The oil production process

Nisyros is a volcanic Greek island full of olive trees. For generations, many families have cultivated the trees to produce the highest quality oil. The pruned the best varieties, sometimes irrigated the drought-tolerant trees, fertilized, and controlled pests and diseases through natural methods every year. The arrival of autumn meant the beginning of the olive harvest, which lasted from October to December.

The process started with olive picking by hand, either by shaking or beating the fruit from the trees. Then, each member of a household carried the olives home in large sacks. There, they removed the leaves and separated the olives that were for eating from those that would go to the island’s olive mills to produce the much-needed oil. Afterwards, they consulted with the owners of the liotridi to set the date on which they would grind their harvest. The olives destined for the liotridi were salted with coarse salt to prevent them from rotting and stored in large crates until grinding time.

When the date arrived, mills opened their doors and welcomed the farmers with olives to grind. The same thing happened each year in our "Liotridi of Kari."

The work started early in the morning. Heads of each household carried their olives with the help of family members or workers they hired to support the busy grinding days. Additionally, our liotridi had some permanent workers on staff to keep production moving without problem.

Once all the olives were pureed, the workers transferred the paste to the trough next to the fireplace. They put a goat's hair sack inside a wooden crate, which acted as a mold, poured the paste inside, and folded it like an envelope. They lifted the filled sack out of the crate and placed it under the pressing machine. When enough sacks were collected, stacked one on top of the other, the pressing began.

At the start, workers turned a large wooden shaft, the "manella," by hand to rotate it down the threads of the press. Throughout this work, another worker poured hot water from a cauldron over the sacks in order to facilitate the running of the oil. Towards the end, and to achieve the best possible compression, they connected the manella with another machine, the "mangana," using a system of pulleys and ropes. The handles of the manganas were turned, the ropes wound tighter, the manella turned, and the press rotated down on its threads, compressing the sacks as much as possible.

The oil, along with the hot water, flowed into the collecting trough which was divided into two parts. There oil-water separation was done by the simple gravity method of allowing the liquid to settle. The oil, being lighter (less dense), floated on top of the heavier (denser) water and emptied into the right-hand trough, while the water left through a gutter in the floor. Afterwards, they collected the golden olive oil with metal cups called "metradia," stored it in containers, and gave it to each head of household. In this way, the grinding process was completed.