THE OLIVE IT
THE OLIVE IT
“The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down”
Today’s recipe comes from our friend and The Golden Harvest supporter, Jay Weissberg, director of Le Giornate del Cinema Muto , the world’s most important silent film festival. It takes place Oct. 3 to October 10 in Pordenone in the Italian province of Friuli, on the northern edge of the olive oil world.
The festival and the region’s food both make a person want to attend. This year, you can attend the festival online and travel around the world and back in time. It is a rare gift to see restored silent films, to witness how we have evolved on screen and as filmmakers and to enjoy the orchestral music that comes with silent film, including Cecil B. DeMille’s A Romance of the Redwoods (1917), Guofeng (China, 1935), nine films on travel and five films from the original comedy duo, Laurel and Hardy, before they were a duo.
We asked Jay for a Friuli recipe to enjoy during a screening. He picked pesto from his favorite restaurant, La Vecia Osteria del Moro in the eastern province of Friuli. The menu includes stewed snails, salami cooked in vinegar and many other unique regional dishes—all served with polenta.
“In Friuli, every main dish comes with polenta,” Jay explains. “And there's always frico on the menu, which is this dish of potatoes and cheese made in a skillet that's absolutely delish but sits on your stomach for days.” This recipe is just as it was given to Jay by Claudio Sartor, whose family owns La Vecia Osteria del Moro. It’s a lot of pesto so feel free to halve or quarter. We made it with the mortar and pestle and it was the best pesto we ever made—and so fragrant.
INGREDIENTS:
1kg of fresh basil leaves (the quality of basil really does make a difference)
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
80 gr of freshly toasted pine nuts (the nuts should be lightly toasted in a non-stick pan so they release their oils, which brings out the flavor)
1 stem of marjoram
400gr of grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Salt to taste
1.5 liters of extra-virgin olive oil (the Sartor family recommends using the delicately-flavored oil made in the province of Trieste, from olives grown on the Carso plateau)
PREPARATION:
The traditional way of making pesto is to use a stone mortar and pestle, as this is the best way of bringing out the flavors (and gently muddling the leaves, garlic, nuts and cheese brings all the wonderful aromas together). The consistency is meant to be uneven, not smooth. You can also make it in a food processor or with a blender, but add some ice cubes, as otherwise the delicate basil leaves are burned by the heated blades and they become bitter.
We love that Ollio is the same word for olive oil in Italian
The Golden Harvest Updates
We are really happy with the lovely, socially-distanced turnout from The Golden Harvest’s premier in the UAE @artforallUAE’s Theatre at the Mall of the Emirates, with Q & A hosted by the formidable Culturist , Hind Mezaina
Up next, the birthplace of filmmaker of The Golden Harvest, Chicago and the Chicago Palestine Film Festival, Oct. 11 at 8 pm but streaming online for 24 hours internationally. The festival has already begun, so check out the screenings. Then next up is the Toronto Food Film Festival with a Q & A with the filmmaker at 5.30 pm, on October 18, 2020, sponsored by The Spice Trader
We love the feedback from our screening at the Theatre at Mall of the Emirates
In the News
Olive season is getting close. So any olive oil you buy now is last year’s oil. Still good but good to have some good guidelines. Don’t buy the fakes! We recommend these tips from Bobby Parrish at Flav City
Fresh oil coming soon!
To read earlier Recipes and fun film and olive facts from The Olive It, click here.
THE OLIVE IT
Recipes and News from The Golden Harvest
TODAY’S RECIPE: MUHAMMARA
“If the Olive Trees knew the hands that planted them, Their Oil would become Tears—-Mahmoud Darwish”
For filmmakers and film festivals, the virus has meant the loss of gathering with other filmmakers and with film audiences to celebrate what we do—make, watch, and ultimately consider the meaning of it all through film. Many festivals have opted to go online, and the challenges are enormous, particularly getting an audience. We hope you’ll be able to support the festivals by tuning in online. Art needs audience support now more than ever. In coming weeks, we will let you get to know the film programmers carrying on in these challenging times. Many of them do this work in conjunction with other jobs in order to manage financially.
Today we begin with Michael Maria from the Boston Palestine Film Festival. We were going to write about him in our own words, but he describes himself so eloquently:
I was born and raised in Massachusetts, USA by Palestinian parents who hail from Bethlehem. I have lots of family in Palestine from both my mother and father's sides of the family, and have returned a number of times throughout the years, but not nearly as often as I would like. I've been a member of the executive committee of the Boston Palestine Film Festival for the past ten seasons, and this is my fourth season as the Programming Director. I love the festival. It's my passion to bring these amazing films that feature and amplify Palestinian voices to a public that so very much needs to hear from Palestinians directly; to bear witness to the Palestinian experience, its joys and its struggles. I also love how the festival allows us to maintain a sense of connection and community from within the diaspora. During the day, I work in pharmacovigilance business planning in the biotech industry. I'm father to a three-year old, and will take him and my wife to Palestine in the coming future
This is his recipe for muhammara. We were a bit skeptical because we had never seen one that included sautéed onion and garlic, as opposed to raw, but it turned out to be the tastiest one we have ever had.
INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 12-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and rinsed (or two to three home-roasted peppers)
2/3 cups walnuts, lightly toasted
1/4 cup bread crumbs, lightly toasted
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
Salt to taste
PREPARATION:
In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1.5 tbsp EVOO until shimmers. Add the onion, and cook, stirring frequently until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cumin, and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 40 seconds. Use a spatula to scrape the mixture into a food processor.
To the food processor add the roasted red peppers, walnuts, bread crumbs, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, remaining olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt, and process to a coarse puree. Scrape down the sides of the food processor and then, with the motor running, slowly drizzle in the remaining oil until it is incorporated. Scrape the muhammara into a bowl, adjust with lemon juice and salt if needed. Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with parsley. Serve with pita. This will keep for about a week in the fridge, although mine has never lasted that long!
The Golden Harvest Crew in Bethlehem
THE GOLDEN HARVEST UPDATES:
The Golden Harvest will be screening in North America and the Middle East in the coming weeks. Two of the festivals will also leave the film on for an extended period, so that those that can’t make the screening time, can log in later. The film will also have its first public screening in the UAE, where the film started out as an idea at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. We hope you can tune in wherever you are!
Dubai at @artforalluae The Theatre
Mall of the Emirates
September 26 @ 8pm UAE Time Curated by the UAE’s film and cutture champion, Hend Mezaina
Chicago Palestine Film Festival
In partnership with the Gene Siskel Film Center
Sunday, October 11 @ 8 pm CST (and also 24 hours online)
Sunday, October 18th @ 8pm EST
With Q&A with director to follow
Boston Palestine Film Festival
In partnership with the Boston Fine Arts Museum
October 16 to October 25, 2020 (online)
IN THE NEWS:
We expect to have more screenings in Italy in the coming months. In the meantime, if you’re looking for another festival in Italy, with the opportunity to screen globally, we recommend Giornate del Cinema Muto, one of the great silent film festivals in the world. We are particularly looking forward to the nine short films iin “The Urge to Travel,” as most of us are feeling that, and The Apaches of Athens (GR 1930)
The olive harvest season is upon us. We will keep you updated on the harvest as it begins under COVID-19/
