Festa de l’oli verge – Fiesta of the first olive pressing

Last weekend saw the first olive pressing in the village. Riba-roja d’Ebre villagers got together to celebrate the olive harvest by pressing oil in the church square. Riba Rocks HQ took along some of our very own olives to add to the mix. A wonderful day with friends, Catalan and English.

The above photo shows the paste from the grinding of the olives as the first part of the olive pressing.

The paste is then bucketed into layers and pressed through to create a water. This is then left and, as our very good Catalan friend describes, ‘a miracle takes place’ to create a layer of extra virgin olive oil at the top of the liquid. It is drained off until all that’s left is the oil. For more information about the olive pressing and more fantastic photos visit Amics de Riba-roja d’Ebre.