It’s always interesting to visit another rural part of Mallorca, because the landscape varies so much on the island. This weekend, the village of Caimari (near the mountains) is the location of the Fira de S’Oliva – a two–day celebration of all-things-olive.
When we last visited this event I was intrigued to see olive oil ice cream for sale on one of the stalls: “Must try that,” I said, digging into my purse for some change. “I’ll treat us.” It turned out not to be much of a treat for The Boss, who abandoned his cone in disgust after just one rather reluctant lick. I, however, thought it was delicious.
The emblem of the Fira de S’Oliva will be seen everywhere in Caimari this weekend
Green, Black, and Liquid Gold
Although our tastes in ice cream may vary, we both enjoy eating olives, olivada (the local version of tapenade), and olive-studded bread, and we use virgin olive oil in the kitchen and at the table. So the temptation to do something with our own olive harvest eventually became too great . . .
Next time I’ll tell you about my attempt at preserving our olives – which doesn’t quite compare to the scale of the olive project successfully carried out by some Engish friends here.
Jan Edwards Copyright 2012
Hi Jan. Thanks -have just started receiving your enjoyable blog…keep them coming. Look forward to hearing about preserving olives…if you know of anyone doing olives in olive oil on the island let me know…try as I might, I still dont like the brine preserved ones that are so ubiquitous….am sure german taste though! Unfortunately wont be there in time for the olive festival….Enjoy the tastings. Julie Benz
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Thanks, Julie, for your kind words. I’ve not yet found anyone here who sells olives in oil – although I’ve found restaurants that sometimes offer them (usually prepared in house). When I worked in Oxford there was a lovely deli just down the road from the Beeb and they sold the best ever olives in herby oil – the sort of thing I thought we’d be eating when we arrived. I do like the brine-preserved ones, but do much prefer them in oil – which prompted my home-made attempt!