Page 37 - Food&Drink Magazine Jan-Feb 2019

great feedback from customers and chefs. We feel we have been able to continue the legacy of the older experienced growers and producers who still provide constant input for us during the process,” Imogen says. “We feel it is very important to always keep listening and learning.”
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Calling this year’s fruit superb, Imogen and Leon were passionate about producing a batch of Kalamata table olives. “We hand-picked from a section of our Kalamata trees in the middle of our grove and used a sea salt brine. We also were able to forage a natural yeast from the grove and this made the brine extra special,” Imogen says. “Really, it was found by accident – one of the batches smelling more amazing than the others, so we transferred this yeast to all batches, and have kept it going ready for next year.”
Almost daily Leon turns the olives to ensure the brine is evenly mixed and that they ferment evenly, discarding any inferior olives finds. He also ‘taste tests’ one or two each time to determine when they are ready for the finishing brine. Imogen says this constant checking kept the finished batch high in quality.
“We believe we didn’t get the flu this year because of this daily eating of naturally fermented high polyphenol olives. But we have no science to prove it yet. The olives fermented in the natural yeast gave beautiful nutty red wine notes to the olives,” she says.
The Bettios work hard and admit they are continuing to learn but credit the location of Elisi Grove, including the rocky soil and the climate as huge advantages to producing premium EVOO and table olives.
“We also really believe in doing things properly and at the right time, and being fussy and discriminating in trying to produce the best EVOO and olives we can,” Imogen says.
She says soil and tree health are highly important to the end product. “As we have a gentle approach to maintaining our
grove by not using herbicides and pesticides, we have found lady bugs and earthworms make our grove their home.”
“We always do an early harvest, when the olives are still green but you are getting maximum polyphenols. This gives the trees more recovery time,” Imogen says. “After they have given so much we quickly give them back what they need, in the way of organic fertiliser and water. We are constantly analysing and tasting throughout the harvest period, which enables us to make good decisions and to tweak things if needed.”
She says some years with lower yield mean Elisi Grove
doesn’t release certain single varieties and “obviously a year with less olives means the olives are much bigger and thus more conducive to table olives”.
“We are also fortunate in Australia to have the Australian Olive Association which is a certifier of extra virgin olive oil. This keeps the standard high for EVOO in Australia and offers a lot of support.”
The Australian Olive Oil Association recognises Australian growers as producers of some outstanding extra virgin olive oils and table olives.
“The market will be sustained and expanded off the back of an increasing and consistent
supply of a wider range of styles to satisfy the expanding interest of chefs and diners,” Greg Seymour says.
“Demand will also increase as consumers become more aware of the health benefits of eating table olives,” he says. “You only need to eat about ten to get the great probiotic and anti- inflammatory properties of this delicious food.”
“We have only been only picking for table olives from our Kalamata variety as they make a beautiful nutty table olive,” Imogen says. “We would love to introduce Koroneiki, often sold commercially as ‘wild olives’, as a table olive next year so we are excited to see how that goes.” ✷
FRESH PRODUCE
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | January-February 2019 | Food&Drink business | 37
ABOVE: Imogen and Leon Bettio from Elisi Grove make the rounds of local markets.
LEFT: Elisi Grove won a gold medal at the 2018 Australian International Olive Awards. Image courtesy of Blue Mountains Gazette.