Final decanting was done by gravity. No screws or presses were involved. The water and paste mixture sans oil was returned to the orchard. All components were in brightly polished stainless steel with beautiful bends and welds which would make a Ferrari owner jealous.
For those less mechanically gifted who wish to own their personal olive press, see the "First Press" at the Olive Oil Source or try the jack and lye method described in leaflet 21516 - Producing Olive Oil in California.

Olive Fruit Fly Trapping to Start in Tulare County

by G. Steven Sibbett, University of California Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor, Tulare County

In response to last fall's finds of Olive Fruit Fly (OLFF) in the Los Angeles Basin, the olive producing counties in the San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer's Offices will be initiating a trapping program. Here in Tulare County, where we have half of the state's 35,000 acres, we will be placing and monitoring approximately 1,000 traps. While the majority of these traps will be placed in commercial orchards to confirm that we do not have OLFF in our production areas, we will also be placing over 150 urban traps. It's these urban areas that represent the greatest risk for the spread of OLFF. It's long been recognized that these types of pests don't spread long distances on their own, but rely on people moving infested products from one area to another.

Questions and Comments from the Internet

Michael asks:

We are wondering if you can clear up something for us.What is better for you nutritionally olive oil or peanut oil?

OOS replies:

Peanut and olive oil both are high in monounsaturated fats and in diet studies are equal with regard to lowering cholesterol and triglycerides when compared to a "standard American diet". The health effects of all the other thousands of components in these oils is not well understood. Olive oil is "natural" in that it is one of the few plant oils which is edible as pressed from the plant. Peanut oil must be chemically processed. This may remove healthful anti-oxidants.  I would personally prefer olive oil because it has a flavor; most peanut oil has had all flavors removed.   As a doctor I would have to tell you that there is no magic oil or food which will make you healthy, its a combination of sensible and moderate eating.  The most important part of the Mediterranean diet is not the olive oil but the lack of meat and the abundance of fruits, vegetables and fiber.

Nancy asks:

I am an editorial researcher with Rodale Books. We also publish Prevention and Men's Health magazines. Is olive oil rich in chlorophyll--how much does it have and compared to what is it "rich" in chlorophyll? Is chlorophyll a natural preservative?

OOS replies:

Chlorophyll is one of the main pigments in olive oil. the chlorophyll content decreases as the fruit matures so olives picked green produce a greener oil with a "grassy" flavor. According to Apostolos Kirisakis, one of the premiere researchers on olive oil components, fresh olive oil contains between 1 to 10 parts per million. Miniscule compared to a portion of spinach. The olive cultivar, weather, pressing method, etc. also determine chlorophyll content. Olives are invariably pressed with some leaves still present so some of the chlorophyll comes from that source. Some producers have been know to deliberately allow leaves in the mill to increase the "grassiness" of the oil. In the light, chlorophyll will promote formation of oxygen radicals and speed up oxidation but in the dark chlorophyll acts as an antioxidant. In current physiological studies, chlorophyll is broken down in the body and has no effect as an oxidant or antioxidant.

John Deane M.D.

Events:

1999

Aspen Food & Wine Classic- Jun 11 - Jun 13, 1999  - contact Carissa in Aspen, CO  212-382-5600 for tickets

Grand Aioli Festival August 14  Healdsburg, CA  707-756-1434 sonprov@metro.net

June

Expoliva '99 -IX Simposium Científico-Técnico, Jaén, June 18-19  1999

Olive Oil International Days - Thursday June 17, 1999 Paris - Supported by the Ministry of Agriculture. It is a great opportunity to represent your country and all your products to a selected worldwide buyers. For more information contact Didier l'HOPITAULT
Fax 33 1 56 79 02 11
tel 33 1 56 79 02 10

July

Australian Olive Association - Third National Extra Virgin Olive Oil Show Saturday July 3, 1999  The Australian Olive Association announces its Third National Extra Virgin Olive Oil Show and invites entries from Australian extra virgin olive oil producers. Entries close on 25 June and the awards will be announced at the AOA Annual Conference in August.  For entry form visit: http://www.australianolives.com.au

August

Australian Olive Association 1999 Annual Conference and AGM Friday August 27, 1999  The Australian Olive Association 1999 National Conference and AGM will be hosted by the Peel Olive Association at Mandurah, Western Australia. To register your interest in attending, presenting a paper, exhibiting or sponsorship or for more information, please contact the conference coordinator, Shirley Goode (tel: (08) 9535 2876; fax: (08) 9582 7664)

Oleum - Jaen, Spain

October

23rd World Congress & Exhibition of the International Society for Fat Research, Oct. 3-7, 1999, Brighton Centre, Brighton, England, United Kingdom. Information: Meetings and Exhibits Department, ISF, P.O. Box 3489, Champaign, IL 61826-3489 (phone: 217-359-2344; fax: 217-351-8091).

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