Olive oil is the solution to Egypt's edible oil shortage?

Khaled Hanafi, Minister of  Supply, announced yesterday Egypt will import 89.000 tons of edible oil, adding that this quantity and the residual stock will fulfill the national demand for a period of six months. The population growth is now one of the cause of the continuous shortage of edible oil that Minister of supply is trying to face. The per capita consumption of edible oil and greases is of about 13 kg per year.

The oils to be purchased are soybean oil (61 tons) and sunflower oil (28 tons). These imported oils probably will fill the gap left by the increased consumption and population but these kind of purchases could represent a  short term solution but Egyptian politicians must be determined to think about a long term strategy in order to solve radically the issue.

A camel near Giza Pyramids

According to some declarations of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the president Al-Sisi has expressed his strong personal commitment to support a project for the plantation of trees over a surface of 1 million of feddan, more than 400,000 hectares in different governorates from Sinai to Wadi Natrun. This project could represent  a big blow against unemployment and could enhance the socio-economic conditions of many rural areas while giving to local populations healthy food.

Indeed olive oil is universally considered an oil with high nutritional value, considerably superior to other edible oil mentioned before.  Olive oil is a natural product, it is extracted only by mechanical extraction and no external chemical additive is added in the process.

Probably, for its climate and its history, Egypt’s soil could be a good location for olive cultivation. Olive trees are widespread in the North Western, especially in oasis,  and North Eastern area like in Sinai or El-Arish, allowing Egypt to be the third producer of table olives in the world, with a yearly output of 400.000 tons circa .

Furthermore olive cultivation in Egypt is a very remote activity, known since the time of the Pharaos. Due to the nature of the olive tree adaptable and resilient to the dryness, Egyptian’s sole must be considered as an ideal habitat where to grow olives.

Sources

El Badil
Ahram
Agri Ahram

From Santorini to your table: domatokeftedes

Once upon a time, in a quiet summer night Santorini, I've tried for the first times "domatokeftedes". I was astonished by this simple but rich taste of  this easy to make, poor, traditional Greek recipe.
This is my favourite version and I would like to share with you:

300 gr of  stale bread

150 gr of tomatoes

a tea spoon of flour

half of a red big onion

a tea spoon of cumin

one table spoon of oregano

salt  and pepper to taste

extra-virgin olive oil

Slice the tomatoes and let them drain for about 1 hour. Then wet the stale bread under running water and let it stand.
In the meanwhile chop finely the onion and mix it in a big bowl with tomatoes, the bread, the flour, add cumin, salt, pepper and oregano. Divide the paste in small pieces

Fry it in a frying pot till domatokeftedes turn to brown, dry them and serve hot or cold.

Turkey's outlook before 2015-2016 harvest

Turkey produced 190 tons of olive oil  during 2014/2015 season, ranking between the biggest producer countries. The Near Eastern country hasn't yet reached the peak of the expected production, while the expectation for 2015-2016 are high, but it can easily afford to face the internal request of a country where consumption hardly goes beyond 2kg per capita. The price growth  surely doesn't helped to increase the number of consumers.

The last one was one of the worst harvest in the history, the olive oil drought and the stock drain caused an unpredictable growth of the price of oil in the global market. Turkey wasn't an exception, as the price of extra-virgin olive oil staying still steady at 17 TL, according to the data from Edremit Ticaret Borsa. With the prices' rise the appetite for speculation increased in the country and starting  from last February Turkey has imported around 3.000 ton of olive oil, signately from Tunisia, following the report of Marmarabirlik Chairman during an official meeting at the Ministry of Economy, where they told the situation of the olive and olive oil sector in Turkey.

Recurring to the import is not strategically congruous with the policy of one of the key players in the sector. Turkey is betting since some years on olive cultivation and has been recently focusing towards new markets, such as India. Turkey has a surface of about 850.000 hectars of olive plantations and is looking after to enhance its potential in the sector not only internally but also abroad. Currently Turkish market share on international markets still remains not significant, according to Kadri Gündeş, chief of Olive and Olive Oil promotion Comitee. Turkey is exporting mainly to Saudi Arabia, USA and Japan but export quote decreased last season.

Another big challenge for Turkish insitutions is the growth  internal consumption, promoting the healthy qualities of the golden product to an audience that traditionally is not used to use olive oil, being the Turkish cuisine, especially the so-colled Anatolian, still strongly linked to the ancestral tradition of the use of animal fats in the preparation of the courses. 

Meze, a classic of Aegean cuisine

The rise of olive oil import could be considered as a speculative move made by traders in this special conditions. Politicians should be hard in discouraging this behaviour and to stregthen the rules to enforce the local production. Turkey has the ambitious goal to reach 650.000 tons of olive oil production   in 2023, the year of 100 year after the foundation of the Turkish Republic and to confirm the motto of the hero who founded it, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who affirmed: "The economy of the nation is based on the agriculture."

Sources:

ZMO

Sabah

Akhisarliyiz

Hurriyet

Sabah

Flasmedya

Call it "Fef i cicuer" or "Broad beans and chicory". A real Southern Italian taste for olive oil lovers

In Puglia and Basilicata, at night, in winter time, when the doors are closed families approach to the chimney smelling the fragrance coming from the cooking pot near the fire. What's inside? 
Obviously "Fef i cicuer". One of the most delicious winter recipes I've ever tasted.

Fef i cicuer

But let's see how to make it, using modern methods, of course

Ingredients (for two persons):

- 200 gr of dried broad beans

- 600 gr of chicory (remove the damaged and not soft parts)

- Garlic

- Extra Virgin olive oil (Coratina if available)

- Salt

Start by soaking for one night at least beans in cold water

Then drain it

And boil till the "fave" become like a rough paste. Remember to mix, pressing softly the beans with a wooden spoon.

In the meanwhile, take the chicory after having selected  before only fresh and soft leaves and then boil  for about fifteen minutes

This step is not included in original recipe but I like to put in the frying pan the vegetables, after having boiled and drained them and then to cook chicory with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, chili and garlic. Just five minutes are enough.

Chicory will be like this (sorry for the quality of the picutre but it was hot)

In the meanwhile, your "fave" should be ready 

Remember to "dress" the fave with a suitable Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

My suggestion is a Coratina variety EVOO from Apulia.

I suggest to serve it with a good glass of Aglianico del Vulture or Grottino,

a strong red wines with a rich taste from Basilicata.

Buon appetito!

Beyond olive oil. An Apulian classic dish: olives and "pomodorini"

This is a quick, easy sample of Apulian cuisine I would like to share with you. A poor dish very common in Apulia's kitchens in this period. This could be used as a starter or could be enough for a light dinner. This is the recipe:

Olives and "pomodorini"

Ingredients (for two persons):

- 150 gr of sweet olives 

- 130 gr of "pomodorini" tomatoes (round shaped Italian tomatoes)

- Extra virgin olive oil (Coratina if available)

- Salt

Just take the olives and put into a frying pan 

Add some extra virgin olive oil 

And "pomodorini". Put salt to taste.

Fry for five minutes over medium fire. When "pomodorini" are cooked

... stay ready to taste it and serve.

Buon appetito!