Ancient Sardinian Recipes

Lentisk Oil

The Harvest

The harvest of the lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus) is carried out towards the end of autumn, when the berries have reached their maximum degree of ripeness.

To pick them, you gently grasp a branch and rub it between your hands, taking care not to damage the plant and letting the fruits fall directly into the basket.
Once this step is completed, the berries are cleaned by removing leaves and small twigs. They are then left to rest for a few days in large sacks: the slight warmth that develops inside helps improve both the yield and the quality of the oil.

Hot extraction of the oil

After the resting period, the lentisk is transferred to a large cauldron full of water and brought to the boil for about an hour. Once drained with a skimmer, the product is pressed.
In the past, this operation was carried out by filling small linen bags: the bags were rolled up on themselves a couple of times and then squeezed inside a concave container, pressing them with the feet.

The extract obtained from the pressing is then collected in a large pot and left to simmer slowly, positioning it slightly tilted to facilitate the separation of the oil. This is a delicate moment, because it is necessary to avoid the boiling liquid spilling over.
During cooking, the surface foam is removed to eliminate impurities, and as the oil rises to the surface it is skimmed off with ladles and spoons.
Finally, the product is filtered, bottled, and stored in a cool place away from light.

Cold extraction of the oil

Also in the cold method, after harvesting, the lentisk is cleaned of leaves and twigs and left to rest in sacks for a few days.
Next, the berries are crushed with a specially modified machine; the resulting paste is then subjected to pressing. The extracted oil goes through several stages of filtration, until a pure, high-quality product is obtained.

The oil is left to decant for a period in dedicated demijohns and only after this resting time is it transferred to the containers intended for storage.