December 7, 2013
A pueblo blanco near Olvera and Grazalema. It overlooks a huge reservoir. The reservoir is only for drinking water. No idea why they don't put a turbine on the dam to make some electricity. The town itself if very small with an ancient castle at the highest peak. We went on a tour of an olive mill that has been an olive mill since the Moors lived in Southern Spain. The olive was not native to Spain, but was introduced by the Phoenicians. This mill is very small so they still use the old pressing techniques. They have updated technology with a mechanical hydraulic press, but the concept is still the same with the single press philosophy. This mill will also do specialty presses for the small local farmers. The process begins with grinding up the entire olive - including the pit. Then they put the paste between circular sheets onto a hydraulic press where all the oil is squeezed out. It takes several hours for the press to go completely through. Almost several days. The residual looks like tree bark. They use it in their soap production. We also went to the local restaurant that is owned by a couple from New York. They make their own olive oil flavors by putting rosemary or hot peppers in the oil and letting it sit for a while. It was very tasty.
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