Last weekend, Veteran's Day, we were blessed to have 3 days together with no work responsibilities! We wanted to take advantage and do some real exploring, beyond the local area. So I signed us up for one of the FFSC trips to an olive oil mill in Zahara de la Sierra. I'm so glad we went! Just over 1 hour of driving brought us into some gorgeous mountains. They are rocky and rugged, with steep cliffs and distinctive outlines. But everywhere, neat rows of olive trees cover the hills. This is the beginning of olive country, which extends over the mountains across central and Southern Spain. The mountains are dotted with "pueblos blancos," the famous white villages that are scattered throughout this region. We had a great time jamming to Spanish radio songs, stopping for pictures, and just enjoying the breathtaking views.
Our destination was the town of Zaharra, pictured above, with it's distinctive castle on the mountain crest and the rest of the town sprawled out below. The whole town is surrounded by a National Park, and overlooks a man-made reservoir famous for water sports. Just outside of town is an Olive Oil Mill which has been in operation since 1755! November is the beginning of the olive harvest season, and the cold presses begin in late November and last until January. The ground was still too wet for harvesting machinery, so on the hills we could see workers gathering olives the old-fashioned way: spreading blankets beneath the trees, then beating the trees with sticks until all the ripe fruit falls.
The olive mill was called El Vinculo, and has been in operation since 1755. The process today is still mostly the same as it was then, except now they have machines to do work that was previously done by animals. It is a fairly small place: The oil extracting is done in the mill, "La molina," on the left side of the courtyard above, and the products are sampled and sold in the store on the right side of the courtyard. In the courtyard itself are the former presses, used before hydraulics were invented. :-)
The process of extracting olive oil, or 'olive juice' as they call it, is very similar to the process of extracting cider from apples, just like we did on my parents' farm. We met the owner of the mill, who gave us a tour while our guide translated. First, the olives are poured into hoppers and shaken on elevated conveyor belts (the ones behind Sophie) to separate the leaves from the fruit. The olives are washed, and then poured into a large vat which not only blends them into a pulp (with pits inside) but also allows them to be heated in a water bath that is just below boiling. The bath is heated with wood only, not natural gas, because the pulp would absorb those fumes. So they have to use wood from old olive trees. It has to be kept at a constant temperature so it won't break down the acids in the oil. The vat is right behind Alex, and he seemed to really like it, even taking a few steps next to it! It's not every baby who takes his first steps at an olive oil mill!
Once the olives have been turned into a heated pulp, they are ready to be squeezed. The white mats are woven circles, several feet in diameter. They have a hole in the center, so they can be thrown over the metal pole in the photo above. The pole rotates in a circle, while the olive pulp is pumped onto it. Then another mat is placed on top, and coated with another layer of olives. This continues until you have a full stack, about 8 feet high, like the ones seen in the background. At this point, the mats are catching the solid materials, and the oil/juice is starting to ooze out. But to really get it, you need to apply pressure, which is what they do with the machine on the right. The entire mat/pulp stack is moved across the room by forklift to the row of pressing machines. I didn't catch the actual PSI necessary, but it is enough that every amount of liquid is extracted from the olives and the mats. What's left is a dry mud-like substance, which is fed to pigs. The oil is either bottled right away, or stored in giant tanks, like the one Sophia is sitting on.
The reason we call it "Extra Virgin" olive oil is because that is the oil that comes from the first pressing--the purest, strongest flavor. The owner explained that it is possible to do additional pressing and extract more, but he does not do it at this site because the labor and cost of doing a second pressing are not worth the price of the inferior product produced. He was very serious about the oil quality and explained that the greatest enemy of olive oil is... SUNLIGHT! He said (in English) "Never never never never never never sun!" Over time, sun breaks down the chemicals in the olive oil, making it turn more clear and tasteless. If stored at a constant temperature without sun exposure, the oil can last forever. They have actually unearthed oil jars from ancient shipwrecks, and the olive oil in them was still good because of the lack of sunlight or temperature change. But in our houses, since the bottle sits on the counter and gets indirect sun exposure, it is only good for about a year. Of course we bought about a 1 year supply at their shop. We tasted a bit on bread and OH... WOW it is delicious! I used to think the idea of eating plain oil (no salt or herb seasoning) on bread was strange and gross. But the oil is so rich and delicious that it has its own great flavor and smell. The kids love it, and they love eating olives too, which is a good thing because that is a staple here in Spain!After our tour, we were all pretty hungry, so we took a short walk into town. Zahara is a gorgeous town perched on the side of a mountain. Danny was enamored with the castle, which you CAN climb up to and visit... but not from this side of the mountain! And not ideally while pushing strollers. We may have to come back another day with the baby backpack.
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