In Oil

Sottolio, or In Oil preserves, are vacuum-packed glass jars that mainly contain agricultural, vegetable products or products of the sea. The products, handcrafted using traditional methods, are enriched with spices and are then placed in the glass jar. The product in the jar is then submerged in extra virgin olive oil before being sterilized and vacuum sealed.

Preparing preserves in oil from fresh products has a very ancient tradition in the Italian territories and each region has its typical basic products and its traditional processing methods.

What can be preserved in oil?

Every company, every family, every grandmother has its own secret recipe, the result of knowledge handed down for generations and it would be impossible to list them all. What unites all these preparations is the love, the passion and the craftsmanship that is dedicated to the various preserves in oil.

Vegetables and vergure are preserved in oil. In addition to vegetable agricultural products, fish products such as tuna, sardines, baby octopus and other seafood are also preserved in oil.

Among the vegetable preserves, the products that are mainly preserved in oil are:

• chillies in oil
• aubergines in oil
• zucchini in oil
• peppers in oil
• artichokes in oil
• mushrooms in oil
• lampascioni in oil
• dried tomatoes in oil

In addition to the list above, which contains the most important and best known products, there are a large number of vegetable products that are put in oil.

Preserves in oil: an ancient method of preserving food

One of the ancient methods of preserving food in Mediterranean cuisine is to put them in oil in glass jars.

The technique of conservation in olive oil was already used in Roman times who discovered the conservation properties of oil and made extensive use of it.

Historically, the typical foods preserved in oil are vegetable ones so that they can be savored even in periods far from the time of harvesting fresh products and during the winter period.

In ancient times, preserves in oil had the purpose of creating stocks of food to be used during the winter months or following situations of shortage of fresh crops due to natural events that ruined entire crops and left families without food.

Why are foods preserved in oil?

Preserves in general and in oil in particular come from the poor agricultural tradition. In ancient times you couldn't afford to waste anything and you needed to make the most of your land's crops over time.

The peasant families of the past often found themselves with entire crops destroyed by frost and bad weather in the winter, thus leaving the peasant families of the time without food to survive the winter.

The summer period, on the other hand, was more lenient with the farmers, allowing them to produce four times the winter harvest.

Thanks to the abundant summer harvests, the farmers were able to store large quantities of preserves in oil using their own olive oil and wine vinegar.

Why are they preserved in oil?

One of the peculiarities of products in oil is to be able to taste the original or flavored taste of fresh agricultural products at any time of the year (even far from the harvesting period of the product itself). To be able to taste them at any time of the year, however, it is necessary to preserve them with processing methods that allow them to be kept for a long time and that do not allow the onset of health problems for those who consume them.

Preserving food in oil has the main purpose of preventing its decomposition and maintaining its healthiness over time:

Food products are preserved in oil basically for

• prevent their decomposition
• eliminate the onset of bacteria
• eliminate the onset of pathogens

Processing fresh products tends to eliminate excess water by dehydrate them, thus preventing the decomposition of the product.
Through dehydration or heat treatments, we also intend to eliminate bacteria and pathogens that can cause poisoning and diseases. body if ingested.

How are preserves in oil made?

The methods of processing fresh agricultural products to transform them into oil are different.

There are 4 methods of processing fresh agricultural products to transform them into products in oil:

• sun drying of pickles
• salt dehydration of pickles
• cooking of pickles in water
• cooking of pickles in water and vinegar

The choice of processing methods is therefore influenced by geographical and climatic factors, by the availability of raw materials but also by the personal taste of the craftsman who prepares and transforms them into oil.

The main factors that include the choice of the method of processing fresh agricultural products in oil are:

• the availability of oil (Extra virgin olive oil)
• the availability of hot and sunny hours
• the availability of vinegar or salt
• the type of products to be put in oil.

Products in oil dried in the sun

Many preserves in oil, especially in Southern Italy, are made from sun-dried summer products. Agricultural products in southern Italy are particularly tasty and fragrant thanks to the large amount of sun and heat to which they are exposed during the summer.

Thanks to the long duration of the summer period and the particular heat, it is possible to dry the products naturally exposing them to the sun during the day and storing them indoors during the night to avoid the absorption of humidity that is created after sunset.

The products of the summer garden are traditionally dried in the sun on very long wooden boards covered with thin nets. The nets allow the products to ventilate and keep unwanted insects away.

Sun-dried products can be whole or sliced ​​before exposing them to the sun.

Fruits such as olives, figs and grapes or legumes such as broad beans and beans are usually left whole. Dried fruit and legumes are usually not preserved in oil but just store them in a dry environment inside sealed containers.

Vegetables usually dry in the sun after slicing them in order to accelerate the drying time and maximize dehydration, thus ensuring better preservation in oil and a more satisfying tasting.

Products in oil dehydrated from salt

One of the methods of dehydration of agricultural products, developed in the past especially on the coast and near the salt pans, is the salt dehydration method. Dehydration in the sun is especially common for some types of vegetables and fish products.

Salt dehydrates fresh food products by eliminating the aqueous part that would be dangerous to have during the storage period in oil.

Salt dehydration is not to be confused with preservation in salt or brine. With dehydration using salt, the products are kept in salt to eliminate most bacteria, fungi or other organisms harmful to humans thanks to the hypertonic properties of the salt.

Living organisms harmful to humans are killed thanks to the dehydration process of the salt by osmosis.

Food products, once dehydrated by the salt, are cleaned of excess salt and placed in a jar previously washed and sterilized in boiling water.

Finally, we proceed with the boiling of the jar in order to further sterilize the contents and the container.

All the food contained in the jar must be coated with oil. A finger of space is usually left between the surface of the oil and the lid of the jar in order to guarantee the formation of a vacuum during the sterilization process (which takes place by boiling over a low flame for a medium-long period).

After boiling, the vacuum is also created, which guarantees the preservation of the product for a few months, thanks to the elimination of air from inside the jar.

Products in oil cooked in water

One of the methods to sterilize fresh agricultural products before placing them in jars in oil is by boiling.

The products are usually cut into slices and blanched for a few minutes trying to keep the consistency of the product still crunchy and avoiding making them too soft.

The products are then removed from the water, drained and placed on sterilized cotton cloths before placing them in jars in oil.

The main precaution to keep is to proceed with filling the jars with the still hot vegetables (over 60 degrees centigrade) and with olive oil and then seal them with the cap and turn them upside down. In this way, the vacuum necessary to preserve the products for a few months is naturally created.

Products in oil cooked in vinegar

A variant of products in oil after boiling is to cook them in a mixture of water and vinegar or just vinegar.

The products are sliced ​​and blanched in vinegar or in a mixture of water and vinegar. After a few minutes of boiling in vinegar, the product is drained and dried: then proceed with filling of the jar with the product still hot (over 60 degrees centigrade) and submerged everything with olive oil.

By overturning the jar with the product still hot, the vacuum necessary for the long conservation of the product in oil is created.

This process is particularly appreciated by lovers of vinegar and slightly sour flavors.

Boiling in vinegar accentuates the crunchiness and flavor of the final product in oil.