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

A new country producer of olive oil: Armenia

Armenia entered the list of 47 countries producing olive oil last year,  but probably the history of olive tree in Armenian land isn’t so recent, as this small country is often considered as one of the places of origin of olive tree.

Currently the use of olive oil is not so common for Armenians but the great number of people of Middle eastern origin living there, coming especially from Syria recently because of the ongoing conflicts, made olive oil consumption quite wider in the Near-Asian country. Nowadays almost the totality of olives and olive oil for internal consumption is imported, but in Meghri district, close to the Iranian border several trials were attempted by few pioneers.
For long years none believed that olive tree could survive the low temperatures of Armenian winters and give fruits. But Karo Karapetyan didn’t agree with this opinion and went on planting 7ha of olive groves. In 2003 he planted more than 7.000 Ascolana and Sevillano variety trees. He was very patient and, despite the loss of numerous trees caused by the chill of Armenian winter, temperatures could reach -30° C,  and by the hail, he finally succeeded in making his first harvest in 2010. Each tree is reported to have a yield of about 20-30 kg of olives. This brave farmer found not easy to market his products initially but, shortly after, he started packing and selling his olives.
This farmer is strongly convinced that olive is an adaptable tree and for this reason he believes it could grow up and give fruits even in Armenia.  Probably this Southern area of the country is a suitable comfort-zone for olive growing but some luck and not very cold winters are essentials to achieve a good harvest.
The enthusiasm of this man and his ability to go through difficulties  is a beautiful signal of the laboriousness and willingness of people of this country and maybe a signal of hope for a future as a producer of olive oil for Armenia.

Sources

Asbarez-  http://asbarez.com/110702/the-olive-tree-and-armenia/

Yerkir Media-  http://www.yerkirmedia.am/?act=news&lan=en&id=8081

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!