TunisiaTourismTV - In Southern Tunisia, olive oil is often produced in underground oil presses.
As olives are harvested in winter, it prevents oil of solidifying thanks to the constant temperatures of these caves, warm all year round even in mountainous areas.
First, the olives are crushed by a millstone.
Then the olive paste is cold-pressed by a big wood lever in stacked esparto fiber baskets.
Sometimes, olives from the previous year, conserved and dried, are used for extraction.
Dozens of underground oil presses once existed in the South-East.
A few ones are still in operation as the Kraiem oil press in Matmata.
Read: The olive season
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