It would be difficult to talk about Andalucian food without mentioning olive oil. Introduced by the Romans after they conquered Spain in 206 B.C. it was systematically planted throughout the entire Andalucian region and olives are still a popular and thriving Andalucian fruit today.

Throughout Andalucia December is the month when the harvest of this most Spanish of fruits occurs. The olives are beaten off the trees with sticks onto nets which have been laid on the surrounding ground.  Olives are a delicate fruit and are handled with great care.  Once picked the olives are washed and drained and then crushed whole into a paste before having the oil extracted using a spinning process and finally filtered.  All over Andalucia there are olive oil pressing factories of both a large commercial nature together with co-operative outlets where small farmers and private land owners can bring smaller quantities of olives to be pressed.

Extra virgin olive oil is the first pressing of the olives and is regarded to be the best, the paste is then pressed 2 or 3 more times to produce varying qualities of olive oil.  Olive oil should be kept in a dark, cool place and used within a year of opening otherwise it could lose some of it’s fine qualities. Some of olive oil’s beneficial qualities are said to aid digestion, relieve constipation, reduce cholesterol and even help organs such as the pancreas, gall bladder and liver to function well. Olive oil contains vitamins A, D, E and K.

Written by K hill