Italy: Introducing Azienda Mozzicato (Mozzicato Farm)

Introducing Azienda Mozzicato, an olive farm with many olive trees aged 800 to 1,000 years.

Their olive trees, which can be called ancient, have borne olives every autumn for 1,000 years.

Don't you think that's amazing?

Their farm is located on the island of Sicily in southern Italy, in the province of Syracuse, southeast of the famous Mount Etna.

It is a land very blessed for olive cultivation, with ample sunlight and strong sunshine necessary for the health and growth of olive trees.

When I first visited Azienda Mozzicato, a family-run farm that has passed down its olive trees through generations, the owner, Michele, guided me through the olive groves.

Many cows are allowed to roam freely in their olive groves,
and the cows and olive trees create such a picturesque scene that I couldn't help but feel warm and fuzzy. As I walked on, mesmerized, Michele said to me,

"Watch where you're going!"

When I hurriedly looked down, I saw cow droppings(!) everywhere, like traps!

I hadn't brought any flip-flops from Japan,
so at first, I kept my eyes glued to the ground, dodging and jumping over the cow droppings.

Then, what came into view as I looked at the ground were wild herbs, wild artichokes, and various other wild plants!

Vegetables that looked like they would grow tenderly in a vegetable garden were growing wildly all over the olive groves.

The thorny ones had such powerful thorns that they were so imposing that I couldn't easily touch them.

In such a powerful field, I couldn't help but feel a sense of sacredness in the dignified presence of the 1,000-year-old olive trees, which sat like lords.To me, living in Japan, every tree looked like a sacred tree at a shrine.

I have seen many olive farms before.

But it is rare to come across a field that feels both powerful and warm at the same time like this one.

Some of these large olive trees develop hollow spaces inside them.

I had the first-time experience of fitting inside one of those olive trees.

Being enveloped by nature made my mind go blank.

It was very quiet inside the tree. It was so comfortable that I wanted to stay inside even more. (When I'm feeling down, I'd love to come and stay inside again, lol)

I was extremely interested in the olive oil made from such amazing olive trees.

I felt it was almost impossible to return to Japan without eating it! I really wanted to eat the freshly pressed olive oil from this farm!

While walking through the olive groves, the farm owner, Michele, taught me many things.

What left a strong impression on me was

the words, "Olive trees don't change. It's people who change."

I still remember them today.

Azienda Mozzicato started olive cultivation as a farm in 1952.

Until the generation of my grandfather, research on olives and olive oil had not kept pace with the times,

and in the olive farming business, it was more important to press as large a quantity as possible than the quality of the oil.

Since the current owner, Michele, took over, they replaced the machinery, adopted a style that prioritized quality over quantity, and began their own research.

The olive oil they produce maintains a consistently high quality every year.

This is because the olive trees are so large that they are less affected by prolonged severe drought, rare continuous heavy rains, and prolonged high temperatures compared to olive trees in other farms.

And there is one more thing. But this is their know-how. I cannot disclose it here, but they continue to use a method that makes excellent use of the laws of nature, which not only places no burden on the land but is actually very good.

In autumn, the harvest of olives begins, with the trees laden with fruit.

The olives, harvested once a year from around late September to November, are turned into olive oil at their own factory on the same day.

They are immediately stored in tanks under a vacuum, away from the air, and kept in the farm's cold storage facility.

Storage tanks are kept under a vacuum. Stored year-round at low temperatures in a dark room (this also costs money!)

The harvest time and other details are carefully recorded for each tank, so it is not just a warehouse where they are stored until they are sold, but also a storage facility that serves as a research center for them.

Because the quality of olive oil can change significantly depending on how it is stored at the farm, I always make sure to check the storage conditions with my own eyes before deciding to import it, and I also confirm the flavor through tasting. I only proceed with importing when I am convinced that the quality is up to standard!

This is something I never miss every year.

Since my first visit to the farm, I have visited every year during the harvest season (except during the COVID-19 pandemic).

The extreme weather that occurred around the world in 2023 was no exception for Italy, and although news reports in Japan stated that olive fruit yields had plummeted worldwide and quality had deteriorated significantly that autumn, the oil from Azienda Mozzicato turned out even more beautifully than ever before.

That year, another farm nearby reported that the olive fruit had grown poorly due to a historic drought, the olive harvest had been greatly reduced, and the quality of the resulting oil was extremely poor.

A farm that can perfectly handle every aspect—growing olive trees, preparing the soil, determining the harvest time, and controlling the oil press—can produce high-quality oil.

It is impossible for anyone to produce high-quality oil just by pressing it.

That is precisely why long-lived, well-cared-for, healthy olive trees can withstand extreme weather,
and it was another year that made me realize the true skill of the people at Azienda Mozzicato, who have cultivated olive trees to withstand such conditions.

During my stay, a large amount of olive oil was produced every day,
and the freshly pressed olive oil was so delicious that I clapped my hands and celebrated together with the producers.

At Azienda Mozzicato, each olive fruit yields about 17–20% oil.

That is only a few drops.

Pressing early-harvested green olives results in a lower yield (averaging 25%),
but maximizes the polyphenol content in the oil and gives it a wide range of nutrients that are beneficial to the human body,
making it a "healthier oil to eat."

It is also rich in aromatic compounds, so the olive oil made in autumn 2023, called Zaitoon, has the aroma of chicory or thick matcha tea, resulting in a very clean and soothing fragrance.

To explain the atmosphere of thick matcha tea to the farm staff, who had never had Japanese tea, I visited again the following month, brought matcha, and had them whisk and drink the tea.

"Ah, it's Zaitoon!" they exclaimed, and I also enjoyed the aroma of this year's Zaitoon together with the farm family.

For lunch, I always ate the family's usual home-cooked food with them at their home.

Shrimp, scallops, and squid are coated in batter and fried in olive oil, and then more oil is drizzled over them when eating.

This way of eating, which would be hard for Japanese people to think of, is so delicious!
The fresh olive oil drizzled on top spreads a vegetable-like freshness in the mouth and leaves a clean aftertaste.

That day, I ate it with an oil called agrumi.
Agrumi is made by pressing pesticide-free lemons and oranges grown in their fields together with olive fruit in the oil press,
so the resulting oil takes on the aroma of lemon and orange, and it is simply refreshing and wonderful!

It has a different aroma from squeezing lemons to drink.

This is what makes it so good with fried food.

The next morning, I made a little Japanese food for everyone.
Everyone naturally drizzled olive oil on the miso soup I made and drank it.

"Miso and oil go so well together!" Michele said, looking around with an empty bowl, "Is there enough miso soup for a refill, or is it all gone?"
They really liked it.

In this way, I have spent a lot of family-like time with them, deepening our mutual understanding little by little every year,
and I have been allowed to carry their genuine extra virgin olive oil and the flavored oil called agrumi.

I hope their bright, hardworking, and diligent oil will continue to be loved by many people.