Lucca Visit Continues...

Our next fun adventure with Dom and Louise was to learn about olive harvest and just how the olive oil process occurs. A couple of weeks prior to our arrival, they had successfully finished their harvest and oil pressing from the small(ish) grove of olive trees on their property. It turned out to be their biggest haul to date and they worked very hard to see the process through from start to finish. During fall harvest, big nets are set down on the ground below the trees and the branches are basically shaken or raked so that the olives will drop. Louise and Dom, having only a relatively small number of trees do it the rake way. One can spend lots of money on special appliances that help with this process or one can just whack at the branches with bamboo sticks to make the olives fall. Apparently, among olive pickers there's a bit of an obsession to make sure that every last olive is picked. There are all kinds of discussions and opinions between the long time locals and the "Americani" regarding the best month of the year to pick (from October into January) and whether picking too soon will increase the oil's acidity. And, there's further discussion regarding just what increased acidity really does to the oil and its ultimate taste. The long time Italian olive growers just shake their heads at the new folks, and though the non-natives are armed with the scientific proof of success of their new ways, they would never be able to convince the old timers (nor would folks like Louise and Dom even want to try).

So once the olives are picked, off to the mill they go. The farmer makes an appointment ahead of time and depending upon the number of kilos involved it may take a good part of the day from start to finish. We were fortunate that when we were there, friends of Dom and Louise's were taking in their olives from several hundred trees. Plans were made to connect at the mill later in the day and watch at least part of the process.

Simply put (because otherwise we'd have to remember the details) the olives are processed through various machines that clean, separate, and mash out the oil. This mashing/separation process leaves a good deal of byproduct that looks like it will add much to a compost pile.

And voila, the final results! Out comes the oil to be collected in large jars, bottles, or stainless steel containers!

We so wish you could taste this....ahhhh... such a wonderful gift, homemade olive oil!