LOCATION AND CLIMATE

 

As you might expect, olives grown in cooler areas where there is more moisture (rainfall and dew) exhibit leaner, more restrained characteristics.  This doesn’t however mean that great oil can now be made in Iceland – you need a minimum amount of sunshine to make your Extra Virgin Olive Oil taste remarkable, similarly to tomatoes or stone fruit.

Olive trees are sensitive to winter freeze (the Casaliva cultivar is more resistant to cold, hence being grown in the Garda region).  It is also easier to farm organically where the climate is more stable and less chemical sprays are required to keep the trees healthy.

OLIVE MATURITY

 

Here’s the thing – all olives are green.  When they become fully mature, they turn black.
Olive maturity at the time of harvest is a major factor in flavour and quality: olives harvested earlier (green olives) feature more bitter, grassy characteristics, with lower yields and with the highest anti-oxidant content.  The oil is a much more intense green colour and has a longer shelf-life.  In terms of production, milling can take longer with green olives (a longer malaxation - the action of slowly churning milled olives to release droplets of oil - is needed and can be more complicated) but the results are far superior!  Don’t choose olive oil from over mature fruit: it lacks all the potential goodness and flavour.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL IN GROVE AND MILL

 

People who care passionately about what they make and follow it personally every day have the capacity to create products with far higher quality, with integrity, and that taste of where they come from.  They are also able to do this by caring for the environment they inhabit.

FRANTOIO DI RIVA BOX

This box contains 6 bottles of extra virgin olive oil made exclusively by Frantoio di Riva from groves on the banks of lake Garda.

Frantoio di Riva, 46°PARALLELO green label x 3 bottles (50cl)
Frantoio di Riva, 46°PARALLELO organic white label x 1 bottle (50cl)
Frantoio di Riva, 46°PARALLELO blue label x 1 bottle (50cl)
Frantoio di Riva, ULIVA Garda Trentino DOP x 1 bottle (50cl)

Frantoi's vegetable saganaki recipe
September 3, 2020 In Summer

Frantoi’s vegetable Saganaki

We really love visiting Greece, and over the extended lockdown months we often enjoyed bringing the flavours of this extraordinary country to our table – it was our version of lockdown travel. This is our vegetarian adaptation of a traditional greek dish, which makes for a lovely summer dinner, accompanied with some bitter greens and some roast potatoes or toasted bread.

 

Serves 4 people

Ingredients

1 very large tomato (beefsteak/cuore di bue variety), sliced

1 fresh red tropea onion (or 4 spring onions), chopped

150g peppers (Anaheim variety if you can find it, otherwise bellpeppers will do), chopped

300g chicory or other green leaves

250g feta cheese

a few sprigs of fresh oregano and dill

 

In an earthenware pot pour a bit of EVOO, then layout the sliced tomatoes, salt gently, add a couple of sprigs of fresh oregano, and a bit more EVOO over the tomatoes. Leave to marinade while you prepare the other ingredients.

Cook the chopped chicory in salted boiling water, until soft. Then drain and squeeze the water our of it.

Very gently fry the onion and peppers in EVOO for 10 minutes until soft. Take care not to burn the onions.

You can now layer the rest of the dish: put the onion and peppers over the tomatoes, then the cooked greens, finally the feta, sliced. Add a little dill and a some EVOO on top.

Put the dish under the grill for about 15 minutes. Pour some EVOO on the top immediately before serving.