Mediterranean Foods

Harvesting and Pressing

With close to 80 million olive trees in the world, the harvesting process begins at the moment of optimum ripeness. Depending on the region, olive harvests usually take place between November and mid-January. The olives are collected and within 24 hours of harvest, they are taken to a mill to be pressed into olive oil.

Olive oil is made by crushing the whole fruit, including the pits. (Both the flesh and the pit contain oil). This is usually done under granite or steel mill stones that resemble those of thousands of years ago. The crushed paste is then spread out and placed in a machine press which applies hundreds of pounds of pressure; this will yield oil and water and drip into collection vats. This process requires no heat, thus the expression "first cold pressed" olive oil. The oil is then allowed to settle followed by the removal of water through centrifugation. When the olive oil created from the first pressing meets the criteria for extra virgin oil, it is set aside. Later pressings will produce lower quality oils.