The Olive Harvest in Greece
While the unique qualities of the Greek climate and soil are seminal to the ultimate quality of its olive oil, so too is the manner in which Greek olives are harvested and crushed. In some places, the olive harvest starts as early as October, when the fruit is still not fully mature. The oil from […]
Climate, Soil & Cultivation
Greece is a mountainous country with few plains. Most olive trees grow perilously on pezoules (terraces), their trunks swept by the meltemi sea winds, their roots deeply imbedded in the almost dry land, their branches stretching out to the scorching sun and the strong rain. The approximately 140 million olive trees that blanket Greece thrive […]
Table Olive and Oil Olive Varieties
Thanks in part to the long history of the olive tree in Greece, there are many varieties of olives. Most are either exclusively oil olives or table olives, although there are a few varieties that be processed both as table olives and pressed for oil. According to the weight of the fruit the varieties are […]
The Greek Olive Tree
The olive, whose botanical name is Olea, belongs to the family of Oleaceae and includes some 30 species. Nowadays it is cultivated not only in its birthplace, the Mediterranean, but also around the world and notably in the U.S., China, Australia and Argentina. The olive tree is a hardy evergreen that grows as high as […]
Olive Oil in Greek Folk Culture
In Greek popular culture, olive oil is no less significant. For one, so deeply rooted is olive oil in the Greek psyche, that we don’t even bother qualifying it—Greeks use the generic word «oil» to refer to olive oil. «To oil one’s intestines» in Greek means simply to eat something nourishing. Greeks even think of […]
Olive Oil in Greek Orthodoxy
The sacred trait the olive tree enjoyed from antiquity was in the early Christian era, transferred to its product olive oil. Olive oil is mentioned both in the Old and New Testament. It became a mystical element. The most important of the sacraments, that of baptism, which seals the baptised as a servant of God, […]
The Olive Tree and Greek Religion
The olive trees of Greece have been destroyed many times during her long history. In wartime they were always among the first thing that the enemy attacked, as a way to drive the country to starvation. After the Greek War of Independence in 1821 and later on during the First and Second World Wars, whole […]
From the Roman Empire to the Byzantine Empire
The Greek presence in Italy had a decisive impact on the development of the area. Greek ideas, religion, art, and knowledge all predominated on the Italian shore eventually to be adopted by the Roman Empire which ultimately conquered Greece. From the Greco-Roman colony of Byzantium, yet another empire sprang, the Byzantine, and the humble Greek […]
The Ancient Olympics and the Olive Tree
Olive oil played a crucial role in the ancient Olympiad. The ideal of the Olympic Games was inspired by the legend of Hercules. Athletes anointed themselves with olive oil before the Games. Victors were crowned with a wreath of olive branches and awarded with amphorae of oil. The branches were always cut from a special […]
The Olive Tree in Ancient Greece
The olive tree figures large in the Greek myths and in essence is at the very foundations of western civilization. According to legend, Athens got its name after the goddess Athena and the god Poseidon competed to deliver the most useful gift to mankind. Poseidon donated a splendid war horse. Athens bestowed an olive tree […]
A Brief History of the Olive Tree in Greece
The silver-green foliage of the olive tree has graced the mountains and shores of Greece from as far back as 60,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence attests to the long and continuous presence of the olive tree on Greek soil. Leaves of the oldest known cultivated trees, dating back 55,000 years, have been unearthed on the […]
Greek Stuffed Vegetables
Yemista is the generic term in Greek for stuffed vegetables, and there are myriad recipes in this category of foods. Generally, stuffed vegetables are a summer preparation, and the classics include stuffed peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplants. Often these are all prepared in the same pan, with the same stuffing, and baked all together. The […]