Home-grown olives ready for pressing at Wonny Olives
By Matt Stone
‘TIS THE season to be merry, if your tastes go to pickled olives or “homemade virgin olive oil”. The olives, in this unseasonal (are there seasons any more?) weather, are ripening on the trees around Wonthaggi and environs.
Of course, olives have been around for a while. They originated in Asia Minor, but were first formally grown in the eastern Mediterranean region, i.e. Israel, Lebanon, and Syria around 6000-4000 BC. They were growing wild well before that. They were expanded by Phoenician and Greek colonisation, then massively scaled by the Romans for their oil.
‘TIS THE season to be merry, if your tastes go to pickled olives or “homemade virgin olive oil”. The olives, in this unseasonal (are there seasons any more?) weather, are ripening on the trees around Wonthaggi and environs.
Of course, olives have been around for a while. They originated in Asia Minor, but were first formally grown in the eastern Mediterranean region, i.e. Israel, Lebanon, and Syria around 6000-4000 BC. They were growing wild well before that. They were expanded by Phoenician and Greek colonisation, then massively scaled by the Romans for their oil.
Legend has it that the first edible olive process was stumbled upon by a legionary whilst in a century (1 centurion + ~80 legionaries) of Roman soldiers who were in a column, marching along the seaside where olive trees were overhanging. They stopped for a breather, and one eagle-eyed (or bored) legionary noticed some olives in the water and, very stupidly if you have ever tasted a raw olive, popped one in his mouth. Turns out it was soft and tasty with only the slightest bitterness which make olives attractive to some. The rest is history!
Factual history tells us, through evidence found, of containers with whole pips, dating back some 6000 years ago. Why is this proof? Because oil production always necessitated the crushing of olives, pips and all.
Fascinating so far? Probably not, so let’s bring it closer to home. You may have noticed, as you take your daily constitutional, a tree with silver and, believe it or not, olive leaves, often with a twisted trunk. That is an olive tree, and they are all around Wonthaggi in particular.
At a wild guess, it was the Italians coming to work in the mines who were responsible. I reckon it is a pretty good guess that “someone” snuck a seedling past lax border security – thankfully! Perhaps pips were brought in, but unlikely as it can take seven to 10 years for fruit to form on a seed-grown olive tree. They were most likely spread though cuttings, which the local Italian community would have happily shared, initially amongst themselves.
There is no historical evidence or mention of mills in the Bass Coast region, but it’s likely oil was extracted on a very local basis. How is a mystery (there’s a challenge, readers) as one day several years ago I said to Liane, “I’m really over pickling olives, why don’t we try to extract oil?”
We went to our local Mr. Fixit and threw down the challenge. He “just happened” to have a serious press, from Cyclone, I think, and whipped up a stainless-steel cylinder that took the press head, in went the olives, and … the moment of anticipation, smashed olives and juice went everywhere!
Factual history tells us, through evidence found, of containers with whole pips, dating back some 6000 years ago. Why is this proof? Because oil production always necessitated the crushing of olives, pips and all.
Fascinating so far? Probably not, so let’s bring it closer to home. You may have noticed, as you take your daily constitutional, a tree with silver and, believe it or not, olive leaves, often with a twisted trunk. That is an olive tree, and they are all around Wonthaggi in particular.
At a wild guess, it was the Italians coming to work in the mines who were responsible. I reckon it is a pretty good guess that “someone” snuck a seedling past lax border security – thankfully! Perhaps pips were brought in, but unlikely as it can take seven to 10 years for fruit to form on a seed-grown olive tree. They were most likely spread though cuttings, which the local Italian community would have happily shared, initially amongst themselves.
There is no historical evidence or mention of mills in the Bass Coast region, but it’s likely oil was extracted on a very local basis. How is a mystery (there’s a challenge, readers) as one day several years ago I said to Liane, “I’m really over pickling olives, why don’t we try to extract oil?”
We went to our local Mr. Fixit and threw down the challenge. He “just happened” to have a serious press, from Cyclone, I think, and whipped up a stainless-steel cylinder that took the press head, in went the olives, and … the moment of anticipation, smashed olives and juice went everywhere!
So much for that experiment, but all was not lost as it led us to a later action. More on that later.
We have all heard why people from around the Mediterranean live long and healthy lives – red wine and olive oil. It’s a medical fact that regular olive oil consumption lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and overall mortality. Eating olives offers much the same benefit, but the red wine comes with a warning – in moderation.
Due to our aforementioned failure to press olives for oil, we ended up importing a commercial press from Italy (of course) and installing it as a community press at the Rescue Station Arts Centre.
We have all heard why people from around the Mediterranean live long and healthy lives – red wine and olive oil. It’s a medical fact that regular olive oil consumption lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and overall mortality. Eating olives offers much the same benefit, but the red wine comes with a warning – in moderation.
Due to our aforementioned failure to press olives for oil, we ended up importing a commercial press from Italy (of course) and installing it as a community press at the Rescue Station Arts Centre.
Whilst still a bit of work, it is much more successful in producing oil from local trees. It basically emulsifies the olives, seeds and all, gently heats the emulsion to release the oil, then via a centrifuge delivers a lovely green gassy, peppery smelling oil. This can be used asap, or left to settle to more resemble commercial oil.
We have learnt many things since starting to press three years ago. One major learning was there are olives for pressing and olives for pickling. Pickling olives do not offer much oil and don’t really work in the press. The smaller ones are best for oil.
We’ve just finished our last pressing for this season. Check out Wonny Olives for details and email Liane at [email protected] if you want to go on our email list for updates on next year's pressings and events including pruning workshops.
Long live the olive!
We’ve just finished our last pressing for this season. Check out Wonny Olives for details and email Liane at [email protected] if you want to go on our email list for updates on next year's pressings and events including pruning workshops.
Long live the olive!