Olive Picking in Calabria

If Calabrians had to choose a single food they were most proud of, it very well may be the olive. Not only do they eat them with their aperitivo in the evening, but they also turn these tiny fruits into green gold.

Olive oil is as essential to southern cooking as butter is to northern cooking, and if you're lucky, you can see how it's made in the fall.

Il Raccolto: Olive Picking for All

While harvesting olives may sound like hard work, it can also be fun. Family and friends gather in the morning, and after a few lighthearted jokes, begin the work.

Some opt for the old-school method of climbing the tree and shaking or picking the olives to fall below onto a large net. Others invest in a machine that does the shaking for them. The others crouch on the ground and toss the olives into buckets.

I (Su) experienced my first raccolto this year, helping my fiance's family with the harvest. The family has land in the mountains above Davoli, with a breathtaking view of the valley below.

We started in the morning, and after just a few hours, four of us had filled three large sacks with olives. I was so proud of my hard work! After a large lunch, I was ready for a nap.

Many families have inherited the trees and the land they grow on from grandparents and great-grandparents. Some trees are hundreds of years old, though ours are just 50 years old.

It's considered an honor to have fruitful trees, since they'll fuel the meals for the rest of the year. No need to go to the supermarket to buy oil!

What Happens to the Olives Next?

Our family carefully picks the healthier olives to preserve. My fiance's mother soaks them in water and then puts them in jars with slices of lemon and sprigs of fennel. They're ready to enjoy, and are so delicious!

The rest of the olives are taken to the frantoio, where they crush the olives to make oil. Once upon a time, the olives were crushed by a large stone turned by donkeys, but today technology has made the process easier.

After that, it's time to enjoy the oil! New oil is delicious sprinkled on bruschetta or as a salad dressing!

Picking olives in Calabria gives you a strong appreciation of how the olives you enjoy arrived on your plate. And to harvest them in such a beautiful setting only adds more pleasure to the experience.