3 Year Anniversary of Weekend Herb Blogging - WHB #156 - The olive oil

the WHB #156 Round-up



our olives

welcome to this week's Herb Blogging...this time it is very special.
we are celebrating 3 years of continued Weekend Herb Blogging!!
I'm participating just for few weeks, but this has beeing going on every week
since Kalyn launched the idee in October 2005!!
congratulations Kalyn for this fantastic idea and
all the success it has had since it started.
to read all about this, please go here

congratulations also to Haalo from Cook (almost) everything at least once!
who has been crowned New Weekend Herb Blogging Goddess-in-Chief !!
brava Haalo!!
for me this is even more special..Haalo was my first Host
of the WHB which I particpated!!
the WHB #151
and she was great, supporting all my silly questions..
that goes for Kalyn too, how helped her and helped me,
understand the proceedure of all. :))

this is fate my dear Haalo! :)))
thank's both of you doing all this for us!



Kalyn asked us to make a post this week of our favourit ingredient..
I thought a lot and come to this conclusion...
what ever I do, what ever I put together...
what is the ingredient that keeps it all together,
that gives the magic flavour,
that increase taste and enrichened every dish I make ??
the olive oil!!

so here I am, talking to you about the fantastic Olive oil of Lake Garda.
to not bore to much..I will try be short and quick(not easy for me :))) )
my husband and I are very proud owners of 13 small olive trees.
they don't give a lot of oil, but it is enough for our home need of olive oil in one year.
in these days we have finished the olive collection and have the new olive oil.
the perfume the olives spread when you pick them, the colours of the mature olives, and the joy of haveing something so genuine..is really exciting.

one suppoes that the romans brought the olive trees to the Lake Garda.
(you all know the olive tree is original from Central and Near Asia and the Greek spread them in all the Mediterrean area)
on Lake Garda it is the nothest part of Italy where they grow,
and here they arrive til 600 mt.a.s!
it is really very very affascinating walking along the lake
looking up at the Monte Baldo chain ...
you actually can see where the lines is..from where they stop growing!!
the maximum explosure of the olive oil making here was with the Serenessima (the Venetian Trading Impire ca1200-1700) , beacause the lost the Greek Islands (wich was their abitual supplier) and was left without oil!!
the olive oil making is still very important for the Lake Garda economy,
together with the more strong turism economy.
our..well..the Lake Garda olive oil, has a very low acidity (only 0,50%), with a perfume of a light fruity sweet almond flavour and a intense golden-green colour beacause of the high chloropyll content.


the most growing olive tree is the Casalivo
( then Favarol, Trèpa, Fort, Rasa and Gragnà),
but in recent times it is lined together with other two Tuscan cultivars
Leccio and Frantoio, beacuse of their higher resistence to olive tree deseases.








before boring you more, I just want you to remember when buying olive oil...
be sure it is coldpresssed and extravergin, this is very important beacuse in this way all the good things (vitamins and minerals) remains in the oil.
olives are also warmpressed, beacuse it is quicker to extract the oil.
the coldpressing proceedure takes about a couple of hours.
the rest of the time is waiting in line to get your turn at the millstone. :)))
you can have your olives pressed in several oil mills,
the minimum quantitative is 300kg,
but if you pay the difference, they press you olives alone.
or you can put your olives together with some other small olive "farmer".
we usally put our olives together with the ones of my father-in-law.


you all know the use of the olive oil cooking.. and eating...
but did you know you can use the olives for health preparations?



olive infusion for high pressure

Olive infusion for high pressure

pick olive leaves at any time of the year.
it is important that the olive tree is not treated with pesticides.
let dry for a week or so in the sun.
or put your leaves on a ovenplate and let dry for 2 hours in a slightly warm oven (ca 50°C )
crushed them and keep them in a glass jar.

to prepare the olive infusion

boil 1 cup of water with one full tablespoon of dry crushed olive leaves.
let boil for 15min then turn of the fire.
filter and drink when it is lukewarm.
drink two cups a day for a long period,
this helps you keeping under controll high pressure.





olive tincture for fever

prepare this olive tincture , it is a good help in case of some lines of fever.

20 fresh olive leaves
2,5dl of alcool 70%
(it could be difficult to find this alcool, but you can use the normal 95% and diluite it
2,5dl alcool 95% and add 97,5 cl of water)
let in infusion for 10 days in dark place.
after that filter and keep the tincture in a dark glass bottle.

when necessary take 20-30 drops of olive tincture mixed in a cup of luekwarm eater.
the taste is rather bitter, so it can be necessary to sweetnen with 1 small spoon of honey.





Simonetta's Olive Grappa

and for you that are healthy and feel strong..
I suggest this easymaking and easydrinking grappa :))

this an old reciepe that my dear friend Simonetta has given me.
she is a friend but also my organicfarmer.
every week I go to her and Franco to buy season organic vegtables and fruit.
we talk and exchange ideas, suggestions and recipes.

be sure you use organic coltivated olives to do this grappa.
500gr of di olive
1 liter of natural not aromatizied grappa (if you don't find gappa you can use an other spirit, it is important that it's not more than 40% strong)
400gr of caster sugar
the peel of one organic orange
3 0 4 Juniper berries (if you find wild ones, use them..they are much stronger in taste)
3 o 4 cloves
put all the ingredients in a big jar.
toss a little and then leave it marinate in a dark place for 40 days
filter, pour in a glass..drink and enjoy!!
thank's Simonetta...


see you next week at Haalo's!!

I wish to thank Manfred, Iris, Giorgio Vedovelli and Piero Basso
for the help in making this post.