Quench Me: Kalikori
Father and son team, Vassily and Stavros Ligris, planted the first olive grove on their property in Kalethéa, in the Kalamata region of Greece. Today, Stavros’ daughter, Effy Ligris, has taken charge of running that family business, naming it Kalikori, meaning ‘good daughter’, and expanding it beyond Greece’s borders to North America. Effy suggests that Kalikori olive oil is “best consumed raw as a finishing oil drizzled on cooked dishes, such as fish or soup….” We suggest you visit them at Kalikori and arrange your own tasting.
Why do you choose to only use Vatsikes olives for your oil?
These are the only olives my grandfather and father planted. They were chosen specifically for their superior oil production.
How long has your family been producing olive oil?
Our family has always produced olive oil.
Where do you source the olives from?
The olives come from our very own olive groves.
How long does it take the olive oil to go from harvest to the store shelf?
We harvest in early November. They’re pressed almost immediately (24hrs). The oil rests for 30 days for any sediment to settle to the bottom of tank. We then go ahead with the bottling and shipping across the Atlantic (30 days), arrival at the port of Montreal and distributed across store shelves immediately once the product has arrived on Canadian shores. So all in all I would say 2 months from the time the olives are pressed. We usually fly over to participate in the harvest and oversee every step.
Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
We’ve recently added two very unique products from the island of Lesvos in Greece: tomato sauce with ouzo and tomato sauce with orange, and would like to add a few more to our line.