[Sca-cooks] Olives
Stefan li Rous
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Mon Dec 21 18:35:45 PST 2009
Simon replied to me with:
<<< Last year when I had the handful of olives I put them in a pint jar
with a heavy salt brine. Changed it a couple of times when a scum
developed and waited six months. Worked out pretty well. The
variety is small so the product was not impressive to see but they
tasted good. don't remember exactly what proportions of salt to water
I used.>>>
Thanks. After I made my comment about not knowing where I would get
raw olives, it occurred to me that I hadn't tried searching the web
yet. Lo, there are several possibilities.
According to one, http://www.greatolives.com the raw ones are
available for only a few weeks each year.
"We will only offer this product when it is available; for green
olives, that is usually from about the middle of September 15th till
about October 20th; for black olives, that is usually in November
(weather permitting.) This can vary from year to year."
"These olives are fresh from the tree. If you would like some
information on curing fresh olives, check out oliveoilsource.com, or
go to our Recipes page for a Mediterranean Partida Style Recipe, a Lye
Process for Green-Ripe Olives, and a couple of Fresh Black Olive Cures."
The "Green-Ripe Olives" seems to imply that not all ripe olives are
black and this gives another process than the salt/salt-brine method(s).
They talk about different size olives, from Large (3/4 in.) to
Colossal (1 in.). Some types you can buy sorted, others not. Why would
you want a particular size? I can see perhaps for uniformity for
decorative reasons, although that doesn't say why you'd want all large
vs. all Extra Large (7/8 in.) or one of the other two sizes.
The raw olives are available in 10 lb boxes for about $18 plus
shipping although it differs from year to year. Still, seems much
cheaper than the cured olives.
Another note says "The black olives are available in November, weather
permitting. It is possible for orchards to lose their entire crop of
black olives." Which reflects the problem that Simon had this year.
Sounds like a real gamble. "Do I harvest now while they are green or
take a chance and wait until they ripen, and perhaps lose all of them."
I can just imagine it. You could have olives aging in one corner, mead
and wine brewing in another, vinegar growing? in another and cheese in
another. Arrg. I've got enough unfinished projects already.
Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous Barony of Bryn Gwlad Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris Austin, Texas StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at: http://www.florilegium.org ****
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