Olives.....

Well we just returned from the Lagar in Silveirinho having taken our teeny yield of olives (43 kilo's) to be pressed for oil and returned with 5 litres of liquid gold. ! 8.6 Kilos of olives for each litre of oil. What a lot of work for such a tiny amount !! This has been a bad year for olives. The rest of our olives -3 kilo's or so are soaking in brine and will not be ready for a few weeks. I reckon it took us about 15 hours to pick and sort the olives.. although it was hard work I really enjoyed it and have learnt lots - we will be far more prepared next year. I have read that the oil is at its prime for the first 3 months in terms of health benefits ... so today I have tasted freshly pressed oil for the first time ever and it is delicious... now for some salad munching.. or perhaps bread dipping... yum.