Is there a more beautiful time of year here than autumn? Colors are turning, leaves falling, air crisp, sky blue and fall fruits and vegetables abound. It is harvest time, so stunning.
Our cooking adapts to the season’s changes, and I love this time of braised dishes, hearty vegetables and warm comforting desserts.
One ingredient so important to cooking, especially now, is good olive oil. It is remarkable that some of the best olive oils are from right here in Sonoma County, although it makes sense, for olives are a fall stone fruit that require Mediterranean conditions like grapes, so they complement one another.
Olives are naturally suited to this growing region, which is why you see so many olives trees around vineyards and properties.
Ridgely Evers came to Healdsburg over 30 years ago, and with cuttings from 800-year-old olive trees from Lucca outside of Tuscany, started DaVero. He was a pioneer to say the least; olives trees had not been imported to the states since the 1880s, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. With wife Colleen McGlynn, they are a formidable pair.
The first 1994 olive harvest launched a journey that has won major awards and has been recognized by councils, chefs like Mario Batali and a legion of fans that love the olive oils they produce and products within the brand, including aged balsamic, fruit jams and now a winery with a line of Italian wines.
One of my strongest memories from our first year on the farm was a DaVero olive harvest celebration. I knew we would pick olives, and then have lunch, but I had no idea it would be one of the most beautiful, delicious and exquisite meals I have ever had. Ever.
We picked olives in the morning, and with a clang, sat down to tables set around their wraparound porch. Dish after dish after dish came out of the kitchen and the wood-fired oven. Colleen was a chef at Stars in the day, Ridgely baked bread, and the family style meal was completely from the land. It seemed to be out of a magazine or movie, and worthy of a documentary.
In their grove of 4,500 biodynamic olive trees, they hand pick in the early to middle of the season, so there is a nice kick to it, and they press the same day. Olives are a stone fruit, and like our peaches, blossom is a critical time.
Each year, around April they wait for the fruit to set, and every fall starting in October they harvest. Some years are better than others. Like our peach season this year, it is a low volume crop, so vintage 2018 will be very limited but exceptionally good.
Other remarkable olive oil producers in Sonoma County include Dry Creek Olive Oil Company, Deergnaw, Jordan Winery, McEvoy and so many more.
When you’re at the farmers’ market this month, with all the fall bounty and glory, think about complementing those fresh fruits and vegetables with some good, local olive oil. You’ll be glad you did.
Here’s a dish I had at Jordan’s harvest luncheon, which chef Mateo Granados of Mateo’s Cocina Latina serves up so well: olive oil rice. It is so tasty, I could eat it all day, but that would be a pity, because Mateo’s food is so good you should really try every dish on his menu, including weekend brunch.
Mateo’s rice:
Coat a sauté pan with olive oil.
Measure 1 cup brown rice.
Heat and sauté rice in olive oil over medium heat until it turns a rich, golden brown. This is important, for you are roasting the rice, which enhances flavor. The oil coats and permeates the grains, and when you add water, the rice is already pre-heated. All good here.
Smash one clove garlic.
Add 3 cups water slowly.
Cover pan and simmer until done.
You can add your favorite seasonal vegetables and/or proteins to the simmer, and you have a meal.
Sprinkle with a little olive oil and salt to taste.
Next month: crab
Gayle Okumura Sullivan is co-owner, with husband Brian, of Dry Creek Peach & Produce in Healdsburg.
