Olive Oil

Coming from the south of France in Provence, Olive oil takes a big part of my life for cooking. 
We don't really cook with butter in Provence. 

I am lucky that my parents have a lot of olive trees in their garden. 
My mom does the picking and then goes to the mill and they make her own olive oil. 
She starts to harvest the olives in November when the color is still green but almost turns to black. She brings every night the olives to the mill because olives need to be grinded the same day. And then the olive oil is ready in mid december. In average she harvest around 120kg (265lbs) of olives per year. To make 1L (34oz) of olive oil, you need 6kg (13lbs) of olives.

Photographed by La Bastide D'Eyragues

This year for Christmas my parents offered to each of her children a bottle of olive oil from their production. 
Olive oil is the gold of Provence, it is a very precious gift. It can be sold around 30$ per liter. 

It is so good comparing to the one you buy at the grocery store. 
The color, the smell, the taste is different. It is called the "fruité vert" : the oil is greener and has a fruity taste and tastes like artichoke, it does not taste just like something oily. 

It is an extra virgin olive oil. Extra virgin is the highest quality and most flavorful olive oil. It must be produced entirely by grinding whole olives and extracting the oil by mechanical. It means without the use of any solvents, and under temperatures that will not degrade the oil. 

I remember at my parents home sometimes we just have a dinner with salad, cheese and olive oil. 
My favorite way to eat olive oil is with salt and a piece of bread. Yummy!! 

Tip: Do not try to eat olives directly from the tree, they are inedible. Olives are a naturally very bitter fruit, they need to be fermented or cured with water and salt to make them more palatable.