Latakia-SANA
With the beginning of the olive harvest season, the rituals of cooperation and work are manifested in an atmosphere of intimacy and love among the people of Lattakia, who harvest their crop amid customs and traditions that have preserved their presence, despite the modern techniques that entered the harvesting method.
The young man Manhal from Siano village tells SANA reporter that the farmers are waiting for rain at the beginning of the harvest season at the end of September, because the rains at that time increase the quality of the oil in the olives, pointing out that after the end of the harvest season, the people of the village hold a ritual known as “Thanksgiving Day.” “In it they distribute food cooked using freshly produced virgin oil, as he put it.
Farmer Hassan Barhoum from the village of Derotan says: “In the old days, the people of the village used to meet at the Mukhtar to agree on a date for picking olives. .
The mayor of the village of Beit Ana, Husam Sukur, describes the scene of the participation of all family members in the completion of the work, and how the process of harvesting includes equipment and customs, including the so-called “zawada” consisting of simple food of vegetables and fruits, in addition to the rituals of folk singing mixed with wail, admonition and chants of women to the sound of the sounds of green olives falling on the ground. The rug is spread on the floor while working, which creates an atmosphere of joy and activity that helps to get good production in a shorter time.
He added: “Among the women climb the stairs to harvest olives by picking them one by one, by hand, while the children were collecting the olives that fall away. On the other hand, the men hit the branches of the olive tree with what is called “the fountain” or shake it until the fruits fall, taking care not to harm the tree to To collect many sacks full of olives, which the men carry to the press to obtain the pure oil.”
Regarding the food rituals during the harvest season, Salma Muhammad from the village of al-Sanoub says: “After a hard day that extends from sunrise to sunset, one of the women prepares food and drink over a fire of dry olive branches in a stone stove with tea prepared on wood.”
Al-Muammar Ali Hatem from the village of Baloran points out that before the existence of modern times, the process of pressing olives was carried out on the stone called “Albatos”. It contains oil, but nowadays there are modern presses and there is no need for all that trouble.
amazing manal
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