Olive Pressing Tours
What is Olive Pressing?
The earliest
known cultivation of the olive tree originated in Crete about
3500 BC in early Minoan times. It wasn’t long before the
cultivation of the olive tree in Crete became more organized and
soon became a vital part of the island's economy. Almost
immediately the Cretans began to export the olive oil not only
to mainland Greece but also to North Africa and Asia Minor.
Greece quickly began to pick up on this cultivation and both
the olive tree and olive oil became synonymous with Greek
cooking down through the centuries.
Charter a
yacht with Corfu yachting and venture off to the beautiful
Island of Paros. When in Paros visit a unique Pension , the
owners offer the guests the opportunity to press their own olive
oil. Guests participate in gathering the olives, preparing them
for pressing, and extracting the oil using traditional
processes. Once the pressing is done, the owners will open the
large central kitchen of their ten-room guesthouse and offer
instructions on how to cook with the fresh olive oil. Guests can
also enjoy excursions to the best of the local Paros tavernas
and restaurants for an in-depth exploration of genuine Greek
cooking. This takes place in
November and December.
Olives in Corfu
are harvested from November until April six to eight months
after their spring blossoms appear. With its mild winters and
long, hot summers, Corfu, has the ideal climate for the olive
trees to grow. In many regions, olives are beaten from the tree
with poles and caught in large nets. Nowadays, olive farmers use
modern machinery to harvest the olives, including trunk and
branch shakers. However, some Corfu growers collect olives that
fall naturally to the ground, or are helped on their way by wind
and rain. Once collected, the olives are taken at once to an
olive press, if they are not pressed immediately they begin to
oxidise and ferment. Thousands of years ago, crushing was done
by hand in spherical stone basins. Today, in a similar method,
olives are crushed by mechanical stainless steel grindstones.
The oil is separated from the paste by means of centrifugation,
which simply means spinning the paste round at high speed. This
method produces extra virgin olive oil known as first cold
pressed olive oil. No heat or chemicals have been applied. Five
kilos of olives are required to produce one litre of oil. It is
the cold press method that enables olive oil to maintain its
flavor, color and nutritional value. In fact, olive oil is the
only oil that can be consumed as it is removed from the fruit. A
gentle filtration process is used to remove sediment and produce
extra Virgin olive oil with an acidity level of less than 1%.
Any oil with acidity above this level receives an additional
refining step to remove almost all traces of color, aroma, taste
and acidity, resulting in extra light tasting olive oil. In
order to produce the grade of oil simply known as pure olive
oil, extra virgin is added back to extra light to achieve the
desired level of flavor and aroma. Like a fine wine each variety
of olive oil is evaluated by tasting and measuring acidity
before bottling. Also like wine, no two olive oils are alike.
Each is a unique product of soil, climate, olive varieties and
age, and processing methods. Oils can be fruity or flowery,
nutty or spicy, delicate or mild, and can range from clear to
pale green or golden to deep olive green in color.
Overlooking the
beautiful bay of Agni, you will find the Agni Olive Press, which
occupies the top part of a former agricultural building.
This unique
villa, was transformed by the sure touch of its owner, Giuseppe,
into an enchanted getaway. It must be one of the most charming
houses in Corfu, full of character, chic, skilful blend of old
and new. Many features of the old olive press have been
incorporated into the house - vaulted brick and stone walls and
openings, millstones put to use as tables. A broad paved terrace
catches the sun for much of the day and looks down over the
olive trees to the sea and the mainland opposite. Below the
Olive Press, and quite separate, is Giuseppe's Retreat where
Giuseppe himself used to spend his summers.
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information
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