SC - Olives

[Philip & Susan Troy]

LrdRas at aol.com wrote:

> Every cookbook I have inexplicably assumes
> that  a person is buying already preserved olives. :-(

That may be because until recently, unless you lived in an area where
olives were grown, it was a pretty safe assumption that the olives you'd
be buying were preserved. I know I was in my twenties the first time I
saw a fresh olive in a market.  

>From Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking":

"Anyone who has bitten into a raw olive knows that olives must somehow
be processed before they are edible. Olives are usually pickled, and
they contain a bitter glucoside called oleuropein <snip> which is
usually removed first. This has been done since Roman times by soaking
the fruit in a lye solution and then washing it thoroughly. <snip>
Today's Greek olives are as strong-tasting as they are because they have
not been treated with lye to remove the oleuropein. They are either
simply cured by packing in dry salt, or are pickled in brine, where they
undergo a lactic fermentation. Green Spanish olives are picked before
they are ripe, treated with lye, and then brined." <extraneous material
about how canned California olives are processed, snipped>

>From Cato's "De Agricultura", Andrew Dalby, trans.:

"How green olives are conserved. Before they turn black, they are to be
broken and put into water. The water is to be changed frequently. When
they have soaked sufficiently they are drained, put into vinegar, and
oil is added. 1/2 lb salt to 1 peck olives. Fennel and lentisk are put
up separately in vinegar. When you decide to mix them in, use quickly.
Pack in preserving jars. When you wish to use, take up with dry hands." 

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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