OLIVES

 

The island of olives

There are over 11 million olive trees on Lesvos and in most places the beautiful silvery-green groves seem endless, and the olives have been and still are an important part of the Lesviots lives and culture.

 

 

The process from tree to oil:

A lot of work has been done before a healthy olive tree is ready to be harvested: the ground has been dug, tended and watered, branches cut and new ground-shots removed. In a good season, by waiting until the olives get a darker shade, 500 kilo of olives can give over 100 liters of oil.

 

Little has changed in the process of harvesting, crushing and pressing olives. For most olive tree owners - which are more or less every family on Lesvos - the harvesting is still done by the family members. Sometime during the harvesting season from end of October to end of February, young and old go to the groves early in the morning, working and then gathering for a outdoor meal mid-day. The olives are shaken and beaten down from the trees, collected and transported to the olive press. Because of the landscape, most places donkeys and horses are still used to carry the olives down hill, only a few places can machinery be used in the harvest.

 

In the early beginnings olives were crushed into pulp between moving stones rotated by manpower or animals. The olive-pulp was gathered in horsehair bags, stacked in the press and the oil slowly pressed out as the wooden screws tightened the wooden beams. At the same time hot water was flushed over, separating water and oil.

The same principles are still used today, only with more modern and effective tools in the many and small olive presses on Lesvos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The golden times:

During Antiquity all of the Aegean Sea was dotted with the Olea Euro olive tree. After thousands of years with experimenting, the Lesviots had become able to collect the olive trees’ fruits and refine its juice, probably amongst the first civilizations to cultivate the tree. Remains of a primitive olive press from around 2800 – 2000 BC proves the inhabitants of Lesvos able of making olive oil already in the Bronze Age.

 

The farming-based Aeolians came to Lesvos, and from the 8th century BC there was a boom in commerce, opening the island to new ideas, democracy and giving an increased focus on olives. By then the cultivation and worshipping of the olive tree had spread to all of Greece, with olive branches crowning Olympic winners and cups of oil given as awards in competitions.

In ancient times food from hunting and gathering was regarded as barbarian. In contrast man-made products such as olive oil, bread and wine was elevated and regarded as sacred symbols of the Greek man’s victory over dependency on existential needs and nature’s raw products.

 

Wine was still the most greeted product on Lesvos in ancient times, but cultivation of olive trees rapidly reached such an importance its leaves where pictured on Lesviot coins. By the 3rd century AD olive groves covered large areas of the island, and the oil was widely recognized for its good quality.

 

The island was reduced to a mere shadow of it former self by the Byzantine era. The Gateluzzi family that ruled the island 1354 – 1462 luckily saw the value of the olives, and encouraged further cultivation and export. The ancient city of Mithymna was also given its current name under the Genovese: they called this beautiful and fertile town and area Mont Olivos – Olive Mountain, today shortened into Molivos.

Even when Lesvos was under Turkish occupation (1462-1912), the handling of the olive trees was in the hands of locals, giving the Lesviots a sphere of their own and extra income under the occupation.

 

 

Disaster and a new start:

After weeks of rain and mild winds, the olive trees enjoyed an early spring in January 1850. Then suddenly on the night of the 10th, disaster struck: extreme cold set in, causing olives to freeze and burst, completely destroying olive groves all over Lesvos. Not only the entire olive harvest was destroyed in the Great Frost in 1850; as domestic animals also died, many Lesviots had to emigrate and start new lives elsewhere.

 

Those that stayed started all over again and showed some of the Lesviot endurance: The decision was made to replace all the olive trees, and new species more resistant to cold were bought and replanted. The old trees were chopped down and made into charcoal sold all over and beyond the Mediterranean. Fresh soil was carried up hills manually; manpower was brought down from northern Greece to help build terraces for the new trees. The olive trees grew up to be three times bigger than the previous ones, and the disaster turned out to be a new beginning for the island.

 

 

 

In the period 1850-1910 olive oil made up 70% of the island’s export, going amongst other places to Marseille, England, Istanbul, Russia and France, and the islands’ economy changed for the better. New technology improved the olive-pressing process, and the remains from the pressing process were used to produce olive soap.

The profit from the export was reinvested; the Bank of Mitilini and the high profile Aegean Shipping was established, and the capital Mitilini, on of the oldest cities in Europe, became even more important and wealthy.

 

In 1912 Lesvos was liberated from the Turks, but hard times were to come: The thousands of deported Greeks arriving from Asia Minor put an additional strain on the already struggling island, so did the Depression, and then the 2nd World War. By then Lesvos was no more than a rather neglected province of Greece, missing even the basic infrastructure and goods. The Lesviots tried without muck luck to compensate by exporting their famous oil, but was hindered by cheap seed oil arriving in Greece as “aid”, and by lesser purchase power from previous buyers. After the military dictatorship (Junta) ended in 1974, Greece has been re-developed and integrated into the European community, yet keeping parts of the traditional life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Olive oil quality:

The quality of the Lesvos oil is very high: Since very few groves can be tended to or harvested in an industrial way, the use of fertilizers is also very low. The olives are normally pressed in one of the many smaller presses immediately after being collected, the process carefully watched by the grove-owner. The climate, soil, tree-varieties as well as the human factor is what makes the olive oil from Lesvos so special.

It has a very smooth taste and a healthy, liquid texture. The golden colour is caused by low levels of chlorophyll, these low levels keeping it from going rancid, and the oil has the unique aroma of Aegean olives.

Lesvos’ Virgin Oil has even been recognized by the European Union as a product with Protected Geographical Indication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s situation:

The situation for olive-oil exporters is difficult, as markets have changed and competition increased. Despite the high quality, you will most likely not find Lesvos oil in your local shop as products from other countries and areas dominate.

The selling-price for oil is so low that some now have stopped to harvest or tend to their trees. For the most part families only harvest and press enough olives to keep the household with oil; an average Lesviot is estimated to consume around 35 liters of virgin olive oil annually.

But the importance, potential and amount of olive trees is still exceptional on Lesvos: Here are 126 olive trees per person, a higher rate than anywhere else in the world. The terraces built around the hillside trees keep the entire ecosystem on the island alive, and totally the olive groves produce some 20.000 tons of high quality olives yearly.

 

 

 

Use of olive products:

Most food you are served on Lesvos contains local olive oil. High quality oil is used at all stages: for frying, for grilling, for marinating and cooking. Most dishes get a little (or more) oil on just before serving, and all kafenions and taverns with self-respect has small bottles of oil available on the tables so you can add as you please. Both in homes and shops you find eatable olives in a variety of colours, sizes and tastes.

Using wood from olive trees in the fireplace also gives a lasting and nice-smelling fire, and if it should be reluctant to burn, used oil can be poured over. Olive oil is used in churches and homes to keep the sacred flame burning, and you can buy natural olive soap that is as good for the skin as it is for floors and laundry, and many beautiful and practical items are made of olive wood.

 

 

 

 

On special request Hotel Pasiphae can arrange for your small group to participate in the olive harvesting the traditional way, learning the process as a part of the family, and following the olive from tree to ready oil.

 

 

 

 

 

OUZO

 

Lesvos and its Ouzo.

Ouzo is an alcoholic drink of exclusively Greek origin, and many claims that the best ouzo in Greece is made on Lesvos. Most of the traditional cafés, kafenions, all over the nation has one or several of the Lesvos brands, but the biggest variety you find on the island itself. Ouzo is not only a drink with licorice-taste: drinking ouzo is a way of life and when enjoyed with mezedes (small plates with appetizers), the company, discussions and pleasurable tastes are more important than the drink itself.

In Hotel Pasiphae we have a large variety of ouzo brands, hoping you find your very own favourite.

 

 

The name and history

The word ”ouzo” is unfortunately not from the ancient ”Ou Zo”, meaning ”I do not live (without it)”, even if this explanation is superb for festive events.

The original name of the drink is raki (pronounced rakii). Rakos is a grape-rag and raki being the drink made on the left over from trodden grapes.

When the first cargo of raki left Greece for Marseille around 1800, it had to go through customs in Genoa. The officer who handled it wrote ”USO a Marseille” on it, meaning “for use in Marseille”. The trader who received the cargo noticed this just briefly, and when he placed a second, larger order he asked for the USO his customers liked so much. This user-friendly name stuck, and the drink is today mostly called ouzo. An exception is on Lesvos, where it many places is common to ask for raki.

 

Already in the Byzantine Era there was extensive knowledge about the distillation process on the coast of Asia Minor,  also on the nearby Lesvos. In this period Greeks and Turks lived together in both countries, and professional raki distillers from either country were called rakitzides. After the ban on alcohol was abolished in Turkey and the taste for raki reached the elite, the Ottomans even gave the rakitzides special privileges.

 

The drink got very poplar very fast, but as it was possible to achieve more or less the same taste by just mixing alcohol with anise and herbs, there were worries about the quality. To make sure only ”real” raki could be produced, all pure alcohol shipped from the ports in Constantinople and Smyrna had a coloured substance added to it: Only possible to remove by distilling.

 

In 1922, when Greeks were deported from Turkey (as Turks where from Greece), many Greek rakitzides from Asia Minor came to to Lesvos. New distilleries emerged, and the cooperation between refugees and local distillers gave a great boost for inventions, the production process and consumption.

 

 

Making ouzo in the past and present.

Liquid from fermented grape-rags was the basis for ouzo distilling in earlier times. Double distillation was used; in the first anise seed and fennel seeds were added, in the second many different aromatics, depending on what was the wish for the final product’s properties. (Examples are ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, mastic or barley). You can no longer buy this kind of ouzo, but many would say the more modern version is to prefer as it has both less taste and alcohol.

 

Today ouzo is made of pure alcohol from grapes, the anise sometimes replaced by pure essential oils or synthetic preparations. The alcohol-content is an average of 40%, and due to the popularity of the drink, small amounts of sugar could be added in the process to make the alcohol-rich drink more palatable. But the characteristic taste is without doubt still there, as is the traditional use.

 

 

A few ouzo brands.

In Plomari, south on Lesvos, there are 4 factories distilling ouzo. Here you also find the only ouzo museum in Greece on the premises of the Varvayannis Bros. Distillery, started in 1860 and still using natural ingredients. Another factory in Plomari is Yannatsi distilleries (1932), using only local grapes and is as Varvayiannis offering guided tours in their factory for those wanting to see how the drink is made.

One of the most promoted brands on the island comes from the Union of Distillers of Mitilini (Greek initials EPOM): MINI ouzo. In Agia Paraskevi, a neighbouring small-town to Kalloni, the Kronos ouzo is produced at the Galinis Distillery.

 

 

To go for an ouzo.

To "go for an ouzo" is something quite different from going for a meal or a drink. Whether at lunch-time or in the evening, sitting down to order ouzo and delicious mezedes (appetizers) is much more than just drinking and eating.

Traditionally the kafenion - the local ouzo-serving "cafe" - has been a place exclusively for men. In many village this is still the case: the men and husbands gather in the kafenions, the women and wives in or around the houses.

What kafenion to go to to depends mostly on two things: what party you vote and who you are related to. If a family-member runs a kafenion, you more or less have to go there, or you chose the owner and clientele with the same political colour as you.

With a new renaissance for ouzo-gatherings, its old function as a setting to discuss personal and political issues, to make deals, play cards or backgammon, and to get new and nurture old connections and friendships, is kept alive. Some might say the kafenions have more importance for business, politics and practicalities than offices and jobs established for such purposes.

Not many of the authentic kafenions are left, especially not in tourist-resorts as these have been replaced by more fancy establishments to attract customers.

But on Lesvos you can still find them. There are several in the villages around Kalloni, even in Kalloni Town, and most villages on the island have one or more kafenions. Even in the popular small-town of Molivos there is one; started and run by the municipality and becoming increasingly more famous for its authenticy all over Greece.

 

Ouzo sharpens the appetite and loosens the tongue, and to be asked to go for an ouzo is an invitation to discussions, relaxation and friendship.

Traditionally ouzo is drunk from small glasses, giving you the opportunity to slowly drink and refill your glass, and also: your nose is outside of the glass edge, hindering you from inhaling the alcoholic fumes and causing unwanted or early drunkenness. Together with your chosen ouzo comes a jug of water and often a bowl with ice cubes to the table.

50 - 50 is a normal mix of water and ouzo, and when you add water to the ouzo, the drink becomes white as milk because of special features with the added anise.

 

 

Some tips when going for an ouzo:

Here are some hints to help you on the way on how to go for an ouzo like the Lesviots do it:

 

Cheers!    Γειά μας !     Ya mas!

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright ©: Okeanides, 2006