Zaytoun’s Fairtrade, organic olive oil is a unique product able to compete with the best oils from all over the world. With the launch of these great-tasting, life-changing products in the UK, Zaytoun are offering small-scale farmers, often working under extreme conditions, not only a fair price and a chance to expand and improve their production, but also the opportunity to sustain a livelihood with dignity and security.

The olive tree and its produce are of key cultural and economic importance to Palestinian people, and Zaytoun creates international links through trade rather than aid. Cathi Pawson, co-founder of Zaytoun says this is vital to the company’s philosophy: “Aid donations, while necessary, rarely foster foundations for long-term prosperity and social revitalization. To date, our trade with the Palestinian people has brought well over £1 million to their economy, and support for rural society”

Zaytoun Olive Oil is described by wine and food writer Malcolm Gluck as: “One of the least aggressive yet pungently attractive olive oils I have tasted. It is in the rich nourishing class of the best of the fruity Sicilian, Cretan, and northern Spanish oils and its beautiful green cloudiness bespeaks of care and judicious handling.”

Cathi Pawson and her Zaytoun co-founder Heather Masoud join the farmers in Palestine every year to help them bring home the olive harvest. All of Zaytoun’s Fairtrade olive oils are pressed from organically grown fruit, extra virgin and first cold pressed. The name ‘Zaytoun’ is taken from the Arabic word for olive.

The olive harvest in Palestine today continues the tradition held by generations, with the whole family, from great grandparent down to the children, coming together under the trees to harvest their fruit. As Abu Suleiman, one of the Zaytoun Palestinian farmers producing the oil says:

“The olive trees root and anchor us in our land, provide a sense of belonging, home and hope, investing in olive oil is investing in our future.”

As the ancient Arabic proverb says, ‘There are only three constant things in life – death, change and olive trees.’ Olives are a centuries-old mainstay of the Palestinian economy, with the soil and climate producing some of the world’s highest quality olive oil. The trees that produce them can live for well over 500 years, surviving drought, frost, poor soil and thrive despite adversity, very much like their Palestinian owners.

Estimates suggest that about 100,000 families in Palestine depend to some extent upon the olive harvest for their livelihoods. The development of the olive oil sector is critical as an important source of food security, labour and cash income and has the potential to lift thousands of Palestinians out of poverty.

Zaytoun is committed to making a tangible difference, maintaining close links with producers, working to organise volunteer teams to help out with the harvest every year and ensuring that proceeds from sales here in the UK are directed where they are most needed.

www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/zaytoun/

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and they are absolutely delicious.

Sardines are a small schooling fish that roam the open oceans eating plankton and small crustaceans.

They are in turn eaten by, well, just about everything. Including people. You are probably most familiar with canned sardines, and they are an excellent product when well made. I eat canned sardines mostly in winter, and fresh ones in warm weather.

Finding fresh sardines is a good reason to drop everything and call all your friends. Sardines rot faster than almost any other fish — its all those omega-3s — so buy a bunch and eat them the day you find them, because you never know when you’ll see fresh sardines at the market again.

Another reason for urgency is that sardines do not freeze well. The oils in them turn rancid even in a freezer, and the flesh becomes a mushy mess when thawed. My advice: Never freeze fresh sardines.

Look for sardines that are clean-smelling and whole. Try to avoid bruised fish, and definitely avoid any fish with “belly burn,” a condition where the belly is broken and the guts are starting to come out. This is a sign of an old fish, suitable only for salting down.

What do you do with them? Why grill them, of course. Wrapped in grape or fig leaves, grilled over charcoal with olive oil and lemon, fresh sardines outshine pretty much any other seafood in my book.

But you do have to deal with the bones. The best way to do this is to split or butterfly your sardines (instructions on how to do this are linked below). Do this and you will only have a few gossamer bones remaining, and they are soft enough to eat safely.

You can also fillet fresh sardines and marinate them in salt, olive oil and lemon juice to make a Mediterranean version of ceviche. This is a common way to serve sardines in Greece, Spain and Italy.

Fresh sardines are also good filleted and baked. They go well with full-flavored sauces, especially tomato sauces. Spicy, citrusy salsas also work well.

But the bottom line is this: If you find truly fresh sardines, simplicity is the key. Enjoy the rich flavor of the fish with little more than salt, lemon and a little olive oil.

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