Olives in Israel

There are many kinds of olives; in different color, shape and every kind has its own use, one for oil, one for eating and more…

In the Jewish history olives were important, the olive oil was the most important product and also was a big industry, it was like the symbol of the Menora and the Hanuka miracle, today it is less important, its primary use is cooking, because it’s a little bit more healthy then regular oil, but, lots of people eat olives and one of the best examples is topping pizza, in the past, people ate much less olives then in the present.

Today Israel is one of the best olive oil producers and so it does the same about the quality.

To produce the olive oil, the olives must go through several stages:

First the Masik (the olive harvest);

Then they need to be cleaned.

The hashing;

Then they need to be mixed for 20-60 minutes;

Then the liquid is separated from the solids,

And last, the oil is separated from the regular water.       

The most popular olive oil producer is Beit Hashita company (although there are many small factories that sell their oil to big companies and of-course home made oil) 

See original full sized image: http://www.travelcreek.com/olives.jpg

by Jonathan