Preserving Italian traditions and recipes especially those
that relate to my family has become a great interest of mine. So when we decided to write about olio
d’oliva (olive oil), this month’s topic for our Cucina Conversations round table, my heart rejoiced. Not
only does this liquid gold have a rich Mediterranean history, but also one that
speaks of migration and preservation of family traditions. Undoubtedly
olive oil is a staple ingredient in Italian cuisine and would not be the same
without it. Its varied traditional uses and
recent modern applications to cooking show olive oils’ broad versatility. What
fascinates me most, is that for centuries people have sought ways to preserve
their food and reap the benefits of the harvest all year long through the use
of olive oil. It is one of the most natural
ways to preserve food, due to its amazing properties.
Along with my fellow bloggers, we will share with you various recipes with olive oil being the hero ingredient. I have
chosen to talk about olive oil in context with preserving food and maintaining
family traditions. This recipe for melanzane sott'olio (preserved eggplants in olive oil) is
one that has been passed down in our family from my grandmothers and one that
is still made and enjoyed today. The girls from Cucina Conversations will also be posting throughout the week and sharing their recipes using olio d'oliva. Marialuisa shares her recipe for bruschetta all'olio e ai peperoni arrostiti at Marmellata di Cipolle; Rosemarie talks about a Piemontese recipe for bagna cauda at Turin Mamma; Daniela shares a recipe for la farinata di cavolo nero con olio nuovo at La Dani Gourmet; Lisa creates a pate`di olive at Italian Kiwi; while Flavia makes a classic dish of fagioli cannellini all'olio at Flavias Flavors, and Francesca cooks one of my favourite greens - cicoria ripassata at Pancakes & Biscotti
Like many Italian migrants, my parents have always professed that
Italian oil is the best and have continued to purchase imported brands. I too have done the same, but my loyalty to
my heritage has over the years shifted with the need to uphold new values that
come naturally when living in an adopted country. So before I share this recipe, I would like to
talk a little about locally produced olive oil. This will be discussed in relation to a
conversation I had with an Italo/Australian friend who is a small scale olive
grower and olive oil producer here in Australia, trading under the name Benedicts Grove. Ben's olive grove is located on a beautiful
property in the Northern foothills of the Pyrenees Ranges in Western Victoria. His Italian cultural values, philosophy on
reducing the carbon footprint and his teaching background in sustainability and
supply chain has equipped him well for this challenging industry. To understand the olive oil industry here in
Australia, it is also important to read about olive farming which dates back to
the early 1800's and there is some fascinating history you can read about here.
The afternoon
spent talking with Ben about his olive grove, the production of extra virgin
olive oil and how his mother preserves olives, brought to light our similar
views on ‘slow food’ and the importance of preserving Italian traditions. Though reading about the olive oil industry, it brought to light some realities. According to the
Australian Olive Oil Association, it appears that Australia now produces a
substantial amount of olive oil with many Australian producers only making
premium oils. A number of corporate
growers operate groves of a million trees or more and produce oils for the
general market. Australian olive oil is exported to Asia, Europe and the United
States; while on the other hand, we are importing oil from Spain, Italy and
Greece. I asked Ben why he decided to enter this saturated market with its questionable
practices. Below are a few snippets from our conversation.
Why did you choose to grow olives?
Probably if I had to give one
reason, and by the way there is more than one reason for why I started planting
olive trees over sixteen years ago, is that I believe food is important. Obviously, people need food to eat, but the
industrial process by which food is produced today makes food cheap and
plentiful, but it isn’t really food. I
mean food like olive oil shouldn’t simply be something you buy at the supermarket. It should be something that is anticipated,
something that is stored correctly and something that is valued. When you accept those terms then you begin to
really taste food. Too much of our lives
are about the volume of consumption and not the quality of it, or the stories
behind it. Heritage would be another
answer. My parents grew up in small villages in the Calabria region of Italy,
where survival was based on resourcefulness and a longstanding acceptance that
traditions kept you alive and resilient.
When olives were ready to be picked then you stopped everything and
picked. There was no postponing for a
more convenient time or perhaps waiting until the weather improved. Nature
dictated terms and people lived within those rules, it was simple. Simplicity
allows for calmness.
When one speaks
of simplicity, I automatically think of the way my grandparents lived and the way my parents
have chosen to live, being very self-sufficient in the growing of their own
fruits and vegetables. Their three olive
trees provide them with enough olives for the extended family and friends. I'm sure many Italian migrants to Australia have maintained this philosophy of living a simple and self sufficient life which has kept them grounded.
Simplicity is important in
life. If you don’t have peace of mind
you won’t do anything well. Take for
instance one of my mother’s methods for processing table olives. You pick the
olives when they are black but not over ripe, and slice the olive on two
sides. If nothing else, slicing 5 kg of
olives individually will relax you! Put
them in a bucket of fresh water and change the water every day until the olives
are no longer bitter, maybe about 2 weeks, it all depends, you have to go by
taste, not formula. Drain the water, add
some garlic, fennel, chilli if you like and then sprinkle with salt. The next
day place the olives in a warm oven that will dry the olives out, not too much,
just enough to remove excessive moisture.
Dress them in olive oil and place them in a jar. That’s it, no chemicals, no additives, no
industrial processing, just salt, water and time. Simple!
Through your business, do you see yourself recreating processes of the
past?
I don’t think we can go back in
time, nor should we, but it’s important to have a connection to our past. It helps inform the choices we make in the
present. Initially I wanted to set up a
traditional olive press, you know, the one with the giant stone wheels slowly
grinding the olives into a paste and then cold press the paste to extract the
oil. While my heart went in that direction, my head was saying continuous
processing. This is the modern approach, where you place olives in one end of
the machine and an hour or so later get olive oil from the other end. It’s clean, efficient and consistent. It
ticks all the boxes, except the romantic box! Living in the past however is not
an option, but at least understanding what you give up and why, is an acceptable compromise. Who knows, a hundred years from now people may
see the continuous process as romantic!
On a large scale, olive oil producers practice intensive cultivation techniques at what appears to be the expense of quality. We are however beginning to see a shift in the mind set of people who strongly advocate quality, clean, and locally produced food. The notion of 'slow' seems to resonate in your approach to your business. Was this intentional in your business plan?
When I first decided to establish
an olive grove the conventional wisdom suggested by the emerging industry, was
to irrigate. My father, who tended an
olive grove in Italy as a teenager was incredulous to this notion. You never
irrigate olive trees he said, it was almost seen as a sin. When I asked why, he
simply stated that they don’t need it. It was one of those moments where one
has to decide between the pragmatism of a commercial operation and a practice
that was at least as old as his 800 year old village of Staiti, in the
province of Reggio Calabria, Italy. I
went for tradition, as food is important to me.
To me planting an olive tree is about creating a 1000 year opportunity
for future generations which is what appealed to me. Australia practices modern agricultural
techniques which are capital and resource intensive with highly efficient
outcomes. The problem is many of these
practices are not sustainable. If we start using a scarce commodity such as
water to irrigate what is basically a desert tree then we become consumers of
our planet and not custodians, but if you let the tree grow slowly, whilst you have
less fruit and less oil you have it for 1000 years. Not a bad legacy to
leave.
This indeed is not a bad legacy to leave our future generation, so with those inspiring thoughts, where ever you may live, do support the small olive oil producers near you. I would like to thank Ben for allowing me to share this information with you, and do check out his website. This recipe I share with you is one that speaks of preservation of family traditions, my romantic view on what food should be, which is important to me and what I hope to instill in my family.
Melanzane Sott'Olio (preserved eggplants)
Makes enough to fill 2 medium-sized jars
My mother makes melanzane sott'olio every year and gives us a jar or two. It is a staple in our pantry, but for some reason this year it was consumed far too quickly. This has forced me to make my own even though out of season. We enjoy them on freshly baked crusty bread, in our lunches as well as served as part of an antipasto when we gather as a family. They are relatively easy to make and all you need is:
3 kg eggplants (aubergines) firm, fresh and blemish free
1 cup table salt (best not to use coarse grain)
8 cups white wine vinegar
6 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
chilli flakes or 1 fresh chilli sliced (optional)
4 cups of olive oil
Peel eggplants and cut width ways into slices about 1 cm thick and then each slice into 1 cm strips. Using a large deep tray, spread out the cut eggplant strips evenly, and sprinkle with the salt. Cover with tea towel and leave for 24 hours at room temperature. The salt will draw out a fair amount of liquid from the eggplant which will need to be drained well the next day. This is best done by putting the sliced eggplant in a colander and placing a weight on top to extract as much liquid as possible. I also squeeze any excess liquid using my hands.
Place the eggplant in a clean tray and pour on the vinegar, stir it through and push the eggplant under the vinegar. Cover with tea towel and leave for 24 hours at room temperature. Drain in a colander, putting a weight on the eggplant to drain off as much of the vinegar as possible. Leave draining for about 4 hours.
It is important to use sterilized jars when storing preserved produce. I place my jars and lids in a saucepan filled with water, ensuring the jars are submerged and bring them to the boil. Continue boiling for 10 minutes and keep in hot water until ready to use.
Meanwhile place the eggplant in a large bowl and season with sliced garlic, oregano, chilli (if desired). I used 1 semi dried chilli and sliced it finely. Add 2 cups of olive oil and mix well. The eggplant will have reduced in quantity and should be enough to fill a large jar or two medium sized jars. Transfer to sterilized jars, push down with a wooden spoon, then top up with the remaining olive oil and seal. The eggplant should be ready to eat in 1 month, in which time the eggplant and oil will have infused with the aromatics. The preserved eggplant can be kept for about 1 year, but if you love them as much as we do, they will not last that long!
There are two excellent books totally dedicated to preserving food if you are new to this process. Both discuss the importance of preserving food and their flavours, as well as the proper guidelines that should be followed in preserving food. These books can be viewed by clicking on the links below:
I hope you embark on preserving food and your family traditions. Make sure you also read the Cucina Conversations posts throughout this week.
Carmen, this post is just wonderful! Beautiful photos, extremely informative (so interesting to have an Australian of Italian extraction's perspective on olive oil production) and an inspiring recipe. I've got Domenica Marchetti's (excellent) Preserving Italy book but I had no idea about the other book you mentioned, Preserving the Italian Way. Will definitely look it up. Anyway, davvero complimenti!
ReplyDeleteThank you Rosemary! There are many small producers in rural Australia whose voices need to be heard. Preserving the Italian Way is a great book by an Italo/Australian too. I'm glad you enjoyed the post. I look forward to the reveal of your recipe, one which I have never made before. x
DeleteYou actually made a great job with this post! Interesting insights about the importance and production of good evoo in Australia. I love melanzane sottolio, but I have never made them due to the risks of botulism. But I do want to try and make them!
ReplyDeleteThank you Daniela! Yes, there is a lot of interesting information coming from the Australian industry and worth reading about. Do embark on preserving melanzane. If you follow the correct procedures, (either of those books will assist if you are new at this)there shouldn't be too much concern.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the thought that the legacy of the olive groves will continue for 1000 years. That's an incredibly uplifting heritage for the generations to come! I adore eggplants preserved in oil. I'll have to try out this recipe!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree Lisa. Every small step counts, and hopefully our future generation can reap the rewards like we have. I hope you enjoy making them and eating them too. X
ReplyDelete