Volume I · Scene 23 of 30
Inside an olive
Oil forms inside the olive
As the olive grows, oil forms in its flesh.
The flesh is the part around the stone.
At the olive mill, we will learn to separate the oil.
@ A.D.O.S. INTERNATIONALThe story
In the library, Neri opens a large picture of an olive cut in half. There is no need to cut open the fruit on the tree. ‘The skin is on the outside. Under it is the flesh. In the middle is the hard stone, which protects the seed.’ Leo points to the widest part. ‘Is the oil here?’ ‘Much of the oil is in the flesh. It builds up there as the fruit grows and ripens.’ ‘The olive also contains water and other material,’ adds Curiosone. ‘Oil is only part of the fruit.’ Sami points to the whole olive in the picture and then to the little drop. They are not the same amount.
Ada uses different colours for the parts. Sami remembers the first drawing at the nursery: the stone is not the whole olive. Rumo adds a little drop to the map. It is still inside the fruit. To reach the bread, it will have to pass through the olive mill.
Let’s talk about it
Which parts can we recognise in an olive?
One possible answer
The skin, flesh and stone. The seed is inside the stone. Much of the oil is in the flesh. An olive also contains water and other material: its whole weight does not turn into oil.
A little activity
Our notebook — Point to the skin, flesh and stone in the diagram. Use just the picture. There is no need to cut olives or handle olive stones.