3.30 – 5pm: “The one percent that made it”
A Power Point presentation and discussion on harvesting methods and machinery, the crucial aspects relating to oil quality and the shaky economics of the process.
Silvestro gives brief talk on poverty as the driver of a cuisine, and why the world’s wealthier nations still look to Italy.

DINNER MENU: Slow Gold: Mastering Earthenware to Dazzle Today with the Flavours of Yesterday. Table olives from Nuova Generazione. Ciceri e tria. Rabbit with green olives and the castle’s thyme. Poached and boozy autumnal fruit. (The major components of the meal having simmered near the fire in earthenware while we were away harvesting olives.)
Wine: Annalisa’s Negroamaro (Puglia). (A good friend of the school’s, the producer will be on hand to give a brief talk on the similarities and differences between raising grapes on the same land as the day’s olives).

Tuesday
9am - noon: “A close encounter with Olea europaea L.”
A day in the grove picking with the locals using methods that have been practised for centuries, as well as seeing how modern machinery can make the job so, so much easier. But first meet the owner and hear how to pick without damaging the fruit … and yourself!
Noon – 1.30pm: Picnic lunch in the grove, heavy on humble and light on wine!

LUNCH MENU: A Really Big Pot of Soup: Staff delivers a giant simmering caldron of a hearty, garlicky autumnal vegetable soup, spiked with Teresa’s Olio Bianco, and freshly-baked bread. Wine: A simple local farmer’s wine, never bottled. Espresso over the camp stove.
1.30 – 4.30pm: “Still more close encounters with Olea Europea L.”
Back to the trees to pick.
Free time.

DINNER MENU: Cooking for a King From a Pauper’s Pantry: The Elegance of Greens, Beans and Legumes and Their Importance In The Modern Mediterranean. Fave e foglie VIP. Stoccadente. Wine: Rosa del Golfo’s Primitivo (Puglia). Malvasia dei Lipari (Sicilia).
After dinner discussion and Power Point of The Italia Sud-Est, the quirky, private railroad system south of Lecce.

Wednesday
All day: “Time out!”
A free day to rest your weary hands and limbs with a well-earned rest, think of something else other than olives, explore the extraordinary region around us. Take The Italia Sud-Est to another city, or just lay about and read a book. The day is yours, and you’re free until dinner, at nine, or at seven if you’d like to help prepare dinner with the staff.

DINNER MENU The Pokey Oink: Rethinking the Cheaper Parts of the Pig, Slowly. How to turn the humbler cuts into things you can’t even buy anymore, at any price. Heirloom white-bean soup with home-cured pancetta and sage from the castle’s garden. Slow-roasted roasted pork shoulder. Crispy, crunchy autumn vegetables, roasted-sweet. Local Walnuts, quince cheese and local-honey spiked ricotta. Wine: Aglianico di Vulture (Basilicata) DOCG. Homemade liqueurs (limoncello, arancino, etc).
Late night classic Italian film projected onto the wall of the castle.

Thursday
9.30 – 12.30pm: “And you thought you slaved!”
The exploration of an historic underground oil extraction site, virtually operated by slavery, guided by international authority Prof. Antonio Monte, showing the giant leaps in oil making over the centuries.
Then the inspection of a commercial olive pickling plant and the tasting of locally-made olive products.

LUNCH MENU: Pinzimonio. Insalata di farro. Wilted greens. Fruit. Wine: Fiano di Avellino (Campania) DOCG.
2 – 5.30pm: “The Big Squeeze”
The fascinating process of extraction oil from the olives. First, a detailed inspection of the extraction machinery and an explanation of its features. Then the olives picked in the last day and a half will be put through the system and, shortly after, you’ll have the chance to taste your own oil.

DINNER MENU: The New Luxury: From A Farmer’s Field To The Farmer’s Market, How to Impress With The Forgot Vegetables. Francesco Petrucci’s table olives. Hyacinth bulbs. La peperonata. Le Orecchiette with bitter greens. Lu Stuffatu. Chicory, three ways. Beetroot. Dessert: Roasted chesnuts. Clementines. Cacioricotta. Wine: Sussimaniello (Puglia). Marsala Vergine DOC (Sicilia).

Friday
9.30 – 12.30am: “The nose(s) have it! The olive oil taste test”
Learning the special technique of tasting olive oil and identifying the merits and defects to determine quality.

a. Discussion on the term and definition “extra virgin”

b. The complex nature of olive oil (chart)
• Chemical
• organoleptic

c. The technique of oil tasting
• aroma
• flavour
• tasting
• terminology

d. Definition and analysis of principal negative and positive attributes in oil using the MICO sheet
• principal negative attributes
• principal positive attributes

e. Oil styles
• intense, medium and mild
• varietal differences in flavour
• blended oils

f. Comparative tasting
• defective oil purchased from supermarket
• analysis of three monovarietal oils from Salento (Cellina di Nardò and Ogliarola Salentina)

LUNCH MENU: Pinzimonio. La pasta di Benedetto Cavalieri with a green olive and caper pesto (with choice of oil,and local olives). Grilled cuttlefish with castle-herb vinegarette. Wild, field chicory. Olive oil cake with orange and rosemary (both coming from the castle’s grounds). Wine: Grillo (Sicilia). IGT

3.30 – 5.30pm: “Supping the fruits of your labour!”
Formal tasting of blended and varietal oils from the Salento region and related discussion. Then into the kitchen to discuss how to select the right oil for the right dish, and the best ways to use olive oil in the kitchen.

a. Analysis of the menu and the selection of the most appropriate oils for the dishes selected.

b. Discussion of the correct storage of oils and the best way of handling them in the kitchen.

c. Tasting of the selected oils and the assignment to the dishes on the menu

Evening cocktails with selected producers from the region.

DINNER MENU: Just What Makes Today’s Hearth So Inviting, So Intriguing: Cooking for a Crowd from a Humble Fire Place. We’ll prepare the highlights of the week using the fireplaces in the Castle’s grand hall. Heirloom white beans slow-cooked in earthenware vases, served on crunchy bruschetta. Homemade pasta in a zippy tomato sauce jacked with ‘ndaja. We’ll make fresh sausages from scratch (loading them with local black truffles) and grill them over the fire. Whole, grilled chickens, marinated for two days in Verdeca. Winter onions. Local rabbits reared on Mediterranean herbs. For dessert roast chestnuts. Crock-simmered pears. Homemade perata. Nuts.
Wine: Nero d’Avola. (Sicilia). Passito deile Lipari (Sicilia). Homemade liqueurs. Select grappe.
The exchange of gifts. Weeping.

Saturday
10am: The transfer to Lecce, to private B and B’s, or to departing trains.
9pm: Media dinner (optional). Come and present the extra virgin olive oil you’ve produced yourself to the local media, politicians and local oil producers in a celebratory end-of-harvest dinner.

A Note from Silvestro Silvestori on The Olive Programmes.