How Olives Pickling Can Be Done
Written by Kathryn Flores on November 8, 2011 – 11:59 pmOlives that are eaten straight from the tree are way too bitter and sour to enjoy. Even when the fruit is ripe, it has a pungent taste that is unbearable. This is the reason that all olives need to undergo a pickling or curing stage before it can be eaten. Olives pickling is a simple process but one that takes time.
Olives pickling is an age old process that was first done by the ancient Greeks. Its history goes farther than that of biblical times, which is why olives pickling is considered to be one of the first major achievements in the civilization of man. The history of this process is unclear due to lack of evidence, people can only speculate how or why the Greeks mixed salt with this fruit and left it to ferment. No matter how this process came about, it is still one that is widely used until today. As years passed, more efficient methods have been developed, but the original dry curing method is still the most sought after method by enthusiasts.
Olives pickling can be done in a number of ways, by mixing the fruit with a curing agent which could be salt, brine, lye or oil, it is left to ferment for a couple of weeks or months depending on the desired outcome. This is how olives lose their unwanted bitter taste, the salty solution is then infused into the olive giving it the taste we are accustomed to. This is why the olives we are accustomed to are salty with an occasional bitter background taste.
Nowadays, olives are complemented with the desired curing method, this depends on the desired outcome of the curer. Even though the new curing methods prove to be more efficient, many growers prefer the age old process of dry curing for certain olive varieties such as the Greek Kalamata and the Spanish Gaeta. This is a simple process but is one that allows olives to showcase their true flavours. Even if this method yields less due to rotting, many still believe that this is how true olives should be prepared. Consequently, dry cured olives are more expensive than brine cured or lye cured ones.
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