`TerraOlivo Returns - Olive Oil Times

TerraOlivo Returns

By Pandora Penamil Penafiel
Jun. 1, 2012 09:49 UTC

The ancient city of Jerusalem will host the third edi­tion of TerraOlivo between the 6th and 8th of June.

TerraOlivo 2012 (Mediterranean International Olive Oil Competition), which will stage at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem, closed its first edi­tion in 2010 with 189 olive juices from 17 coun­tries.

The objec­tives of these awards are to rec­og­nize the best extra vir­gin olive oils from around the world, pro­mot­ing their nutri­tional ben­e­fits, enhance their mar­kets and inter­na­tional con­sump­tion, and spread the ben­e­fits of the Mediterranean diet.

The prizes awarded in the con­test are Mediterranean Olive Oil Grand Prestige Gold, Prestige Gold Mediterranean Olive Oil and Mediterranean Olive Oil Gold.

In addi­tion, spe­cial prizes are also awarded for Best of Category, International Grand Prix, Grand Corporation Prix, Best Olive Oil in Israel in each of the vari­etals rewarded, Best Great Society in Israel, Best Small Family Society of Israel and Country Award.

Many Israeli pro­duc­ers of olive oil had the first oppor­tu­nity to ana­lyze their olive juices in 2010, in the first edi­tion TerraOlivo through the work of expert tasters from 14 coun­tries with exten­sive expe­ri­ence in the olive oil sec­tor, like Greece, Italy and Spain, which this year will be rep­re­sented by Juan A. Peñamil, edi­tor of Mercacei Magazine.

In this third edi­tion, orga­nizer Moshe Spak, has brought for­ward that the list of coun­tries from which the expert tasters will pro­ceed has been extended to new mar­kets such as California.

Olive oil press from 1,400 years old found in Israel

It seems a good time for this cel­e­bra­tion, coin­cid­ing by chance with the find­ing of an olive press of 1,400 years old in an archae­o­log­i­cal dig in the city of Modiin (Israel). The press was dis­cov­ered by archae­ol­o­gists employed by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the neigh­bor­hood near Kaiser.

Turga Hagit, who runs the place, said the ancient and large (48 square meters) olive press, which pro­duced olive oil in indus­trial quan­ti­ties for con­sump­tion and light­ing, was per­fectly pre­served with all its com­po­nents intact. This includes a grind­ing mech­a­nism for squeez­ing olives ini­tially, a press­ing mech­a­nism with two pil­lars used to sta­bi­lize a heavy cylin­der that crushed olives and a screw base used to oper­ate the cylin­der. The olive oil was col­lected in a basin that has also been pre­served intact. Other small items of mar­ble and pot­tery were found in the place.”

The Israel Antiquities Authority, the Ministry of Housing and Construction and the munic­i­pal­ity of Maccabim-Reut are coop­er­at­ing to keep the dis­cov­ery and show it to the local res­i­dents. Soon, there will be a vis­i­tor area built near the park near Anava.



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