Olive Trees -
Żebbuġ
Olive trees are evergreen trees found in most Mediterranean countries. A very
long time ago the olive trees grew all over Malta and the olives and olive oil
acquired from them, used to be exported to other countries. Evidence
of this are places in Malta like ĦażŻebbuġ,Għajn Żejtuna, Birżebbuġa
and Iż-Żejtun, which got their name from this particular tree, because it used to grow
abundantly in that area, as well as the many huge stone presses found in various places
mostly with a connection to the Roman period. The Roman villa at San Pawl Milqi in
Burmarrad is probably the best example of a Roman olive oil-producing estate.
Unfortunately with time most of the old olive trees in Malta were destroyed,
either cut down to be used as fire wood or to make way for other kinds of
agricultural produce, icluding wheat and later cotton.
Today the olive tree is being cultivated again in many areas around Malta an
reclaiming its place in Maltese agriculture and landscape. Most of these olive
trees are imported from Italy, Spain and Greece where the olive oil industry is
well established.
Olive trees can be grown in all types of soil, as long as the soil is at least three
metres deep. These trees need plenty of sunshine to produce olives and are
therefore ideal for our Maltese climate. The olive tree is very tenacious and can
live for up to 500 years. Its leaves are dark green on top and greyish underneath
and are usually replaced every three years, falling mostly in spring.
The tree produces small, fragrant, creamcoloured flowers. The olive tree produces two
kinds of flowers: a perfect flower containing both male and female parts, and a flower
with stamens only.
The flowers are largely wind pollinated and most olive varieties are selfpollinating.
Some varieties though, are self-incompatible and need to be cross
pollinated by other varieties of olive trees found in the vicinity.
The olive fruit is usually ripe by October.
It is green, becoming generally blackishpurple when fully ripe. A few varieties are
green when ripe and some turn a shade of copper brown. The different varieties
differ in size, shape, oil-content and flavour. Raw olives contain an alkaloid
that makes them bitter and unpalatable and therefore need to be placed in salted water
for several days, before they are good to eat. Many varieties of olive trees are
grown solely for the production of olive oil. An olive tree usually bears fruit when
it is at least 4 years old. 
Zebbug mimli / Stuffed Olives
Ingredients:
- Bieba tal-ħobż / soft part of the bread
- Incova / Anchovies
- Kappar / Capers
- Tursin / Parsley
- Bzar u melh / Salt & Pepper
- Zejt taz-zebbugia / Olive Oil
Method:
1. Mash the ingredients so that they combine well together.
2. Add the olive oil to the mixture to make it softer.
3. Fill the olives with this mixture.
2. Add the olive oil to the mixture to make it softer.
3. Fill the olives with this mixture.
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Black Olive Pate
Ingredients:
Units: US | Metric
1 head garlic (about 2 to 3 ounces)
olive oil
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Directions:
- 1 Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
- 2 Spread the olives out on several thickness of paper towels, top with several more thicknesses of paper towels, then roll up tight, and set aside (to rid the olives of as much moisture as possible so that the pate won't be soupy).
- 3 Slice off the top part of the head of garlic, exposing the cloves. Drizzle the head with olive oil. Wrap the whole head of garlic in a double thickness of aluminum foil, and then twist each loose end sealing in the garlic. Place in the oven and roast until the garlic is quite tender, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. Take out all cloves of garlic and put into a blender or food processor fitted with a metal chopping blade; add the olives and pepper, and puree by processing 15 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the blender or work bowl with a rubber spatula, process for another 15 seconds, then scoop all into a small bowl. Cover tightly. Store in a refrigerator until about 30 minutes before serving.
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