olive curing

[Vicky Shaw]

Found this in Sunset Magazine and remembered someone had asked about curing olives.
 

                    Two easy ways to cure your own olives

                              BY ELAINE JOHNSON
[Image]              If you’ve ever had the misfortune to taste a raw
                     olive, you’ll wonder how its incredibly bitter taste
                     could possibly be removed. Yet the process is quite
                     simple—and the results are delicious. Two of the
                     easiest cures, depend only on water or salt, and
                     time: a month or so, with some daily attention at
                     first, less later on.

                     Water-cured olives, seasoned and preserved with
                     vinegar, start with full-size mature olives—green to
                     purple-black. The cured green olives are firm with a
 Photos:Christopher  faint, intriguing bitterness; black olives are a
              Irion  little softer and mellower.

                     Wizened salt-cured olives, with a distinctive flavor
                     and chewiness, begin as ripe purple-black olives; a
                     coating of salt draws out the bitterness.
         [Image]

                                 • Obtaining fresh
                                 olives
                                 • Water-cured
                                 olives
                                 • Salt-cured olives

                          Obtaining fresh olives

    Fusano California Valley Specialty Olive Company sells cases by
    mail; 12 jars (4 to 9 oz. each) cost $40 to $50, plus shipping. Call
    (800) 916-5483 or (510) 486-8772. Some produce markets will special
    order olives. And in areas of California and Arizona where olive
    trees flourish, you may find the fruit at farmers’ markets. Or you
    might be able to pick your own: olive trees are popular in home
    gardens, and many owners are happy to let you pick their fruit
    before it falls and stains their pavement or outdoor furniture.

    Mature green olives are available in November. By December, fruit on
    the trees will ripen to purple-black.

    Olives are quite perishable and must be handled gently to avoid
    bruising, which causes spoilage and off-flavors. Chill olives if you
    can’t process them immediately. We tested these recipes with olives
    about an inch long. Bigger olives usually take longer to cure and
    are often softer.
                             Water-cured Olives

    PREP AND COOK TIME: About 2-1/2 hours, plus 2 months of daily, then
    occasional, attention as olives cure and absorb seasonings

    NOTES: Use white vinegar for green olives, red vinegar for black
    ones. For seasonings, use olive oil plus minced garlic and/or
    chopped fresh or dried herbs such as oregano, thyme, or rosemary.

    MAKES: 2 gallons

    2 gallons (10 to 12 lb.) firm olives, green to purple-black
    1-1/2 to 2 cups salt
    7 cups white or red wine vinegar
    About 1/2 cup olive oil

    1. Sort olives, discarding stems, leaves, and bruised or moldy
    fruit; rinse olives and drain. With a knife, cut down 1 long side of
    each olive through to pit.

    2. Place olives in 1-gallon or 2-quart jars (glass or plastic; 2
    gal. total volume) with noncorrodible lids, filling to within 1 inch
    of top. Fill jars to brim with water. Partially fill pint-size heavy
    plastic food bags (1 for each container) with water and seal; set a
    bag on top of olives in each jar to keep fruit submerged (water will
    overflow a little). Set jars away from sunlight.

    3. Once a day, drain water from the jars, holding olives back with
    your fingers. Rinse any foam or scum from jars and bags; refill the
    jars with cool water. (You may see a small amount of harmless
    bubbling in water; olives will also lose their brightness and leak
    color into the water.) Repeat daily (it’s fine if you miss a day now
    and then) until olives have a mild, pleasantly bitter taste, about 5
    weeks total.

    4. Drain olives and pour salt equally over olives in jars.

    5. Pour vinegar and 7 cups water into a 5- to 6-quart pan. Bring to
    a simmer over high heat. Pour hot liquid over olives to within 1/2
    inch of jar rims. Let cool. Pour olive oil on top of liquid in each
    jar to completely cover surface, then secure lids.

    6. Refrigerate olives until vinegar flavor permeates them, 2 to 3
    weeks. Taste; if desired, add 1/2 cup more salt equally to jars and
    chill for 2 more days or up to 6 months. With time, olives become
    increasingly mellow. Once a month, check oil surface for scum or
    mold; skim off any. If olives smell fine and are firm, continue to
    store. If olives smell bad or become soft, discard.

    7. To serve, remove desired quantity of olives with a slotted spoon.
    To season, coat lightly with olive oil and add garlic or herbs to
    taste (see notes).



                             Salt-cured Olives

    PREP TIME: About 10 minutes, plus 4 to 5 weeks of daily, then
    occasional, attention to cure olives

    MAKES: 1 to 1-1/2 gallons

    2 gallons (10 to 12 lb.) firm olives, purple to purple-black
    About 9 pounds (13 to 14 cups) salt
    Distilled white vinegar

    1. Put olives in a clean, old pillowcase. Set the case, open end up,
    on a counter. Pour 6 pounds (9 cups) salt over the fruit. Tie bag
    shut with a rope.

    2. In a cool place, suspend bag by rope from a nail or hook (bag
    should not touch any surface). Once a day, tip bag up to mix fruit
    and salt. When olives start to drip, after about 3 days, put a
    container beneath them and mix fruit with salt only once a week.
    After about 2 weeks, olives drip more and salt gets crusty on
    fabric.

    3. Take out a handful of olives and check for mold (unlikely, but
    possible). If you see any mold, check the entire batch. Discard
    olives with more than just a tiny spot of mold. Rinse slightly moldy
    olives clean in vinegar. Return olives to the bag. Add 1 more cup
    salt to olives and mix gently.

    4. Once a week, repeat step 3. When olives stop dripping and are
    shriveled, 4 to 5 weeks total, they are ready to eat.

    5. Shake olives a portion at a time in a wide-mesh colander to
    remove loose salt.

    6. To serve olives, remove desired quantity and rinse well with cool
    water; drain. For plumper, less salty olives, soak overnight in cool
    water; drain. To store up to 6 months, pour olives into glass or
    plastic jars (1 to 1-1/2 gal. total) and add a total of 1-1/4 cups
    (1 lb.) salt. Secure lids and tilt jars to mix fruit and salt.
    Refrigerate.

    No reliable nutrition information is available for freshly cured
    olives. One ounce commercially canned ripe olives has: 33 cal., 82%
    (27 cal.) from fat; 0.2 g protein; 3 g fat (0.4 g sat.); 1.8 g carbo
    (0.9 g fiber); 247 mg sodium; 0 mg chol. Sodium will be much higher
    for salt-cured olives; remaining information should be comparable.
                             Copyright 1998 Sunset
                                Publishing Corp.

 

--
Vicky

" I'm on a strict diet I can only eat food I like."