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Liquid gold October 23, 2006

‘You plant vineyards for your children,
Olive groves you plant for the grandchildren’

It is coming up to olive harvesting time so we take a timely look at the crop that has meant so much to Cyprus down the years

For those who grew up in Britain during the fifties, sixties and seventies, knowledge of olive oil was probably limited to it being used to relieve ear ache. The sole purveyor of this remarkable liquid was the high street chemist who would have decanted it into a small but serious looking medicine phials.

It is not the most distinguished of introductions to what the ancient Greeks revered as ‘liquid gold’. Perhaps such a use is indicative of Britain’s position when it comes to competing in the international culinary stakes.

All that’s changed now of course with Britons as keen as everyone else to drizzle it over food, eat it as paste on bread, use it to cleanse and massage the body, while the wood makes for lovely furniture and some extremists even swim the chilly English channel covered in gallons of the stuff. If rubbed on wasp stings, olive oil reportedly prevents swelling and kills the pain, it has been used to clean diamonds, even bathing babies in olive oil was considered essential in order to boost the digestive system. Not useful enough? In earlier times olive oil was used to calm hemorrhoids. Olive oil is now used in cosmetics and medicines.

The ancients used it instead of charcoal, creating the first olive fuel during the Cyprus copper boom, as it was used in furnaces to help melt the precious copper. Bodies were known to have been preserved in it through the embalming process and for centuries this ‘holy oil’ has anointed a multitude of kings and queens.

For over 4,000 years it has also represented the essential aspirations of man, it has become a symbol of life, hope, beauty, peace and fertility.

So prized was this amber liquid that only a few merchants in ancient Greece were allowed to hold a licence to sell olive oil, and those that owned this precious piece of paper were the richest in the land. Instead of being awarded medals, Greek athletes competing in the earliest Olympic Games were each presented with five tons of olive oil and a special dispensation and license to become olive oil merchants. They then became exceedingly rich selling on their Liquid Gold winnings.

The Cypriots are privileged to experience at almost every turn the visual spectacle of hundreds upon hundreds of olive trees as they show off their silvery leaves when they shimmer and shake in the wind.

But for Lina and Andreas Ellinas, olive trees and their products have become more than something pretty to view, they are their livliehood. They have laboured long and hard to create the visitor attraction Oleastro, which is devoted to honouring the olive tree and its position in Cyprus history.

They have created a haven of peace and enjoyment coupled with some very gentle education close to the relatively unspoilt village of Anogyra.

Totting up the plus points for making a visit to Oleastro starts with the pleasant drive up there, once off the motorway and onto the Pachna road, there is a further 10km of road that meanders through relaxing countryside, passing the odd goat farm. Wild flowers abound, carob and olive trees dot the landscape and nowhere are there visible signs (as yet) of any developer’s concrete confections. This is one part of the island where locals have seemingly stood firm on their land and, like the olive groves that abound in this area, they seem intent on passing the land and olives on to their grandchildren.

The House of the Olive is set high on a hill just a few kilometers outside the village and it is here the Ellinas family has transformed what was once just a dream into a reality. After years planning and raising much needed finance, they have finally completed their long-term plans. They can feel justifiably proud as Oleastro is one of the island’s nicer visitor centres. The idea is to have visitors meander round the well laid out grounds, where, every few metres, they will encounter another interesting exhibit or written notice offering yet more information about the olive tree.

I, for one, had no idea of the amazing regenerative properties of the tree, that it can be sliced open, burnt and almost hacked to death, but there in front of me was such a (now rescued) specimen and, surrounding its burnt out shell fresh new shoots were already bursting forth in spite of the damage.

A visit to Oleastro offers a complete who, why, what, where and when of the olive tree. Did you know, for example, it is among the oldest cultivated trees in the world, having flourished long before even written language was invented?

An olive tree takes around four to 10 years to produce fruit, and another 20 years to become fully productive. Such was the value set on the olive groves that if any man was found to have cut one down on his land, he was immediately stoned to death.

At Oleastro there is a successful marriage of education and entertainment: children will enjoy playing in the (safe) environmentally-friendly play area, or go in search of Peter Rabbit who has been recruited as a permanent (albeit shy) olive picker. Little ones will also enjoy a short, gentle escorted ride around the paddock on one of the pair of resident Shetland ponies.

The well stocked Oleastro gift shop is the place to visit and buy goodies for any enthusiastic olive gourmet. On display is a huge range of different sized oil bottles, some glass others in attractive, olive-emblazoned, porcelain containers. They also sell their organic olive oil laced with different herbs and you can order special gift baskets (ideal for Christmas), where the oil is complemented by jars of carob honey, mini sacks of organic herbs, olive paste, balsamic vinegar and cakes of delicious olive-scented soap. On sale are pretty porcelain dishes, dinner plates, salad bowls, biscuit jars, oil and vinegar condiment sets.

Oleastro has opened a rather nice cafe for a mid morning snack (try the village bread, organic sliced tomatoes topped with a pinch of dried oregano and some local tiny black olive). It also does a Sunday buffet lunch (£6) of delicious, home-made dishes including Lina’s grandmother’s recipe for Tavas, using goat meat that has been baked for hours in the clay oven along with lashing of onions, served with bulgar wheat.

In a world of unreasonable use of chemicals in the general production of our foodstuffs, Oleastro is one place striving to help restore the ecological balance and, at the same time, protecting not only the environment but also our health.

Oleastro
Anogyra. Tel: 99 525093 or 99 565768. info@oleastro.com.cy, www.oleastro.com.cy. Open from 10am to 7pm daily. Entrance: £1.50 adult £1 for children.