Days 44-46 - The Olive Oil Journey

48 days since using a desktop computer. 6 days since using my laptop.

Streak broken. I'm sorry.

I luckily stumbled upon a gaming facility that charges users 3 euro an hour to play video games. The Olive Oil Journey is my video game, time to catch the people up. And I just want to say I enjoy speaking and will create audio content, but for the blog specifically, it pains me not to type. I'm thankful my voice recordings weren't good enough to post.

Only thing bothering me is I'm typing on a bright white screen (I'm dark-mode only at all times).

Day 44

Olympia --> Patras | December 8th, 2022

I wake up at 9:30 with some decsions to make. Originally I had a meeting scheduled at 2:00 about 3 hours away from Olympia, on the way to Athens. First issue is dreading the three hour drive, second issue is wanting to stay more local and that took me out of the way of everything. I wouldn't be able to hang in Olympia or see neighboring cities. All those funneled into the choice to push the meeting to right before the flight [tomorrow].

11:00 hits and I meet Phillip arranged the night before at the photo shop (he rents and works from there - hangout spot at night). No phone communication. Totally old school - loved it.

First stop: Coffee. Phillip had to complete his European breakfast while I cautiously sipped on yet another espresso that had like 3-4 espresso shots.

Last night the locals couldn't stop talking about the pastry shop. Apparently the guy who runs it gets in at 3:30am to start making the pastries for the day - which sell out by noon. Of course, what time do you think I got there? Hint - just in time for the final slice of pizza...

I stupidly / mindlessly started taking gulps of espresso until the jitters started to kick in. To me a double espresso is like giving a guy [who averages 1 beer / week] 5 beers in one hour.

We found our way to Phillip's farm. I found this particular visit to be interesting as most established brands here in Greece as well as other countries stem from an ancenstor's company or land. Some land was passed down to Phillip, however he leaves the trees alone - preserve what nature has yielded. No pruning, no pesticides, nothing.

This is rare for my visits as even the most organic / nature-friendly producers seek to optimize yield. Despite the rarity of Phillip's approach from a commercial standpoint, I could imagine many small farm owners doing a similar thing. This was a new sight for me - opened my eyes a bit.

Next up we visited his friends that were harvesting 5 minutes away. It's so different than anything we (my peers and I) do on Long Island / NYC. So many people out here harvest their trees, year in and year out: pretty much the same time every year. I enjoyed watching the guys interact.

Afterwards I headed to the ancient olympic museum and got a 2 hour, 3 site visit in for 6 euro. The highlight was when I walked out to the ancient olympic practice facility. It now looks like a hard sand field surrounded by grass in an ovular shape. There was a Singaporean family standing there and I offer to take a picture (great club move btw). Once the picture was taken, they asked me, "so are you going to run?"

Of course I had to at that point...and it actually felt great on my legs that have barely been used since October.

Lunch with Phillip followed the visit where we brainstormed some industry issues, and from there I headed to Patras. Best way to describe Patras is a small and pretty city on the water full of locals / students. I met up with one of Phillip's friends from Olympia who helped me with parking and showed me around.

When it was time to pull my car out of the tiny lot to switch spots, the lot owner threw his body in front of traffic to escort me out - baller move.

I checked in, did some work, then went out. We had a cheap souvlaki dinner and spent the next 3 hours running around town drinkin.

I couldn't make it to the clubbing hours of the night (3am - 6am). 2am bedtime.

Day 45

Patras --> Chania | December 9th, 2022

Today is the day of my flight out of Athens. It pains me to do this, but I had to discard 1 Olive Oil and 1 Honey. The seal of the honey wouldn't close, and the olive oil that was sitting in my hot car all week started to turn. And I'm the type to want to keep every oil and see how they fare throughout the trip. Can't do it all.

After packing up and disposing of the products I drive straight to Athens mall (3+ hours) for a meeting with the guy I cancelled on yesterday. We sat outside the food court and tasted some of his oils fresh from the press. I will admit it felt pretty weird (nothing against the producer or the oil)- I've just had way too many mall food court experiences, and this is by far the most unique of them.

Next stop return the rent-a-car. Relative to the last one in Tel Aviv that took me an extra 20 minutes to figure out, Volta-4-u was a piece of cake.

Well getting my disaster of a car into my 2 bags and negotiating the fact that the front bumper falling off was already on the car was no piece of cake - but we did it.

Quick 50 minute flight on a propeller jet (my parents would never...) to Chania Crete and I headed straight to the car rental. Like always, my car rental was the one furthest away from the terminal (I pay bottom dollar, can't expect anything different).

One thing I did not realize was the Christmas celebration planned for the night. 20 extra minutes in traffic and 0 parking spots - but luckily my "Hotel" host gave me her spot as she was leaving for the night (super lucky). I bring up my bags, shower, change, and head into town for the Argentina game and to see the christmas celebration.

The celebration was all about the kids - I was not meant to be there, so I opt to watch the soccer, eat some delicious (and wild caught) fried shrimp, and head to another bar for the end of the game. By the time by the time 3am bedtime. Good night.

Day 46

Chania, Crete, GR | December 10th, 2022

I've recently learned that some people are curious on how I plan my days. Here is how this day was planned.

Honestly this is an OG classic day (think early July in Northern California) for me. No connections, no meetings planned, 1 car, a cell phone (no Sim-Card), my credit card, and 5 hours of daylight [by the time I got out Chania].

I knew I had 4 days to cover the Island of Crete and I'd be moving from West to East (I fly out of Heraklion 2 hours East of Chania). One small stipulation is at the start of the day I hadn't yet figured out whether the rental car was to be returned in Chania or Heraklion. I had Chania drop-off booked since it was an extra 200 euro to do the drop-off in Heraklion, but typically companies charge <100 Euro for the change. Long story short I got word midday of a 50 euro charge, making the total fee 100 euro for the 4 day rental. Bet.

So today was spent covering land left of Chania...I just needed a starting point. When I woke up, I spent about an hour trying to research and reach out to producers - but somewhat failed at generating any leads. There comes a point in time where I just throw in the towel and say alright I'll just wing it.

First stop due to convenience a winery with a line of olive oil.

I arrive to a separately arranged private tour and awkardly interrupted it. Though I think the lady still hates me, after I explained her my perspective, she redirected me to the site of the mill as well as a separate site that may be of interest.

Alright 2 more leads - but they're back towards Chania, so I'll cover those at the end of the day.

During my visit in Olympia I was told Terra Creta is worth the trip - about 30 minutes away in the proper direction...into the navigation it goes.

Also note, these facilities are rarely open on weekends. Typically, the mills never close during harvest but the people that often give the tours are not around.

I arrive and clearly most of the facility is closed off. I walk into the mill area and end up getting a 20 minute conversation about the business as well as a view from the top tasting room of the mill (not allowed into the actual production area). Cool facility.

After Terra Creta I visit yet another facility about 12 minutes South. I arrive, and everything is closed...moving on.

I passed by an olive oil museum (closed) but I got some footage of a 3000-5000 year old tree. Probably the oldest I've ever seen. It's so old that the middle area is 100% hollow and I was able to go in the middle - pretty wild.

Another facility visit followed - but again not my cup of tea. At this point it was about 3:30pm and I decided to visit the final two stops. First stop was an Olive Oil trading company. I thankfully caught the guys as they were about to leave the facility and stayed around for about 20-30 minutes talking about the industry. Good stuff.

Lastly I visited the mill of the winery - not for me, but I got a vid of the oil sample on a sweet fresh crouton. A delicacy if I must say so myself.

I picked up a slice of veggie pizza (3.5/10 rating - veggies tasted old and dough too thick) and what I thought was goat yogurt but turned out to be rice pudding (bad translation of course).

Then I return back to my stay and do a quick lap around town for the end of the Morocco / Portugal game. After Morocco's exciting win, I stumbled upon a group of people [coming out of a Ted X conference] who mentioned an event held right next door. With newfound motivation to get ready quickly, I showered, changed, and headed into the party. 2 Free Heinekens and 1 Glass of Wine made that worth it.

For the final 20 minutes of the England / France world cup game I returned to the bar from the night before and ordered the same exact seafood dish - which is rare for me.

Only issue was my lack of breakfast and lunch caused me to go for a second meal. I got fresh fish from across town, but the olive oil they put on the fish was 100% rancid.

Yes, I'm in Greece, and I had rancid olive oil. It's not perfect everywhere. I've had rancid oil in California, Spain, Italy, Israel, and Greece this year - it's not inescapable.

I got some freshly roasted chestnuts for dessert which rounded out the night.

1 Olive Oil Takeaway

On Instagram Live I explained DOP (Protected Designation of Origin or PDO) today. My mom said I probably lost some people during the explanation - good feedback, here is some better education. For those who left or missed the live:

I've gotten mixed definitions of DOP but here's my braindump. Please correct me if I'm wrong in anything.

I will use a local county as an analogy. I'm from Long Island in New York. And pretend we live in a world where corn oil is a valuable commodity and I'm a corn grower.

We will use DOP Nassau County as the base example. DOP Nassau County means every element of the production of the corn oil happened in Nassau County (growing, harvesting, milling, bottling). DOP Nassau County also holds products to a high quality standard.

There are DOPs for Cheese, Wine, Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, and more. The DOP is headed by a regulating body who enforces policies for the specific DOP.

Here are some examples. Assume corn from Kansas is cheaper and similar quality.

Scenario 1: I import corn from Kansas and produce (mill) the corn oil on Long Island. Not DOP because the Corn doesn't come from Nassau County.

Scenario 2: I grow corn and mill corn oil on my farm in Nassau County, but send the oil to New Jersey for bottling and storage. Not DOP because bottling occurs outside of Nassau County.

To go a step further, regions often have an IGP (Protected Geographical Indication or PGI) as well. It's typically a looser definition. Let's pretend there is an IGP Long Island (contains Nassau and Suffolk Counties).

Scenario 3: I grow corn and mill corn on my farm, but blend in some corn from the neighboring Suffolk county as I need more corn oil to satisfy consumer demand. If my oil meets quality standards, this could qualify for IGP Long Island.

Olive Oil generally follows the above structure, but Balsamic is a bit different. I won't go into too much detail, but the 1 takeaway of DOP Balsamic is bottling must occur by the consortium - producers are not allowed to bottle their own DOP balsamic!

Corn Oil unfortunately isn't that simple (or healthy). It's typically a highly refined product that undergoes bleaching, degumming, etc.

-Jack

Thank you for reading and welcome to the blog! I'm traveling through Europe on a quest to find great Olive Oil.