Argan Oil

Photo courtesy of New York Times

The story of argan oil is an amazing mix of history, biology, conservation and haute-cuisine.

For hundreds of years the Berbers in the South Western part of Morocco in an area covering 700,000-800,000 hectares have let their goats climb the argan trees (Argania spinosa). These spiny evergreens produce a slightly larger than olive-sized fruit, the pits of which pass right through the goat’s digestive system and are collected by the Berbers. The pits are then split open and the three small kernels are ground to produce the aromatic oil.
The argan tree is a real survivor that can be traced back as far as the Tertiary Period 1.5 million years ago. Part of its success is due to its ability to remain virtually dormant and fruitless during years of drought. Yet despite its tenacious qualities it is under threat as never before. Local demand for wood, overgrazing by goats and the fact that it is never commercially propagated has lead to a huge decline in tree numbers. Some experts say that 60% of all trees have vanished in the last half century.
The Process
The production of this oil is a demanding and laborious process which was until recently done completely by hand. The manual method consists in first collecting the pit of the fruit from among the goat droppings. The pit's hard shell is then cracked to collect the kernels. These are roasted by mild heating and once cooled, ground in a stone rotary quern. Later the kernels are hand-mixed with a small amount of water to form a dough. It is from this dough that the oil can be extracted by hand.

Recently mechanical presses have been introduced to extract argan oil. This process reduces considerably the time needed to extract 1 litre of oil. Once the kernels are roasted, the mechanical press takes care of the grinding and extraction. More oil is extracted and since no water is added to press the dough, the oil can be stocked longer.
The most consuming time of the process, cracking the nuts, is still done by hand.

And here is an argan oil recipe

Tags: Morocco Fes