Olive Milling, A Story of Tradition

There is much more to Jordanian Olive Oil than supplying households with a food product. It is a narrative that has unravelled itself through the history and the culture of the entire Levantine history.  Extending far and wide through Jordan, olive harvesting marks that time of year that brings families together to pick ripened Olives from the Trees, take them to mills and get that liquid gold.

Generations of farmers are brought together by the history of the olive trees.  As the oil is being extracted, an old man sits with his wife, tin can ready to receive their spoils of oil.  The image is so simple yet, so telling of how deep this tradition is cultivated within the community.

However, it doesn’t just stop there.  The oil is taken home to prepare specific dishes that are also connected with the harvest season and that time of year.  Traditionally, from October through December most houses, till this day, serve Musakhan, roasted chicken on a bed of caramelized onions with Summaq on Taboun bread and Maftoul, pasta like rice served with onions, chickpeas and chicken broth.  Two conventional dishes of Palestinian origin that mark the transition from fall to winter.