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| A spilt but very much alive and very old olive tree |
When it comes to training and education there is little that beats hands-on experience. Possibly (massive pinch of food obsessed salt) this statement is most true in understanding the food chain and how it can result in perfection, or in contrast be fouled. Therefore the invite before Christmas to join the UK Carluccio's team on a trip to meet one of our expert olive producers in Emilia-Romagna was an opportunity not to be missed. Not a herd of wild horses, as they say was going to stop me joining them....and what a fantastic experience it was!
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| A big bowl of olives |
Tom Mueller's 'Extravirginity' (my bedside reading at the mo.) gives an interesting but negative perspective into the Italian olive oil business. However, it sells a very different reality to that of the passion, care and effort which I encountered with the Lo Conte family, who produce Carluccio's Olio Novello (new season E.V.O.O.) every year.
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| An olive picking rake lying on the olive net |
The family go to great effort to ensure the quality of their E.V.O.O. by taking more than just a few simple steps to ensure extravirginity..... the basics of which are...carefully picked and netted olives, all (and only) from their own groves, pressed within 24 hours, under temperature controlled conditions (27 degrees ideally).
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| The Lo Conte olive groves |
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