making olive oil

[Deleted]

In March I was with friends in Algeria (Kabylie), in a small village. It was a cold winter in North Africa and the houses do not have heat.

Everybody was happy when there were olives to harvest because it was work that helped them to stay warm. The harvest starts in December and goes until March depending on the orchards and the trees. Once they are ripe, the olives do not change much as long as the weather remains cold. I think they do not keep them in bags because they would start to rot.

A lot of people wait for the school holidays so that their children can help with the harvest. Some of the children like it but some were complaining about losing their holiday time.

Hamid was one of the young farmers harvesting his olives with a friend.





Everybody with some olive trees collects their olives on big sheets of plastic or tarpaulin and the olives remain there until it is the day of their appointment at the olive press. Everybody knows whose pile of olives is where.









When it is the day of the appointment, the olives are put into bags and taken to the pressing place, run by Malek.









It takes a long time to strain the oil over and over again.





When it is ready, it is poured into containers and the family takes it home. There is enough to use for the whole year and maybe some to sell for the families with the most trees. They said that this year's crop was very good.



Here is Malek in the cloak with his satisfied customers.



This is the village.

[Deleted]

Old Mohamed from the café Au Vrai Paris brought me two liters of his homemade olive oil -- in Ricard bottles! -- a couple of years ago to thank me for getting him a flight reservation on Air Algérie when nobody else could.

I was very touched, because it was the only time that I had ever possessed olive oil that was made by someone I know, from the village of Isse Radjene in Kabylie which I hope to visit some day.

[imec]

Thanks, I enjoyed this. Are the leftover solids used for anything or just discarded?

[Deleted]

I enjoyed immensely also. Thanks,fulgenzio. Have a childhood friend who lives in Italy and every couple of years his sister gives me a bottle of his olive oil,also very touching and honored now even more so after seeing this.

[hwinpp]

Fulgenzio, where was the village?
Olive oil is the nectar of the gods.

[spindrift]

I, also, enjoyed this thread.

[Deleted]

May 28, 2009 14:01:01 GMT imec said:

Thanks, I enjoyed this. Are the leftover solids used for anything or just discarded?

Sorry to have been away. I am back after Whitsuntide weekend and hope to be here more often.

The leftover slush (?) was kept in metal drums but I don't know what happened after that. I think that the leftover stuff could certainly be used for something.

I will try to ask the next time I talk to my friends.

[happytraveller]

Interesting thread. I love olive oil.

[Deleted]

My friends say that the harvest will be terrible this year. It doesn't seem to be a weather problem, but the trees just do not produce the same quantity every year. I think that it is two good years for one bad year and there is nothing that you can do about it.

[Deleted]

Oh,what a disappointment that must be!!. I selfishly saw your post in here and got real excited there would be more pics...as this has always been one of my favorite threads in here Fulgenzio.
I have a childhood friend who lives in Italy,and every few years his sister graces me with a lovely bottle pressed from his orchards. I use it as sparingly as possible after the first half is gone,as it like nectar from the gods,and I don't know when I'll get another one.
Good to see you Fulgenzio!!

[Deleted]

Yes, I would definitely like to hear more about making olive oil. I thought I might get some this year from Algeria, but old Mohamed might not be back for several months. He stayed two months longer than expected this summer, because his French wife was in the hospital. But his Algerian wife was clamoring for his return.

[Jazz]

Hi fulgenzio, I’m sorry to hear of the poor olive crop and know that this is serious for your friends. However, given that their lives have been lived around the olive crop, (…”two good years and one bad year, and there is nothing you can do about it”….), I am sure that they live their lives accordingly. I wish them the best. It would be an honor to taste olive oil that has been produced by a friend.

It’s so good to hear from you again! Your post today brought back the memory of your remarkable, but sad, story of a young woman in Africa on another forum. It was moving and excellent. Because the forum closed down, I lost my saved copy. If you still have her story, I would appreciate it if you could post it again. Great to hear from you.

[Don Cuevas]

"Pomace".
www.oliveoilsource.com/page/product-grade-definitions#refinedpomace

[bixaorellana]

Fulgenzio, were you able to see the actual harvesting of the olives? Are they picked individually, the tree hit with a stick or otherwise shaken to make the fruit fall, or what?

Do you know if the oil production is something relied upon as part of the yearly income, or as something extra to be enjoyed in the good years?

Thanks for the update.

[mickthecactus]

Aug 22, 2010 7:12:24 GMT Don Cuevas said:

"Pomace".
www.oliveoilsource.com/page/product-grade-definitions#refinedpomace

Ah, that is very interesting Don. I always buy olive oil soap when in Spain and wondered how it was made.

[bixaorellana]

Let's hope that Don Cuevas will expound on the very interesting fact that he lives near the oldest olive trees in the Americas. They're quite beautiful in a craggy, venerable way.

[Deleted]

Olive trees are always interesting due to their torturous forms. My market street is called rue l'Olive, and it has nothing to do with olives, but it is lined with olive trees in square wooden planters.

Charles Liénard de l'Olive helped to colonize Guadeloupe, and rue de la Guadeloupe is just a few steps away, along with rue de la Louisiane, rue de la Martinique and rue du Canada.

[Deleted]

They do not have machines to shake the trees for harvesting as in Europe. You must shake the branches and hit them with big sticks to make the olives fall on big sheets. Some of the families have big olive orchards and make the oil to see, but many others just have a small orchard and there is usually not much extra. The oil is used also to preserve certain items because many people do not have a generator to run a refrigerator in the small villages.

No big voyages this year for me. Sorry, but I do not want to tell the other story again. It is nice to know that it interested some people.

[bixaorellana]

This is most interesting, Fulgenzio, not only about the harvesting of the olives and the production of the oil, but as a glimpse into another place. Your pictures and explanation help give an idea of the lives of the people.

I'm intrigued by the use of the oil to preserve foods. My grandmother lived in a very rural area after she married (1921) and told me of covering sausages with lard to preserve them. Of course lard would not be an option in Algeria!

Looking at the aerial view, it would seem there aren't enough trees to provide lumber and firewood. It can't be a soft life there.