I've been to many a winery, several cheese farms, and have even participated in the making of gourmet Italian chocolates, but never had I seen olive oil production in action! That is, until last week when we visited the olive mill at Tenuta di Cappezzana in Carmignano. The picture above is of my director, Alan, and Vincent, our resident French pastry chef slash partner of our visiting Georgetown professor, Paul.
I can't think of anyone who wouldn't want to be a part of this Bonacossi family. They live in a Medici villa (by extension-apparently the family gave it to a daughter when she married), their ancestors were collectors who donated a private collection of European art and antique furniture to the Uffizi, and they spend their days living in the gorgeous Tuscan countryside producing quality wine and olive oil. I mean, come on. Do you have any single males in the family?
But I digress. Let me walk you through the process! First, the part we didn't see was them collecting the olives from the trees, making sure to let all the olives fall naturally into their nets but never hit the ground lest they bruise. Then, within 24 hours of picking they bring them to this guy who funnels them into the machine and picks out large bunches of leaves.
Next, the olives make their way through a fresh water shower and into a machine that churns them into a paste-leaves, pits, skins and all!
Before you know it, the olives are making their way through another tube into the, drum roll please, SUPERDECANTER, where they are spun a trillion times a second (I might be exaggerating), until the centrifugal force separates the oil from the solid and the oil begins to trickle out the other side. Cool, huh? I bet you never thought olive oil was supposed to look like buttery snot, but boy, is it delicious nonetheless.
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