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| The aged olive tree |
I love olive oil. You probably already know that. But it bears repeating because everyone should love olive oil. Spain is actually the largest olive oil producer in the world. Like wine, the flavor of olive oil depends on growing conditions; each country, each region, even each farm produces different tasting oils. I wanted to taste Spanish olive oil, so I signed us up for
a tasting to be followed by tapas and a wine tasting.
We were picked up in downtown Granada and whisked off to a small town called Nigüelas in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We stopped first in an olive grove where the trees were 300 years old. Olive trees grow slowly, so these trees are much smaller than a 300 year old maple, oak, or elm tree would be. They didn’t even seem taller than younger olive trees, just bushier. Amongst the olive trees were almond and pomegranate trees. In Andalusia they have a saying, plant an almond tree for your children and an olive tree for your grandchildren.
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| Joe trying the water from the "fountain of youth" in Nigüelas. |
We left the fields and drove into the town square where there is a fountain fed by the Sierra Nevada. It is rumored that drinking the water will make you younger. It was tasty and not as cold as I thought it would be, but it didn’t stop my birthday from coming. I like the concept of potable water in public fountains as it’s very easy to satisfy your thirst. From the square we walked to an ancient olive mill, Las Laerillas, from the 15th century.
The mill fell out of use in the 1920s and it was boarded up and forgotten. In the 1990s the town realized what a treasure they had and they reopened the mill as a museum. It is the oldest olive mill in Spain. Outside the mill are stone cells which served as bins for sorting picked olives—each family had their own cell. These were weighed (so each family received their proper share) and then brought to the Molino de Sangre or Mill of Blood. This type of mill earned its name in Roman times when slaves were used to turn the millstones; the slaves were later replaced with donkeys, but the name remained.
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| The giant pressing lever at the Las Laerillas Mill |
After milling, the olives were pressed. This was achieved by use of giant levers. The pressed oil/water mixture flowed into underground chambers and gravity separated the oil from the water. The finished product was stored in giant terracotta pots from which manageable quantities could be labeled.
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| Large terracotta pots used for storing the pressed oil. |
The final stop on the tour was a small shop where we had our tasting. We tasted 3 local oils with different tastes and 2 flavored oils. There are 2 methods of flavoring oil: the flavoring (herbs, fruits, or spices) can be added to the oil during bottling; or the flavoring can be added during milling. In the first method, the flavoring will sit in the bottle, slowing imparting flavor over time. In the latter, the flavoring and the olives are ground together and then pressed. The flavored oils we tried were lemon and basil, and they were flavored with the second method. The basil oil was delicious and would be an excellent way to impart basil flavor when basil leaves are out of season. I’m really excited to try it in some recipes. The lemon oil was very different; we ate it like a dessert. We poured the oil over bread and then sprinkled a little bit of sugar on top. This combination transformed the bread into an enchanting dessert.
After the oil we had our wine tasting, and among the samples was a dry, white sherry. It smelled like it would be potent, a little like whisky. But, since old sherry casks are used to age whisky, it is the whisky that smells like sherry. Despite its strong smell though, it was a smooth drink—very tasty. We bought a bottle. We also tried another sherry; it was red and much sweeter. It was made from raisins; the grapes are dried in the sun before pressing. While interesting to try, I think was too sweet.
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