Comenius Mare Nostrum
INTRODUCTION
Malta is known for its traditions, cultural and food. Besides having many traditional foods, olive oil is one of the most popular and most recognised from all of the Maltese dishes. The olive oil was influenced in Malta by the Sicilians mostly, but like every country, the Maltese have a twist to our beloved olive oil than that of the Sicilians. Being a small island tourism is our main income and olive oil is one of the most objects sold to our tourists, since it is so popular throughout the island. There are an abundant amount of factories which produce this olive oil, some add chillies to it, and some add herbs according to their liking. Either or it still tastes good every day.
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CONTENT
History of olive oil……………………………………………………………………..p.3-4 Process of olive oil……………………………………………………………………p.5-6 The economic contribution of olive oil to the maltese economy……….......p.7 The uses of olive oil…………………………………………………………...………p.8 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..…………p.9
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HISTORY OF OLIVE OIL IN MALTA Olive growing was introduced to the Maltese Islands by the ancient temple builders. Not much is known about these people but they left great
temples
goddess
of
to
fertility,
honour known
their as
Sansuna in Maltese folklore. The subtropical Mediterranean climate of Malta and the alkaline soil are both ideal for olive cultivation, which greatly flourished on these islands under the Phoenicians and other Mediterranean cultures .The Romans built villas which were greatly used for agriculture. The Romans used olive pressers made of wood and a stone block. At this time, much of Malta’s economy was based on the selling of olive oil. At the time cotton and honey were also cultivated. Iż-Żejtun The
town
of
Żejtun
is
named after ‘Zaytun’ from Sicilian
Arabic,
which
means ‘olive’. An annual feast called ‘Żejt iż-Żejtun’ is organised by the local council to celebrate the cultivation of olives and the pressing into olive oil. Olives have been grown here since ancient times. Olive trees were once much more abundant in the town especially during the Arab and Spanish rule over the islands. Żejtun is one of the oldest towns in Malta. A Bronze age
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settlement was built and later converted into a villa by the Romans and olives and olive oil was produced.
Birżebbuġa Birżebbuġa's name is not known for sure. It suggests that it comes from Bir/Bur-żebbuġ. Which means area of olives, while others say it comes from Bir taż-żebbuġ. Which means well of olives. Olives are grown in abundance and olive oil is made from it. A roman villa was found here which produced olives and had a well, but was destroyed during the 2nd World War. Ħaż-Żebbuġ Ħaż-Żebbuġ is well known for
its
olives.
The
town's
name simply means Olive Town. It is named after the large where
olive found
groves
that
surrounding
the church.
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THE PROCESS OF MAKING OLIVE OIL There are 4 main steps in the production of olive oil. These are CLEANING THE OLIVES, GRINDING THE OLIVES INTO A PASTE, MALAXING THE PASTE and SEPARATING THE OIL FROM THE VEGETABLE WATER AND SOLIDS. After the olives are cut they are taken to olive oil plant were these steps are held. CLEANING THE OLIVES The first step in this process is cleaning the olives. This includes cutting the leaves, stems and twigs. The olives are after washed with water to remove pesticides, dirt, etc. The reason why the olives are washed is because that rocks and sand will damage a hammer mill and quickly wear out a centrifugal decanter or oil separator. It is amazing, and sometimes entertaining, to see what can be found in the bins with the olives. Light contaminants are removed by a heavy air flow (blower) and heavy objects sink in the water bath. GRINDING THE OLIVES INTO A PASTE The second step is crushing the olives into a paste. The process of crushing the olives is done to tear the olives flesh thus making the liquid easier to be juiced. This step can be done with stone mills, metal tooth grinders, or various kinds of hammer mills. MALAXING THE PASTE After the paste is mixed for 20 to 45 minutes which allows small oil droplets to combine into bigger ones. The paste can after be heated or water is added during this process to help the oil flow better although this generally results in lowering the quality of the oil. The most common mixer is horizontal.
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SEPARATING THE OIL FROM THE VEGETABLE WATER AND SOLIDS The next step is separating the oil from the rest of the olive components. This process used to be carried out with presses but is now done by centrifugation, except in old facilities. Some centrifuges are known as three-phase because they separate the oil, the water, and the solids such as the rocks separately. The two-phase centrifuges separate the oil from a wet paste that was added with the hot water earlier. Usually the first centrifuge is processed further to eliminate any remaining water and solids by a second centrifuge. Finally the olive oil is left in tanks for the final separation due to density.
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THE ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION OF OLIVE OIL TO THE MALTESE ECONOMY Olive oil is a fundamental component in a Mediterranean diet and is included in many of our recipes. In the past, the Romans included an area set aside for the processing of olive oil because olive trees favour a Mediterranean climate. Furthermore, the Maltese poor quality of alkaline soil helps to produce olives devoid of acidity. Olive oil was given economic importance even in those days. Today, Malta is seeing a revival in olive oil production. To have a fully productive olive tree it takes about 6 years. There are various brands and olive oil companies at the forefront, such as Org-olio, Cremona Sam and Golden Extracts Ltd which contribute to local oil production. Malta exports 150 tonnes of olive oil annually and we receive an EU grant of app. ₏132 per 100kg of olive oil produced. Since, some of our local products are exported and over 1.2 million tourist visit our islands yearly, Malta has to import a large quantity of food, including different brands of olive oil which are distributed and available in our local stores. In fact, Malta only produces 20% of its food needs. Certainly, Malta’s economy does not rely on olive oil production; however, this new and emerging industry gives an important contribution towards this cause. Apart from the financial aspect of producing olive oil, there is also health promotion because research has shown that the traditional Mediterranean diet which includes olive oil, reduces the risk of heart disease.
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THE USES OF OLIVE OIL Olive oil is a fat obtained from the olive a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. The oil is produced by pressing whole Olive oil is the main cooking oil in countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Extra virgin olive oil is mostly used as a salad dressing and as an ingredient in salad dressings; It is also used with foods to be eaten cold. If the olive oil is not heated, the flavour is stronger. An important issue often not realized in countries that do not produce olive oil is that the freshness makes a big difference. A very fresh oil, as available in an oil producing region, tastes noticeably different from the older oils available elsewhere. In time, oils deteriorate and become stale. One-year old oil may be still pleasant to the taste, but it is surely less fragrant than fresh oil. After the first year, olive oil should be used for cooking, not for foods to be eaten cold, like salads. The Catholic and Orthodox Churches use olive oil for the Oil of Catechumens (used to bless and strengthen those preparing for Baptism) and Oil of the Sick (used to confer the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick or Unction).
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CONCLUSION
As you have read olive oil in Malta is significantly popular and important .Olive oil is a source of income for our country. Olive oil was introduced to our country by the megalothical people who although we do not have any direct records of we have there fabulous ancient temples and their suculent olive oil.Other Mediterranean cultures like the Roman continued to produce olive oil in Malta and the Roman Villas that they had built really helped the agriculture of our country grow.During the Roman Period cotton and honey were also produced. The Mediterranean climate and the alkaline soil are both ideal for olive cultivation. This alkaline soil helps to prevent the olives that we use for our delicious olive oil to be acidic. In Malta we have three specific localities that there name has something that has to do with olives. These localities are Ħaż-Żebbuġ which means olive town, iż-Żejtun which is named after Zajtun which comes from Sicilian Arabic which means olive and Birżebbuġa which means bir taż-żebbuġ ; olive well. In Malta we have three main companies which produce the amazing Maltese olive oil. These three main companies are called Org-olio, Cremona Sam and Golden Extracts Ltd. As you have seen the Maltese olive oil has a great past a prosperous present and a yet exciting future.
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