YESAM Seminar on Olives of Anatolia

Journalist and food culture researcher Nedim Atilla hosted a seminar called “Olives of Anatolia” at YESAM - Culinary Arts Center. During his presentation he mentioned that olives play a very important part in the biological diversity of Turkey. He continued to explain the rare olive varieties and the varieties that are almost extinct, while introducing the registered and unregistered olives of Turkey. After the seminar the participants had a chance to see and taste 21 different types of olives from all over Turkey, from Southeast Anatolia to the Mediterranean, the South Aegean region to the North Aegean region and the east Black Sea region, including varieties that originally come from Greece.

Mr. Atilla shared the following information:

"In Turkey, there are many more types of olives that can be consumed, but because of economic reasons they are not produced in large quantities. Some can be found in markets of small towns, some are consumed by the families who produce them. Olives can be divided into categories based on production techniques, table olives, olives used for their oil, table olives used for their oil, limited production olives and olives that are almost extinct.

There are many types of olives in Turkey that show different characteristics depending on the climates. The two major scientific names of olives are olea europae and olea sativa, many varieties of which are available in Turkey. These olives all have specific local names that came from the language of ancient civilizations or names of ancient cities found in their regions.

The harvest of the most commonly consumed olive type, gemlik, starts as early as November. Olives quickly change color while maturing. From June to September the olives are in their ‘green phase.’ During this time the olives are growing, changing in size and weight. The pit becomes harder. After October, the olives start changing color. The period from November to January is known as the ‘black phase’ and during this time the olives have reached their maximum in oil capacity.

The olive fruit consists of three main parts; the outer skin is called epicarp, the meaty part is mesocarp and the layer around the pit is called endocarp... Since olive is known as the eternal tree, it doesn’t matter whether it’s used as an olive or for its oil; the fruit is a very useful one all over.  An average olive fruit is 2cm long, 1.5 cm wide and weighs about 5-6 grams. The smallest type of table olive is known as giritli, originally from Crete but now grows only on Cunda island. The largest one is a type called milas esegi (the donkey of Milas).”

During the seminar Mr. Atilla offered two types of olives, erkence hurma and karaburun hurma, to the participants. These olives are the only types of olives that can be consumed directly after being picked from the trees.

Nedim Atilla shared the following information regarding the olives: these olives have been known to grow in Syria in the past. Currently the only place that has these olives in Turkey is Karaburun region of Izmir.  The special characteristic of these olives is they are cured on the tree. The ‘hurma’ trees are located in places that are open to northeast wind, the salt that comes from the sea, and a fungus called ‘phoma oleace’ that enables these olives to cure right on the tree. In time, these olives turn brown and become edible. In that region these olives are called ‘Hurma Zeytin’ (date olives) or ‘Karaburun hurma’ (date of Karaburun). They mature during October, November and December.

There is also a popular folk song that goes:

The name of the olive is date olives
There is nothing that tastes like it
Collect from the tree and eat straight away
A present from God to Karaburun 

After the seminar the participants tasted different types of olives as well as a popular rice dish of Edremit made with sliced green olives, rice, spices and lamb.

21 February 2013

Lecture video is in Turkish.