Edible Olives
The fruit of the olive cannot be eaten direct from the tree. The various substances in the skin give it a bitter taste, and it is necessary to process the olives to make them edible. This involves soaking out their bitterness and can be done in several ways. Specifically:
A. Store the olives in a jar with water and 10% salt for around six months. Then make a small slice in them with a knife and soak them in water again. Change the water every other day for twenty days. After twenty days taste the olives; if they do not taste bitter then they are ready. Salt them and soak them in vinegar for a few hours.
B. The olives can also be stored dry with salt to remove the bitter flavour. When these olives are ready they will be all wrinkled.
C. Alternately soak and rinse the olives for several months.
D. Leave the olives to soak in olive oil for several months.
E. Store the olives in a strong alkaline solution for several days.
Once the bitter taste has been removed from the olives following one of the above methods, salt them and store them in olive oil. You can also add thyme or dried orange peel or some other aromatic herb to the oil, giving the olives a delicious flavour. Green olives in vinegar
5 kilos large green olives
5 kilos water
½ kilo salt
2 kilos vinegar
1 ½ kilos olive oil
2 kilos water
200 grams salt
Make a small slice in the olives on one side and put them in a large bowl with water.
Leave for twenty days, changing the water each day. Prepare a solution with the 5 kilos of water and ½ kilo of salt and leave the olives in this brine for 10 days.
Throw this brine away and prepare another with the 2 kilo of water and the 200 grams of salt
Salted olives
5 kilos good quality green-black olives
5 kilos water
250 grams salt
150 grams sugar
Wash the olives and put them in a large clay or glass container. Prepare a brine, i.e. a solution of the salt diluted with water, and pour it over the olives. Every second day (for two weeks) change the water with the same brine. The last time that you change the water, add 150 grams salt and 50 grams sugar to the brine. Leave the olives in the brine for two months before beginning to consume them.
