Oil workshop
Oil pressing at Moulin de Sévery | private workshop
CHF 70.00 /person
- - 1h45
- - Sévery
- - Private workshop for 1-2 pers.
- - From age 16
- - Initiation
- - Material supplied
Jean-Luc Bovey and Artisans Huiliers
A fabulous smell of roasted nuts reaches your nostrils? You’ve come to the right place, the famous Moulin de Sévery. Jean-Luc Bovey, the 6th generation (since 1810!) of artisan oil-makers, has followed the family tradition and continues to use ancestral processes, while at the same time proposing a number of evolutions to adapt to new consumer habits. He has also obtained PDO certification for his walnut oil. During a conversation with an elderly customer who had come to have his walnut oil pressed, the latter mischievously confided in me the motto of Jean-Luc’s father, whom he knew well: “Work has only one pace, the gallop”. Jean-Luc is a hard-working man who seems to have inherited this adage. He has also succeeded in passing on a taste for craftsmanship, hard work and things well done to his daughters, both of whom work at the Moulin, and to the four artisan oil-makers involved in this adventure.
Workshop content & product to be manufactured
For starters, who would dare miss the presentation of over 200 years of Moulin de Sévery history? The theoretical part continues outside in the walnut grove – weather permitting – with explanations of the specific characteristics of these trees. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of nut cracking. Not as easy as you might think, your speed will be put to the test… Then enter a time machine that propels you straight into a setting mixing ancient and modern machines. One of the artisan oil-makers shows you the technique used for the cold-pressing. You will then be put to work on the traditional method of oil production: the famous old-fashioned pressing. The oilseeds are ground before being roasted for around twenty minutes. This last step enhances the taste of the final product tenfold. As in the past, it’s still the fine nose and keen eye of the artisan oil-makers that determine when roasting is complete. So sharpen your nostrils and open your eyes! The mass is then transferred to molds for the oil pressing stage. Once pressed, collect the remaining compact wafer – named nillon – which can be used to make delicious cakes. Come away from this fabulous trip with a piece of nillon cake, nillon powder, a recipe for a delicious cake and a 25cl bottle of walnut oil.
Location and access
Moulin de Sévery, Route du Moulin 10, 1141 Sévery
Free parking available.
Private workshop (1 or 2 people) - choice of dates
The Moulin de Sévery offers Matière Brute workshops from Monday to Friday throughout the year. It adapts to people’s availability. You can choose the time of the workshop: from 10am to 11:45am or from 2pm to 3:45pm.
If you are buying this workshop to do it yourself, orif you are offering it as a gift, please make the purchase first and then contact us at info@matierebrute.ch to arrange a date for the activity.
Gift cards are valid for one year.
