12 Jul

Sweet and Sour Agrodolce olives

Agrodolce, meaning 'sweet and sour' in Italian, describes the flavour of the vincotto, a delicious condiment made by reducing grape juice to a thick syrup.

 

agrodolce-olives

 

Ingredients:
600g (22 Oz mixed olives (your choice of Kalamata, Beldi, Picholine, it doesn’t matter as long as they are natural and in brine)
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 orange, zest peeled into wide strips
1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
6 bay leaves
80ml (1/3 cup) Maggie Beer Fig
Vino Cotto or balsamic vinegar glaze
80ml (1/3 cup) extra virgin olive oil

Preparation:

1- Combine all ingredients in an airtight container. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 1 week for the flavors to develop.

2- Bring olives to room temperature and serve with bloody Mary.

 

Source

12 Jul

Israelis Settlers Cut 1150 Olive Trees Near Nablus

by Saed Bannoura,

Ghassan Daghlas, in charge of Israeli Settlements File at the Palestinian Authority in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, has reported that a number of extremist Israeli settlers cut on Thursday [July 10 2013] 1150 Palestinian Olive trees east of the Nablus District.

Palestinian_Olive_Tree_destroyedDaghlas told the Radio Bethlehem 2000 that the settlers attacked Palestinian orchards that belong to villagers of Awarta, and used chainsaws to cut approximately 1150 trees. Daghlas added that the villagers found their trees cut after the army allowed them to enter their lands isolated behind the Annexation Wall.

The orchards are close to the Itamar illegal Israeli settlement. He said that the residents heard sounds of chainsaws, over the last several days, but did not know what was happening, especially since they have no access to their lands without a permit from the Israeli military.

The attacked orchards belong to 25 families in the town, and are their main sources of livelihood. The recent attack is one of dozens of similar attacks against the residents and their orchards, as extremist settlers repeatedly cut and uprooted Palestinian orchards and lands, and repeatedly torched Palestinian crops and farmlands.

Source

11 Jul

West Coast Products Reports Abundant Bulk Olive Oil Supply Available to American and Overseas Markets

Reacting to recent domestic and global financial media news about Deoleo, the world's leading seller of bottled olive oil, and its need to sell less oil in bulk, West Coast Products reports that its Olinda Brand olive-oil sales to foodservice establishments have never been better.

WEST COAST PRODUCTS AND THE OLINDA BRAND LOGOA rich supply of Certified California Extra Virgin Olive Oil is currently available to bulk olive oil users from West Coast, one of the oldest olive growers and processors in California.

West Coast General Manager Dan Vecere said, "We can meet the needs of all end users who may be searching for high quality bulk olive oil. Our customers (food processors, distributors, retailers, and home chefs) can order bulk packaging from 55-gallon drums to gallon jugs or two-and-a-half and five-gallon bag-in-a-box containers, or any size they may need for their private label or using the Olinda Brand."

 

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11 Jul

Australia: Hobby olive farms in vogue with record oil production projected in Victoria

By Stephen Taylor,

The good oil on olive growing is that business is booming, with record production tipped for Victoria.

west-australian-olive-groveAnd our Indian summer and long clear sunny days and cool nights leading into winter helped make it happen.

In 2007, production was five million litres of oil, and this year growers will harvest a record 15 million litres – about two and half times more than last year. Ten years ago the figure was less than one million litres.

Fairfax Media reports that exports will account for 40% of production, with local demand set to increase by 60% a year.

The weather gods were especially kind to Boundary Bend Limited – Victoria’s largest producer – after two wet winters, says ABC Online.

The vast olive pressing factory in Northern Victoria has 6100 hectares of mature olive plantations split between Swan Hill on the Murray River and Boort in central Victoria. It harvests more than two million trees.

 

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11 Jul

California: Local olive oil producers earn Harvest Fair medals

Four Sonoma Valley olive oil producers are among the award winners in the Sonoma County Harvest Fair’s Professional Food & Wine Competition.

Dry_Creek_Olive_OilThe local medalists are Benziger Family Winery, B.R. Cohn Olive Oil Co., Gloria Ferrer Caves and Vineyards and The Olive Press.
Dry Creek Olive Co. of Healdsburg won best of show for the second consecutive year, bringing home 10 medals – including four double gold medals — more medals than any other competitor.

Dry Creek’s  Mediterranean Blend won over the judges with its blend of Italy’s Coratina and Tuscan olives, Greece’s Kalamata olive and Spain’s Sevillano olive.Olive oil entries were judged by a panel of tasting experts in June.  Out of the 46 olive oils entered, 15 received double gold, nine received gold and 18 received silver.
The competition features two divisions in the professional olive oil competition. The oils entered must have been either California grown and custom blended by a Sonoma County processor or made with olives grown in Sonoma County and designated as such on the label.

The California-grown oils are divided into three flavor categories: citrus, herb and other. The Sonoma County-grown oils are divided into three classes: delicate offering light fruitiness and intensity, medium being slightly richer in fruit and intensity and robust offering intense fruitiness.

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