fresh olives, help please

[tania welford]

Hi

I bought some fresh green olives on the weekend and have been told I
need to first soak in lye then brine.

Could someone let me know if I am right in thinking Lye is caustic
soda, and how to I go about this first step?

Thanks
Tania

[Mark Preston]

Olive curing is not an exact science. Use 15 grams "lye" per quart of
water. Allow the lye water to sit overnight before putting the olives
into it. 24 hours after adding the olives, cut one in half, across the
width, the fruit should look somewhat "cured". You can also do this by
taste. But do spit out the bite you taste. The olives should become
about 80% cured in lyewater. Then you remove them from the lyewater,
soak in water and change that water every 24 hours until the lye flavor
goes away. Then put 8 ozs. of salt per gallon (128 ozs.) of water. Add
bay or orange peel. Marinate the olives until you like the flavor. Boil
the liquid, remove the spice solids replacing with fresh, add the olives
and keep in the fridge.

Next question?
--
Mark Preston
Author of
California Mission Cookery
and
The Hatch Chile Pepper Cookbook

[LindaSBW]

Sounds like a good recipe. Does this recipe also hold for black olives? I've
been told there are curing differences. Also, got an recipes using less
caustic solutions.

Chris