Memories of my childhood
Walk in the hills
Come with me to go for a walk by the discovery of these picturesque old workings and to admire the planted interior gardens of odorous jasmines, hortansias and the shaded terraces of vine and the mandolins with the flowerd vats of geraniums and the accessible porches of the houses.
A good weather it would be pleasant to continue the walk in these hills, arround the village, in these sown white stone squares, the Olive tree cherishes with obstinacy the celestial blue of its fixed arms. The indifferent sun flames the eyes and the ground.
Silence brother of the night settles. The sky without tiredness pushes the sun, with far towards cliffs. The evening weaves its calm noises. The olive trees take a dark color green.
Some money glares recall us that the sun is still there. The parents drink the last tea of the day or the turkish coffee, that they swallow with small fill up by telling stories of their youths and their memories of childhood passed in this village.
After the turning, under the giant olive tree which plunges its roots in the drained torrent freshness falls finally. One hears the bells of the sheep and goats which hastle themselves to spend the night, the cattle shed is not far.
Houses fixed on the slope, stone, rock, but also a soothing shade of oaks and charbines, frays to the perfumes of jasmines. It is my goal : to breathe the odor of a farm of my childhood.
OH ! HOW I LOVE MY VILLAGE "DEBBIEH", WICH REMINDS ME OF MY CHILDHOOD
The humain beinng remembers a certain number of events which proceeded during its life, and forgets others of them, without knowing the causes which chaired the recall of the ones and with the lapse of memory of the others.
One moment when I was only with, only with myself and that I forgot all that surrounded me and was of all its weight on my shoulders, the image of a completed past drew up itself in front of my eyes, pointing out to me my village, the period of my childhood with its sometimes pleasant sometimes terrible events.
The period of childhood is crowned, it is liked for what it represents at the same time the reason of our belief in this life full with fight and a page of happiness which is transmitted to us by a forever completed past.
I remember, of the marvellous picnics in the medium of wood voyages of dream, arguments of hell.
"Debbieh", small village of the caza Chouf, is the destination impossible to circumvent of in love with calms, walk and nature. Various hiking roads through wood, hills and valleys make it possible by the same occasion to discover a rich area in kind. "Debbieh" has escaped, as by miracle, with the modernism which reached the most moved back corners of the lebanese mountain.
It is very nice to be able to visit my village "Debbieh", it sure would be nice.
HOW OLIVE OIL IS PRODUCED
Elegant, grey-green leaves retained all year and tiny, fragrant, creamy- white flowers, followed in hot summers by edible, green fruits. This olive tree makes an excellent specimen for a sunny, Mediterranean-style garden. Slow-growing with a clear stem, making it perfect for planting in a large container that can be over-wintered under glass.
Olive oil is a natural juice which preserves the taste, aroma, vitamins and properties of the olive fruit. Olive oil is the only vegetable oil that can be consumed as it is - freshly pressed from the fruit.
http://www.eat-online.net/english/education/olive_oil/how_is_produced.htm
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Washing the harvested olives with potable water and removing the leaves are the preliminary steps in this ancient process. The foreign material, if left, would adversely affect the flavor of the resulting product and damage the modern equipment that is currently used. Crushing the olives with either stone mills or metal crushers produces a paste with easily extracted oil droplets within the resulting crushed substance. The older of the two methods is the use of stone crushers consisting of a stone base and upright millstones enclosed in a metal basin. There are usually scrapers to clean the millstones and paddles and blades to circulate and expel the paste. This process ensures that the paste is not overheated (which would adversely affect the flavor of the oil), the oil is Metal crushers rotate at high speed throwing the olives against a metal grating. The oil is usually extracted from the paste by continuous centrifugation. The advantages include speed, continuous operation, low cost and high output. The primary disadvantages include the likelihood for metal
Extraction of the "liquid gold" is accomplished by pressing, percolation or centrifugation. Pressing is the oldest and most common method of oil extraction by applying pressure to stacked mats, smeared with paste, that alternate with metal disks. The oil is then expressed through a central spike. The advantages of this method include the use of simple, reliable machinery and little initial investment; the low energy requirement; a resulting pomace that is low in moisture/liquid content and precious little oil is lost to the water component. The disadvantages include a high labor intensity and the production is, therefore, not continuous. Percolation incorporates the use of a metal plate dipped into the mixed paste which in theory becomes wetted with oil, and not with oil mixed with water, when withdrawn. The oil then drips off the plate. The disadvantage of this process is that it is inefficient because the wet pomace remaining still contains a great deal of olive oil. That is why the percolation process, if used at all, is usually combined with another process such as pressing or centrifugation, discussed below; however, the high initial cost and energy requirements, the resulting wet pomace and a high amount of remaining olive oil still attached to water make this procedure less than ideal. Centrifugation uses high-speed centrifuges that extract the oil from the beaten paste through a fine screen. The advantages include speed of process, efficient and compact equipment/machinery and low labor requirement. The disadvantages include a high investment cost for equipment and trained ersonnel, high energy requirements, a pomace with a high moisture content and lost oil still attached to the water. The "waste" consists of solid and liquid waste. The solid waste uses include:
As a component of fertilizer and mulch, the olive waste should be mixed with soil and bark and should not be concentrated over the olive tree roots because the roots may burn. Usually, the olive waste is distributed around an orchard or farm and it serves as a natural herbicide, discouraging grass and weed growth. Some American farmers have reported the emergence of red clover where previously none existed. Red clover is a dynamic accumulator of nitrogen and phosphorous, and the presence of red clover (trifolium protense) is also an indicator of potassium. This olive residue material is also a component of feed for animals such as cattle and poultry; however, goats and sheep eat it "straight" separating the edible portion from the woody parts. Americans use tons of the olive waste mixed with bitumen as a component of road construction material. Olive bricks, although lighter than traditional bricks, are also created from this solid residue as well as breeding material for worm breeding farms. The chemical analysis of the solid waste consists of:
The liquid waste water, according to ancient Roman texts, was used as a herbicide and insecticide. Modern research, however, has not yet uncovered viable uses to which this waste can be put. On the contrary, science has warned against depositing this substance into lakes, rivers or the sea due to the polyphenol. The acidity renders an excess of this waste water phytotoxic which can result in pollution. Constantine Alexander |
In order to extract the precious oil , or flesh cells, of the olive fruit, the extraction process naturally focuses on the separation of the oil and supplementary liquids from the solid material.
Mixing or beating the paste prepares the paste for separation of the oil from the pomace. This part of the process is important if the paste was made from metal crushers. This process will maximize the amount of oil to be extracted from the paste by breaking up the oil/water emulsion and forming
The most exciting use is fuel due to the extremely high cost of energy sources around the world. In Jordan, the primary use of pressing waste is fuel to heat households and power kilns. If completely dried, the solid waste is pressed into logs for burning yielding extremely intense burning and an aromatic scent. Commercially sold charcoal consists in part of dried solid olive waste. This fuel source is environmentally non-polluting and biodegradable. The Turkish Daily News recently reported that Selcuk Gida has applied to the Energy Ministry for permission to produce energy from the olive oil cake. This kind of energy production would be a first in Turkey. The energy power station will cost $20 million and be established in Aydin's Germencik district. Sixty percent of the energy will be sold to Turkey Electric Distributing Company (TEDAS). The company Selcuk Gida is known to consumers of dried fruit which is sold under the Eagle Brand."Our olive oil , it was deeeeeeeeeeelicious. I have never tasted olive oil like that before."
