Matteo Gozzi

Photography

RURAL ITALIAN

Traditional Methods Nearing Extinction and an Immigrant Workforce

Faced with a global market and a increasingly commercialized food industry, a few agricultural companies still exist that make use of traditional processing methods, managing to survive thanks to the activism shown by these same producers who have united themselves in consortia in order to promote their products, which are today recognized throughout the world and often feature special trademarks and certifications.

Although they may resort to the use mechanical arms or other machines, the basic principles and raw materials that they use are the same ones used long ago by their ancestors. In these settings, there is also often the presence of a foreign workforce, perhaps because they are particularly skilled in agricultural practices or possibly more simply because there are no longer any Italians willing or able to do this type of work.

This photography project has been divided into different chapters. The first has already been completed and is entitled “P.D.O. (Protected Designation of Origin) Tuscan Oil: The Traditional Method of Transforming Olives into Oil”. Upcoming chapters will focus on the subjects of cereals, cheeses and processed meat products.

P.D.O. (Protected Designation of Origin) Tuscan Oil: The Traditional Method of Transforming Olives into Oil

November 2007

In the hills of Tuscany, Italy’s leading region for the promotion of traditional food and wine products, olives are transformed into precious P.O.D. (Protected Designation of Origin) extra-virgin olive oil from Tuscany, which has become famous the world over.

Thanks to the activities of agricultural organizations and the oil mills that are associated with them, this olive oil has been awarded some special quality guarantee trademarks (P.O.D. – Protected Designation of Origin and also Protected Geographical Indication), which not only certify the production processes that are used in the oil making process, but also that the olives used to produce the oil are of 100% Tuscan origin and the processing takes place in this same region.

The traditional method of pressing olives provides for the use of stone mills, which, unlike the rotating blades that break up the olive pits and are increasingly used in modern production processes, crush both the pulp and the pit using a circular motion, thereby allowing the olives to be pressed without increasing their internal temperature. This method of transforming olives into paste (the first step in the process) results in a superior quality oil that is enriched with the original fruit’s intrinsic, organoleptic qualities.

The second phase of the transformation process provides for pressing the olive paste with the use of hydraulic presses. The paste is spread out on hemp fiber disks (to avoid altering the taste and the properties of the oil) which, after being stacked on top of one another, are slowly pressed. Only room temperature water (< 29° C) is used during the pressing phase. The use of room temperature water provides the oil with its characteristic features, preventing any alterations of its organoleptic properties, something that instead occurs when hot water is used (in almost all of the modern olive oil producing facilities hot water and often times solvents are used in order to increase output by 75%). The cold-press method, as it is called, is one of the fundamental differences used in the production of high quality olive oils.

The next and final step in the process consists in the separation of the oil from the water using a centrifuge. The final product is an exceptionally high quality olive oil, with an intense, characteristic light green color.

One aspect that is worth mentioning: the workers employed at the oil mill in these photos are citizens of Kosovo. They have become specialized in this type of work and return to Italy each year (for the past 10 years) to work at the same oil mill between the months of September and December, the traditional olive pressing season.

Photos and Text by © Matteo Gozzi 2009

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