Spice every room in the house with the aroma of burning olive twigs
By Albert Fenech
In days of yore, every Palm Sunday was a special occasion when those attending Holy Mass in church were presented with a dried olive twig with dried leaves to signify peace and block evil and the system was to simmer a twig and carry the twig’s simmering aroma into every room of the house to signify peace and drive out hostile spirits.
The majority of mothers in Malta and Gozo did the same and assured that a dried twig with leaves would adorn an area near the entry door for the same reason – to bless every incomer and block any incoming evil.
This however, is a minor aside from the splendour and magnificence of olive trees growing in Malta, their history, their production of olives and as a source of olive oil.
Throughout total history, olive trees, olives and olive oil have been a pillar of commercial heritage for the islands of Malta and Gozo.
Inscriptions on stones at Hagar Qim and Mnajdra from 5.000 years ago clearly depict olive trees although there is no indication of their use.
This changed 2,000 years ago when the Phoenicians first landed in Malta and introduced olive crushing techniques to provide oil, essential to their sailors on their travels throughout the Mediterranean.
The Phoenicians had invented stone crushers to squeeze the oil out of olives to supply their ship stores on their travels. Malta’s geophysical situation in the middle of the Mediterranean proved a vital re-supply depot for Phoenician ships.
The olive tree is a small evergreen tree and grows throughout the Mediterranean area and in parts of the world which have a Mediterranean climate, including California, parts of South Africa and parts of Western and South Australia.
Olive trees are today used to define the extent of the Mediterranean climate, characterised by mainly hot dry summers and somewhat mild wet winters.
Olive trees require 30 to 100 centimetres of rain falling mainly in autumn and winter but do not survive if the soil is frozen for a number of days.
The cultivation of olives started thousands of years ago in the Eastern Mediterranean by the early Phoenicians who found them highly nutritious and edible and crushable to produce essential digestive oil.
Their cultivation was later transported to other parts of the Mediterranean by the Phoenicians and eventually by the Greeks.
During the Roman period olive estates existed on Malta such as the one at San Pawl Milqi (meaning St Paul well-met) in Burmarrad.
They were here also highly prominent during the Arab period, as can be confirmed by a number of Semitic place names such as Żebbuġ in both Malta and Gozo (in Maltese olives are Zebbug), Żejtun (in Maltese zejt is oil and thus an area for olive oil) and Birżebbuġa (meaning a well of oil).
Unwittingly, many olive trees that grew in the Maltese islands were cut down, either for firewood or more likely to make way for new crops such as wheat and cotton until international recognition of their importance and olive groves sprouted everywhere and are a profitable and nutritious blessing today.
With the re-establishment in Malta and Gozo of the olive industry in the late 1990s, international cultivars were introduced, mainly originating from Spain and Italy, the most common including Frantoio, Leccino, Carolea, Pendolino and Cipressino for oil varieties, as well as Uova di Piccione and Bella di Spagna for table varieties.
Natasha Farrugia, a senior agricultural officer who was in charge of olive tree and olive oil production at the Malta Agriculture Directorate said “Carbon dating has proved these trees are some 2,000 years old”.
A field of magnificent trees with huge trunks and intricate designs; a work of art in themselves, are found in the rural village of Bidnija. These have been growing for centuries and are known as ‘Bidni’, possibly named after the village Bidnija (meaning arable land fertile for crop growing)..
They are still in production today and their fruit is known to be quite resistant to disease, especially to the attack of the olive fruit fly. Unlike the fruit from other varieties, Bidni trees allow the fruit to ripen on the tree even when subject to an attack.
This variety is a vigorous grower of strong scaffold structure. The leaves are typically broad and short and the fruit is very small with a comparatively small stone. The fruit is rich in oil, rich in flavour and free from bitterness, therefore it can be considered as a dual purpose variety. Fruit ripens around October or early November and turns to a dark violet colour at maturity.
Other old olive cultivars include ‘Il-Malti’ meaning the Maltese Olive, ‘Il-Ħelwa ta’ Sqallija’ – the sweet Sicilian olive, ‘L-Imrajja ta’ Marsala’ – the Marsala olive, and ‘Il-Bajda’ – the white olive.
Whatever the origin, a sumptuous plate of food like a variety of broiled vegetables but particularly fresh fish and a variety of meats sprinkled generously with olive oil provide a gourmet of generous eating!
When in Malta cooking or eating out, INSIST on the provision of olive oil! You are in the Mediterranean!
ALBERT FENECH
