The kitchen of a house is always a magical place, full of aromas that intoxicate us and bring back thousands of memories.

We find the aromas of oil, the liquid gold of our cuisine, discovering the picual, manzanilla and hojiblanca varieties.

Next come the aromatic herbs, plants that contribute to flavouring and enhancing the flavour of food.

Here we find aromas as common as garlic, laurel and other more unknown ones such as sage and marjoram.

To finish in the kitchen, we could not miss a casserole with the aroma of stew. Which do you like best, ours, your grandmother's, your mother's? Let's start to remember...

An oenological visit:

In the kitchen, we find aromas such as coffee, which is a tertiary aroma, originating

It is present in wines made in warm climates, such as Ribera del Duero, Argentina and the USA.
It can also be found in great vintages of Burgundy and Champagne.

Many of the aromatic herbs we use in cooking such as basil, tarragon, laurel, marjoram, oregano or thyme can be classified as balsamic, undergrowth or menthol aromas that can be of primary origin due to the terroir, the variety, or tertiary due to ageing. We can find them in both whites and reds and it is common to find them in wines from warm Mediterranean areas, such as Priorat or Montsant, Provence, south of the Rhône, although we can also find them in wines produced in continental areas such as the northern Rhône and the Rhine valley. They are aromas reminiscent of thyme, lavender, rosemary, resin, pine, eucalyptus, mint, cypress, juniper and noble woods such as cedar, sandalwood, oak and even incense.

Posters:

THE OIL

"...proud olive growers
tell me in my soul who,
who raised the olive trees".
M. Hernández Andalusians of Jaén

Olive oil is the oldest nutritional oil after sesame oil. In ancient times it was used as food, as medicine and in religious ceremonies. It is difficult to correctly determine where the olive tree was born. Some authors consider that the cultivation of olive trees began in the period from 3000 BC to 4000 BC in an undetermined place in the Mediterranean Levant. Between Syria and Greece. Its cultivation began on these coasts more than 6,000 years ago and it was used for food (the olive) and medicinal purposes (the oil itself, which was extracted using primitive methods). One of the oldest records indicate that for 30 years, Pharaoh Ramses III (1184-1153 BC) offered the temple of Ra (Sun) a quantity of oil equivalent to the production of some 3,000 hectares of olive groves, destined mainly for the illumination of the building.

"The Mediterranean ends where the olive tree stops growing".

The delicate aroma of olive oil has its origin in a large number of chemical compounds whose formation is also influenced by the cultivars of the olive tree, the climatic conditions and those of the soil.

A little history of olive oil

The Greeks and Phoenicians brought the olive tree and olive oil all over the Mare Nostrum. In Athens the olive tree was the symbol of the city and its sacred tree. The Phoenicians brought the cultivation techniques to Spain in 1050 BC. However, it was the Romans who planted the peninsula with olive trees. They improved the techniques of cultivation and olive oil production. Rome was a great importer of olive oil in Hadrian's time. Later the Arabs increased its cultivation, until the fall of their empire reduced consumption in Africa. During the wars of the Middle Ages, olive oil was only consumed by the upper classes and as a luxury item. With the arrival of Columbus in America in 1492, the people of Extremadura and Andalusia managed to get the olive tree across the ocean to Peru, Argentina and Mexico. Today it is also found in California, Chile and other Latin American countries. Today it is found all over the world.

At the present time

Spain is the world's leading producer of olive oil, with an average annual production of 1,400,000 tonnes, 50% of the market. With more than 300 million olive trees covering more than 2 million hectares, its cultivated area represents more than 25% of the world's olive-growing area. Spain is the world's leading exporter, with an annual average over the last 10 years of some 300,000 tonnes. It is exported to more than 100 countries on 5 continents.
In Spain there are more than 260 varieties of olive trees that give rise to single-varietal oils and blends that allow, as in wines, to associate the complementary qualities and flavours of different varieties. Olive oil production in Spain is distributed regionally as follows: Andalusia 80%, Castilla La Mancha 7%, Extremadura 5%, Catalonia 3,5% and the rest of Spain 4, 5%.

Etymology

The words from which olive tree and oil derive have two sources:

the Greek word elaia (ελαια) which became olea in Latin and then olive, olive tree, oil (English) öl (German) and the Hebrew word zait which in Arabic is zaitun, from which oil, olive, olive tree, olive tree come from. Oil is a word that originally only corresponded to olive oil.
The most cultivated varieties are explained below:

Picual/Picudo: It receives this name because of the shape of the fruit with pointed, curved apex and pronounced nipple. It has other names, such as in Luque, a village in the southeast of Cordoba, where it is called "pajarero", as it is said, because the oil is so sweet that at the moment of ripening the birds peck at the fruit. This variety is widespread in the provinces of Cordoba, Granada, Malaga and Jaen, especially in the area of Denomination of Origin Baena, southeast of Cordoba.

The fruit is black when ripe and is the second in size of those used to obtain oil. The oil's fatty acid composition is somewhat similar to that of the lechín variety, placing it in the range of oils that are delicate to oxidation. Its organoleptic characteristics are very good, with an unbeatable balance and sweetness, without harsh flavours and very fluid and light, sometimes with slight hints of exotic fruits, apple and almonds.

Manzanilla cacereña: It is not a very vigorous variety, very adaptable to poor soils and cold areas thanks to its easy rooting. The flowering period is early in relation to that of other varieties of olive tree. Its shape is elliptical or ovoid. The juice of olives of the Manzanilla Cacereña variety, harvested at veraison (optimum ripening point) and cold pressed, has a balance of spiciness, bitterness and sweetness and a high green fruitiness reminiscent of freshly cut grass. It is worth mentioning the high concentration of Oleic Acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid of the omega 9 series. In olive oil it is found in concentrations between 55 and 80%, in the case of Manzanilla Cacereña we find values between 78 and 80%. Oleic acid has a beneficial effect on the blood vessels, reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Hojiblanca: The name comes from the colour of the leaf that gives clarity to the tree, which has a silvery appearance in the distance. Its area of influence extends over the east of the province of Seville, the south of Cordoba and the whole of the north of the province of Malaga. It may account for 16 % of the Andalusian olive grove. It is used both for Californian-style black table olives and for oil production. It is usually large to thick in size, reaching an average of 4.3 grams. Its shape is an almost perfect sphere with a high pulp/pit ratio, around 8. From an organoleptic point of view, the oil has a wide range of flavours, but the common values are sweetness at the beginning of the tasting, fresh grassy fruitiness in the aroma, slight bitterness of green fruit and other fruits, sometimes reminiscent of fruit salad, slight spiciness in the throat and a final almondy aftertaste.

Cornicabra: This variety is, in number of cultivated hectares, the second in importance, but the third in production. Originally from Mora de Toledo, its cultivation area covers the provinces of Toledo and Ciudad Real. Its name comes from the horn shape of its fruit, of medium size and weight (3 grams) but with a high fat yield of around 19% and a high pulp/stone ratio (5). The fruit ripens late, between the last week of October and the first week of January. It has a golden colour with slight greenish reflections. When obtained from riper olives, different flavours and textures of exotic fruits such as avocado appear. This oil is fruity and presents a remarkable balance between sweetness on entry, bitterness of green leaves and medium intensity spiciness. It has a balanced composition of essential fatty acids and a high oleic acid content.

Arbequina: It is one of the best known Spanish varieties. It originates from the town of Arbeca (Lérida) and is widely spread in the provinces of Tarragona and Lérida. It is short, oval-shaped and almost symmetrical and has a low pulp/stone ratio of 4.6, with a small size, around 1.9 grams. It is a variety highly appreciated for its early entry into production, with an average ripening period between the second week of December and the second week of January, high productivity and good fat yield, about 20.5 % of oil, which places it among the varieties with the highest percentage of oil extraction. Its aroma is reminiscent of fresh artichoke and its flavour brings traces of tomatoes and vegetable garden. They are fresh and young oils, more delicate than other varieties against oxidation, so it is necessary to keep it in the dark and at a low temperature to guarantee its protection over time.