Festival offers good oil on olives

What's the difference between a robust olive oil and a delicate one? What does the Olives New Zealand Extra Virgin Certification sticker mean?

These were just some of the questions put to olive gurus at the New Zealand Olive Festival in Hastings on Saturday, where aficionados and curious home cooks alike gathered to learn about the oily fruit and its products.

Food Hawke's Bay general manager Jane Libby said organisers were delighted with the day. Exact attendance numbers had not yet been calculated, but Ms Libby expected it to be up on last year's total of 1500.

"We wanted to make some changes on last year, just ramp it up a bit. I think it worked. Next year, we're hoping for even more olive people to come from all over New Zealand, that'll be our main focus."

Olive growers from around the Bay, as well as Greytown and Marlborough, were on hand to talk directly to the public and dish out samples of olives and olive products.

Happy punters lapped up the samples of the oil with fresh bread and tasted olivey foodstuffs such as beef and olive sausages, tapenades and relishes.

While some festival go-ers admitted they were simply there for lunch, others were looking to increase their knowledge.

Marilyn Corviscley from Taradale came to watch the cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs Alison and Simon Holst and gain inspiration for her own cooking.

"I've never really used olive oil," she said, "I buy the odd Pams oil or the 2L flagon." By lunch time she had purchased three different varieties of Hawke's Bay-made olive oil.

Olive harvesters Delyth and Andrew Taylor gave olive oil appreciation tutorials and explained how to read labels to distinguish between authentic olive oils and those made from its waste.

Matapiro Olives owner John Arthur said the festival was "all about education" rather than making sales.

"The good thing about having an olive festival is you're getting people who are interested in olives. At the Food Show, you're getting 40,000 people over three or four days, you only get a small percentage of people interested in olives," he said.

Susan Lowe from LL Ellsgrove was full of enthusiasm for the festival. "It was pretty busy last year, but this is frantic," she said.