The Olive Story: From Tree to Table in Portugal
A journey through the history, harvest and health benefits of one of the Mediterranean’s oldest treasures.

Order the cover at virtually any restaurant in the Algarve and you can be assured that, along with the bread, butter, cheese and sardine paté, you will receive a bowl of green and black olives.

Yes, olives are ubiquitous in Portugal and along with being very tasty, they are also very good for you. Olives and olive oil contain a high percentage of the monounsaturated fat oleic acid, and monounsaturated fats have been linked to a reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease.

The case for this is so strong that in the United States, producers of olive oil are permitted to make health claims on their labels suggesting that eating about two tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.
Because of this acknowledgement that olives and olive oil are good for you, the sale of both has boomed in recent years, particularly in North America. There are an estimated 750 million olive trees worldwide, but 93 % of production comes from the European Union.

Spain is the world's largest producer, accounting for approximately 36% of global sales. Italy is next with 25 %, followed by Greece 18%, Tunisia 8% Turkey 5%, Syria 4% and Morocco 3%. Portugal accounts for only 1% of production but 2% of consumption.

The Italians are the top consumers at 30% followed by Spain 20%, Greece 9%, the United States 8% and France 4%.

The olive tree is native to the Mediterranean basin, and wild olives were collected by man as early as 8,000 BC. It is believed that the first cultivation took place on the island of Crete and that olive oil was first produced in what is modern-day Israel.

Besides as a food, olive oil is used in religious rituals, in medicines, as a fuel, for making soap and in skin-care applications. There are more than 30 varieties of olives grown commercially, and some of the more common in Portugal are Manzanilla, Naphlion and Calamata, but most olive oils are a blend of several olive types. The best oils are made from early olives - between one third and two thirds darkened. Early harvested olives produce richer, fruitier oil with a distinctive finish. Olives left to over-ripen on the tree produce mild oils. Fully mature olives provide a higher yield of oil.

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Today, most olives are harvested by machine, but on some small plantations in Portugal, they are still harvested by hand. All olives start green in the early autumn the fruit fully matures in November and December. As ripening progresses, the fruit passes through light to dark red, to purple and finally to black

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MAKING THE OIL

Once the olives have been harvested, they are washed in water and crushed whole - including the pits, which contain a natural preservative. In times past, the crushing was done manually using a stone wheel (one is on display in the Rua Comércio in Portimão). After the olives have been crushed, the resulting paste is pressed to release the liquid. The oil is then purified by centrifugal force. Once this is completed, the oil is left to settle for two to three weeks before it is bottled.

An alternative method of obtaining the oil is to use a machine which operates by vibrating stainless steel blades through the paste, causing the oil to float to the surface, where it is skimmed off, but large-scale producers prefer the centrifuge method, which spins the paste like a washing machine to decant the oil.

When the resulting oil is described as 'virgin', it means that no chemical treatments were used in the process. 'Refined means that the oil has been chemically treated to neutralise strong tastes and lower the acidity, while the term 'pom-ace' means the oil was extracted using chemical solvents and heat.

Oils labelled extra-virgin and virgin are not allowed by the IOOC (International Olive Oil Council) to contain any refined oil.