Olive Oil in the South Pontino

Since the 5th century A.C. on the Aurunci Mountains overlooking the sea around Gaeta’s Gulf every slope is covered with wonderful olive groves. In the 1st century the famous ancient naturalist Plinius the “Old” described and praised the olive oil from this area of southern Lazio in his famous book of Natural History. More recently in the 17th century the olive tree cultivation became very common in all the small villages on the internal mountains within the Aurunci Natural Park .

             Olives in a Tree

Old literature proves the existence of numerous old stone crushers in the valleys and hills all around. Some of them are still active today. Recently, some local productions have been reported for the excellence of their quality to the Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil Guide 2004 edition by the Slow Food Publishers. The oil produced within the Aurunci area is obtained from the transformation of a mono-variety drupe of the ‘cultivar Itrana’ which presents a double aptitude for both oil and table olives. This allows the production of two different varieties of olive oil.

The first one comes from less ripe olives usually pickled starting from mid-November to the end of December. The local quality of olive oil is quite strong and characterized by an intense green-yellowish color, slightly veiled transparency with an intense background taste of bitter fruits and wild herbs. It is important to crush the olives within 48 hours after they have been pickled and delivered to the millstone in wood boxes. The best and most natural method is the traditional cold press with a stone wheel, an antique technique that is still used within the Aurunci area.

With the traditional millstone called ‘frantoio’ in Italian the olive are then crushed and pressed to obtain the oil. This is done by a vertical press, which slowly allows the oil to leak into the tubs mixed with water. The liquid contained in the tubs is then filtered to separate the oil from the water and then stored into containers to be kept dry and cool. The oil is filtered again after four months to remove any remaining sediments. Olive oil stored correctly can be kept for some years without loosing its nutritional values even though as time goes by the product may loose a bit of aroma and taste.

The South Pontino extra virgin olive oil produced between November and January is particularly recommended for all cereal or vegetable-based dishes as well as soups and other natural products such as the local wild wood-mushrooms and meat. The oil produced in the springtime is more suitable for fresh, row vegetables, fish and for general cooking and frying and type of sea and land produce.