In Nature, olive oil forms in tiny droplets in the cells of the pulp of the olives. It is the energy reserve that the olives will use when they free themselves from their mother, the olive tree, and, by their own means, olives must survive until they germinate and grow the roots that will allow the assimilation of the food necessary for growth and development of a new tree.
After the olive oil droplets are formed, Nature will endow them scent and flavour, so that wild animals – birds, specifically – are drawn to them and carry the olives or at least their stones to remote areas, therefore ensuring the survival and dissemination of the species.
Nature also endows oils with pigments, responsible both for the colour and the vitamins and antioxidants of great biological or nutritional value.
It is this oil, so formed in Nature, that humans stubbornly and brutally steal from olives for their own profit.
Thus, olive oil is a natural product and it is this natural product that is meant to be used in food, with all the characteristics and qualities that Mother Nature has given it.
José Gouveia
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Discover Évora, the Olive tree and the Olive Oil, from Évora Olive Hotel, a themed boutique hotel inspired by Olive Oil.
