Nov 17 Curing Olives

There are fundamentally 2 ways to cure olives, used depending when the olives are picked. Note that olives can be taken directly from the tree, or can be bought fresh and untreated at most markets, and even some supermarkets.

Method One. (Picked green olives) Picked olives are usually green, remember that olives grow green, and turn darker (to black) and fall to the ground as they ripen. As the green olives are not fully ripened, they are bitter - so this method 'washes' out the bitterness. This method involves soaking the olives in fresh water for 2 to 3 weeks, changing the water daily. Finished olives are kept hydrated (usually in salt water or olive oil with a mix of spices or flavourings), Finished olives keep their round shape. A good recipe for curing olives in this method can be found below.

Method Two. (Ripe olives, sometimes picked from the ground) Ripe olives are usually a red-black colour, remember that olives grow green, and turn darker (to black) and fall to the ground as they ripen. This method cures the olives in salt - draining the moisture from the olives leaving a wrinkled black salty olive. Typically olives are layered with salt, finished with a heavy weight on top, this is turned every few days until the olives have the desired taste.

Curing olives, submitted by Annette.

Having lived in our house for over four years now, an olive tree which hangs over our fence, (the fruit never being picked) inspired me to try curing olives myself. I read as many articles as I could find on the internet but found that although there was a general theme, timing differed greatly, so still keen to have a go, here is the best method I came up with.

1. Pick your olives when the fruit is, as best you can tell fully grown (I waited until some of the olives were starting to turn a little red but only picked the green ones, curing black olives is a different method). Make sure you only pick healthy, unmarked fruit; small black marks could indicate unwelcome guests in your olives!
   
2. Wash the olives in a sieve under cold running water (a little care is needed as olives bruise quite easily).
   
3. Using a sharp knife cut into the olive from top to bottom being careful not to go down to the stone (this lets the bitterness seep out during soaking).
   
4. Put the olives into a bowl or container, big enough so they can be completely covered by water, they need to be completely submerged so I used a bowl and placed a plate, small enough to fit inside but big enough to keep them all under water. Tap water is fine to use.
   
5. Now the hard part! Patience! Change the water in your bowl or container every day; don't worry if a little scum appears on the top, that's normal. There is no set time here but after about three weeks of water changing you can start to taste the olives, when the bitterness has gone enough for your taste you’re ready for the next step.
   
6. Make up a solution of one part sea salt to ten parts water and re-soak the olives, this time only changing the water once a week but shaking the bowl daily, you will need to do this for about three weeks but again its personal taste so keep tasting one every four or five days.
   
7. When you are happy with the taste of your olives you are ready for the final stage. Rinse the olives in a sieve and let them drain, now place them into jars and fill to cover them with good quality olive oil, you can add cloves of garlic, lemon slices or any herbs you like to enhance the taste at this stage, it’s up to you.

The olives should keep for several weeks in the fridge or why not impress your friends by giving them a jar of your own home cured olives!