Valencian Liquid Gold

Late November, early December, as any farmer will tell you, is the time to harvest the olives, and the Valencian fields vibrate with all kinds of devices designed to wrest this extraordinary fruit from its branches.

Although most people think of Andalucia when thinking of olives, in fact six of the 23 varieties cultivated in Spain are Valencian. I refer of course to the Villalonga, Blanqueta,Farga,  Serrana  de  Espadán,  Changlot  Real  and Alfafara olives.

A visit to the delightful village of Beniatiar in late November was an opportunity to see the whole process of turning the fruit into liquid gold in the local co-operative.

And if you often wonder what the Romans ever did for us, well, they brought the olive here to be cultivated, and built roads, and public baths; but those are other stories.

Today, Spain provides about 44% of the world’s olive oil, a production of approximately 1.2 million tons, or 400 Olympic swimming pools full if you prefer that kind of thing.

The best oil comes from the first pressing, which gives us the virgin extra category.

The fields around Beniatiar are colourful at this time of year as the persimmons are swinging anxiously, ripely from the ever increasing number of trees being planted here, and the oranges and mandarins are ready too.