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Raw olives
Posted by:
banana who
()
Date: October 12, 2010 04:16PM My local produce market has been selling raw green olives. Yesterday I bought three to try out. But here's the rub: years ago I bought raw BLACK olives, took them home and popped one in my mouth. The. worst. taste. experience. of. my. life. LOL! I cannot recall the exact flavor but it was bitter and soapy, as I remember it. I then found out that you have to cure olives or something. The thing I wonder is if the green and black both need treatment and HOW to do it? The green olives were only $2.39 a pound, which sounds like an amazing deal when you think of how much they charge for a jar. So does anyone know how to remove the bitterness/preserve them? I have heard of salt curing and there are olives packed in oil but any other treatment needed beforehand? Thanks in advance!  Re: Raw olives
Posted by:
Tamukha
()
Date: October 12, 2010 09:05PM A warning: I've never succeeded at this and I'm a trained cook, but you may fare well
[greekfood.about.com] Re: Raw olives
Posted by:
pborst
()
Date: October 12, 2010 09:25PM [honest-food.net]
Best of luck. Honestly sounds like one hard fruit to prep. Adding brine may be great for customers who aren't hypertensive. Does the salt carry over? p.s. here's a guy who is holding out for water cured. [www.wikihow.com]. Doesn't sound promising. Sorry. I'm usually not a pessimist. sorry, you said, black quite clearly. This is for green. Any fruit that tough to cure, ain't worth eat'in. My view. Yeah, it's got squalene. etc. etc. but that's what EVOO is for. Make the case for the value added of eating the raw fruit. Best. Paul Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2010 09:38PM by pborst. Re: Raw olives
Posted by:
Mislu
()
Date: October 16, 2010 08:50PM B who,
Sundried olives are considered 'cured'. I think those taste alright. I had some oil cured olives last week. those were good. I saved the pits and planted them. Do you think they will grow? Re: Raw olives
Posted by:
banana who
()
Date: October 16, 2010 11:40PM I dunno. I guess I don't understand how oil cures something (by curing I assume they mean preserving? Although with olives, that intense bitterness needs to be removed and I wonder the process to do so.). Re: Raw olives
Posted by:
RaeVynn
()
Date: November 12, 2010 04:42AM I remember my mom soaking fresh olives in some sort of brine that included Lye.
Here is a link to several types of curing: [homecooking.about.com] I love raw olives. I buy them online, and they are already cured. The cost makes me treat them as very precious, so I don't overeat them! Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much We are all in this together! Namasté Re: Raw olives
Posted by:
powerlifer
()
Date: November 12, 2010 11:23AM I still havent got around to trying raw olives, im not even sure if ive even tried normal olives to be honest.
This thread was a good reminder im going to order some now. Re: Raw olives
Posted by:
veghunter
()
Date: November 12, 2010 01:07PM I bought a bunch of raw olives one time and tried water curing them. You basically soak them in water for a few weeks, changing the water every few days. I didn't like the result.
The purpose of curing is to remove the bitter oleuropein. It can be done with plain water (very short shelf life), salt water (extends the shelf life), pure salt (extracts both water and oleuropein), or lye and water (faster, but lye is caustic). If you do a search for curing olives you'll find many resources on it. I would start with a small batch, you're unlikely to end up with the olive that you might be used to at the store. Re: Raw olives
Posted by:
banana who
()
Date: November 12, 2010 05:28PM Very interesting! What I am curious about, Veghunter, is whether or not black olives are green olives treated with lye or something? Those manzilla (?) Spanish green olives seem way saltier than the canned black ones. I don't mind the salt aspect. I just didn't know that you would soak them for weeks on end. Sounds like fermentation...Duh! Sometimes I forget that Google is my friend...LOL Re: Raw olives
Posted by:
veghunter
()
Date: November 12, 2010 09:13PM Black olives are mature green olives. Black canned olives (Mission olives) are usually cured in lye, which does darken them a little more than other forms of curing, but not much. You can cure both black and green the same way. The flavor differences often result from the natural flavor differences between olive species combined with storing the olives (after curing is complete) in different brines that may include wine, salt, lemons, garlic, oregano, etc. Re: Raw olives
Posted by:
Anonymous User
()
Date: November 12, 2010 09:31PM could you ferment them like kraut? i do love olives but the idea of eating something that was cured with lye? oh... maybe not so much... Re: Raw olives
Posted by:
veghunter
()
Date: November 12, 2010 09:44PM You can cure olives in water or salt water like sauerkraut. Check the links in the thread, or look up some more about water, brine, or salt curing. Re: Raw olives
Posted by:
banana who
()
Date: November 16, 2010 02:44AM *Update: Today at the produce market, I saw an older man in the olive bin picking out some olives. I went up to him and asked him about curing them. Judging by his accent, he appeared to be an Italian immigrant. He said that he just soaks them in water for several weeks, changing the water once a day. He said something about pitting them first but it got lost in translation so I am not sure about that part. I understood him to say that if you don't pit them first, it takes even longer to cure them. Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
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