The olive tree and olive fruit have helped shape ancient and modern worlds
By Suzanne Biro
In these days of threatened war and active terrorism there is increasing anxiety for all countries and families. Sadly, civilization coexists with war and always has. For as long as there has been war there has always been the hope for peace, symbolized in both ancient and modern times by the branch of the olive tree. Indeed, the olive tree and its fruit are one of the oldest crops; evidence of its cultivation dates back to as early as the Bronze age (17 th -12 th century BC). Of the many references to the olive tree in the Bible, the most memorable is that of the dove returning to Noah’s ark with a silvery leafed branch clutched in its beak, a token of nearby dry land after the great flood.
It is amazing to wonder how the first cured olive might have been discovered. The fruit fresh from the tree is so bitter it is all but inedible. The fruit must undergo a lengthy curing process to leach out the bitter glucosides, either in salt, brine or lye, before it is transformed into the delicious tidbit that we buy in the grocery store. Most likely an olive tree dropped its fruit into tidal pools, the "berries" sitting in the salt solution long enough before being plucked and eaten by a hungry fisherman.
This discovery revolutionized the ancient world. In the 6th century BC Greece was unable to grow its own wheat and desperately needed a product of equal value to trade. Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed that olive oil should be the sole agricultural export of Greece. As a result the landscape was drastically altered forever. Up until this point ancient Greece had already used up much of its forest for building houses and ships and as fuel. The few remaining fibrous-rooting trees were replaced with the long tap-rooted olive tree. Without the fibrous roots to hold the topsoil in place it quickly blew to the wind, leaving the Greek landscape denuded and bare forever after. Hey, decimating the landscape for profit is not just a recent environmental concern. Anyway, this caused Plato (5th century BC) to lament the loss of Greece’s beloved "green meadows, woods and springs."
Today much of the world’s production of olives and olive oil remains in the Mediterranean area. The trees are small evergreens that live up to 600 years (there are some trees which are said to be as old as 2,000 years). Of the world’s production of olives, 93 per cent is used for oil extraction and the remaining 7 per cent for cured fruit. There are many types of olive, that vary in size and flavour, but all must undergo the curing process to be used for the table.
Contrary to popular belief, green and black olives are not distinct types but are, instead, olives at different stages of maturity or ripeness. Green olives are harvested in September or October while black olives are picked in November, December or January (harvest time is universal whether you are in Italy, Morocco or California).
Olive oil is most often made from the very ripe, sun oxidized, juicy, black olives which give the oil its distinctive fruity taste. Green olives are used to make exceptional quality olive oil which will be subtle and light, but because green olives do not have a lot of juice to yield you need far more olives to get the same amount of oil – more olives, more expensive.
Olive oil is still produced the same way it always has been except now it is done with a hydraulic press. Basically the fruit is coarsely crushed, pit and all, and then placed within layers of cloth and gently pressed to extract the juice. The juice is left to settle so that the oil separates to the top and can be drawn off. This is where the term "first cold-pressed" comes from as this was ideally done at low temperatures, although now no thermal processing is involved. The sediment that is left, called the "sansa," can be crushed and pressed again but will result in a harsher product and the oil usually needs to undergo a further refining process to retain good flavour.
The term "extra-virgin" refers to the oil’s acidity being less than one per cent. This term in the past was reserved for the best olive oils of the first press only, however modern deacidification techniques can reduce an oil with three per cent acidity to extra virgin status.
As for the colour of the olive oil, generally the deeper the colour the stronger the flavour.
What do you look for if you want the best olive oil? There are four criteria, always keeping in mind what you want to use the olive oil for:
1. Look for a date on the label. Olive oil is good for up to 24 months after production.
2. Extra virgin olive oil is still the best with its lower acidity level.
3. An oil produced in Europe will deliver the goods as the EU has just imposed strict quality guidelines on production.
4. Price. Yes, a more expensive oil usually means better quality, but don’t use it for everyday cooking. For a 750 ml bottle expensive is $35, and that would be reserved for special occasions. A good every day bottle would be in the range of $12-$15.
As for curing olives, there are many different techniques and results (over 300 different types of olives in Provence alone). In ancient times (and still on some Greek islands) a bundle of olives placed in a basket was dunked into the sea water for 10 days or until the olives became edible. Another old technique, hauling a bag of olives up inside a chimney, takes advantage of the naturally occurring lye in wood and vegetable smoke. You can cure your own olives at home (not the chimney – it’s too dangerous).
Fresh olives are available in many Italian, Portuguese or Greek markets. I won’t go into the process here but it sounds easy, it just takes months of waiting. If you are keen, a good reference is Lynn Alley’s great cookbook Lost Arts (Ten Speed Press), she covers the dry salt cure (used for French Nyons olives), the lye cure (used for the black Mission olive) and the brine cure (used for Greek Kalamata and French Nicoise olives).
When you buy olives either in bulk or jarred, they can always be spruced up at home with a marinade of good olive oil and fresh chopped herbs and/or hot peppers. Orange or lemon peel also pairs well. Just let them sit at room temperature for a few hours in the marinade before serving. Olives go well with any strong flavours such as cheese, game meats and seafood. They are excellent as an appetizer paired with crusty bread as well as tossed into a complex Moroccan tajine.
I started this column waxing on about ancient civilization, war and peace and it seems only fitting to end off with a recipe which is named after one of the oldest professions in the world: prostitution. Pasta alla Puttanesca, the name derived from the Italian word puttana, meaning whore, has such an intense fragrance it is reminiscent of (and as strong as) the temptress’s call to the men who visited such ladies of pleasure. This "fast and easy" pasta sauce takes no time to prepare and it is bursting with flavour. The initial ingredients may look strange (my variation includes sultana raisins which is a perfect sweet complement to the salty olives) but the end result is fantastic. You don’t have these ingredients at home you say? Well stock up the pantry because once you make this the first time you will be making it a staple dinner at your house. Don’t be fooled – many kids love olives too and they will happily gobble up this dish if they do.
Puttanesca Sauce for Pasta
This dish takes as long to make as it does for the pasta to boil so put the water on to boil while chopping the ingredients. I usually eyeball the ingredients so you can add more or less of whatever you wish to customize your own sauce. Serves 4-6.
• 500-750 g pasta (I like rotini as the spirals pick up the chunks of the sauce)
• Half cup olive oil
• 1 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped (flatten them on a cutting board with the side of a chef’s knife and then the pits can easily be removed)
• half a cup green colossal olives with or without pimento, pitted and chopped
• half an onion finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 anchovies, chopped or a squirt of anchovy paste (optional)
• 4 tablespoons capers
• one quarter to half a cup sultanas
• quarter cup pine nuts, toasted and chopped or left whole
• 2 ripe tomatoes seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• freshly ground black pepper
• grated Parmesan cheese
Put the pasta in the boiling water and cook according to package directions. Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the onion cooking until it is soft, about five minutes. Add the garlic, olives, anchovy, capers and sultanas and warm through on medium-low heat. Add the tomatoes and nuts just before the pasta is ready and warm through. Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce, adding the parsley and ground pepper. Serve immediately with Parmesan cheese. This is also good with a liberal sprinkling of red pepper flakes.
