Many
people are baffled as to how to pickle their own olives. Here is
a simple, traditional method of pickling them the Mediterranean
way for great tasting olives that you can serve up as a tasty Spanish
or Greek style snack. The method involves selecting the olives,
washing them then leaving them to ferment. As well as showing you
how to do it, we also cover why these steps are necessary.
First
of all you need to start with olives that are freshly picked and
in good condition. There are three stages in ripeness that you can
use for pickling. They are green, ripe green which is a slightly
more yellow colour and black which is fully ripe. Black olives are
usually not fermented, which is why they have a milder taste than
the green ones. Green and ripe green olives produce stronger flavours.
For this method, we will use about twenty five pounds (10 kg) of
green olives.
A food
grade container of around five gallons (20 litres) is used for the
pickling process. The olives are traditionally soaked in spring
water for several hours to wash them. They are then drained. To
prepare the pickling solution you will need about one and a half
gallons (7 litres) of spring water at room temperature. Add one
and a half pounds (800 grams) of sea salt and about half a pint
(300 grams) of vinegar. White wine or cider vinegar is best.
With
a sharp knife, make a single deep cut lengthways in each olive to
assist the fermentation process then put them in the container with
the liquid. Weigh the olives down with a large diameter plate so
they are all covered by the liquid. The plate should not fit too
tightly in the container so the gasses can escape. It is not critical
to exclude oxygen as in the winemaking process, so with this method
there is no need to seal the container.
The
olives should be fermented at room temperature for up to a month
before they can be eaten, but will become more flavoursome and fully
mature after three months. They can be tasted any time during fermentation
as a way of checking their flavour. The bitter compounds are safe
to eat.
The
reason for fermenting the olives in this traditional way is to break
down the phenolic compounds and the glycoside, oleuropein which
are contained in the raw fruit that give them their harsh bitter
taste. When these compounds are broken down, lactic acid is produced.
This is an excellent natural preservative which will enable the
olives to be stored without refrigeration for several months.
Aside from the fiddly, time consuming process of cutting each
individual olive, this traditional method of pickling olives is
quite straightforward and produces excellent results. The final
product can be served with many different herbs and spices, steeped
in olive oil or vinegar flavoured with chilli, garlic or lemon juice
or stuffed with peppers, cheese or anchovies. By using this traditional
and relatively simple method you never need to feel put off pickling
your own olives again.
Here's a good e-book on pickling
I will be trying this easy receipe and hopefully get a good result. Will comment again - Thankyou for it --
I will most definately give this one a try next batch, seems too easy to be true!
Thanks so much!