Salt & Brine Curing Methods for Olives

These recipes were emailed to me from ggda, a new member who has been invited to contribute authentic italian recipes to The Food Files - justafoodie

Excerpted from Lynn Alley’s book “Lost Arts”, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA 2000:
(Comments in parentheses added by ggda)

DRY SALT CURE
The famous French Nyons olives (tiny, black, and pungent) are salt-cured olives. (As are small, black Mission, Lucca or ripe Arbequina olives.) They are not to everyone's liking, especially those of us born and raised on "finger" olives. They are a bit more fragile than the brine-cured olives, so you might want to make just a small number of them for openers. (We do 5 to 10 pounds at a time as well as 1-2 pounds – depending upon availability)

To dry-salt-cure olives, you must first find a clean pillowcase, (or clean food grade plastic bucket-see below) then make a drawstring top for it (Not actually necessary – tie the top with a stout string or wire.). Mix the olives with their own weight in non-iodized table salt, pickling salt, or rock salt. Pour them evenly into the pillowcase and cover them completely with more salt. You then need to put them someplace where any juice that drips from them will not stain. (Why not hang them in a tree?) (We hang them in a garage with a bucket or pieces of cardboard box under the pillowcase.)

Stir or mix them well once a week for four weeks (or until they lose their bitterness). When they are no longer terribly bitter, rinse them carefully and allow them to dry overnight. (They can also be dried in a single layer on trays in an oven set to the lowest heat- be careful not to dry them even more or they will become hardened.)
Then pack them in oil until you are ready to consume them. You may wish to serve them with a sprinkling of fresh herbs on top. (You can also add herbs to the oil and you store them with the herbs in the oil.)

(DISCLAIMER: There seems to be no agreed upon time that cured olives last, or when they are no longer suitable to eat. Some sources say keep under oil and eat within 2 weeks to a month. If one wants to keep the olives longer, one source, http://www.recipesource.com/misc/hints/00/rec0084.html, suggests the olives would keep for 6 months if the olives are kept in new salt, i.e. remove the curing salt, and re-salt with new clean salt, then pack in air tight jars.)

BRINE CURE
(This recipe is best for speckled or red olives. These have ripened somewhere between green (unripe) and black (ripe)

The brine cure is simple and safe, and it offers the most plausible response to my question about who first discovered that the olive was, given the right circumstances, edible. I suppose it's possible that, long ago, some olives fell into a saltwater tide pool and stayed undisturbed for a considerable length of time. Then one day, perhaps a housewife or fisherman, happened by to give one a try. Much to his or her delight, the olives had become pleasantly salty and quite edible. No doubt, she then took them home to her humble abode and, to her even greater delight, was able to duplicate the process. (The above part may better have started with “Once upon a time, but that’s just me” People still cure olives today in islands by dipping a basket of olives daily in the sea for 10 days. When the inner flesh is dark brown, the olives are ready.

To begin the brine processing, place your clean olives in cold water and change the water each day for 10 days. (I use plastic, covered buckets from a local restaurant supply.) (We have also found large glass crocks also work well. They can be found in a food supply store like Smart & Final) Weigh the olives down with a plate so they all stay submerged. No need to cover at this point. This will start leaching the bitter glucosides out of the olives. Notice the changes in both the color and aroma of the olives. At the end of the 10-day period, you can make a more permanent brine solution in which to continue the process. Add 1 cup of non-iodized salt to each gallon of water. Use enough of this brine to cover the olives.

(Some recipes call for a saturated salt solution at this point. A saturated salt solution is easiest made by measuring out the water needed, and gently placing a whole un-cracked egg in the water. Add the salt and stir – do not break the egg. The solution is saturated with salt when the egg floats. Some folks ask how high the egg should float. One measure is when the diameter of the egg above the water is about the size of a quarter.)

Change this solution weekly for four weeks. At the end of four weeks, transfer the olives to a weaker brine solution until you are ready to use them. The solution should contain ½ cup of non-iodized salt to each gallon of water.

Just how long it will take for your olives to become edible I cannot say. Mine seem to take about two or three months to really develop a rich, olivey flavor. The best piece of equipment you have for assessing when your olives are done is located between your nose and your chin. It doesn't cost much to maintain (outside of your of your biannual dental checkups), so use it! Store your olives in the weaker brine in a fairly cool place and keep them covered. A scum may form on the top olives, but according to my mother's Italian neighbors, this adds to the flavor of the olives! (One of my Italian sources says this is the "culture which consumes the bitterness of the olives.” Toss out the scum and use any olives that look unspoiled. (A squishy olive is a spoiled olive.)

Beet Relish

Yield: 4 half-pints

1 lb raw beets
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 tart cooking apples, cored and sliced
½ cup red wine vinegar
½ cup malt vinegar
4 T. horseradish relish
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup raisins (currents are better cause they are smaller)

Cut tops off beets leaving a bit of stem to avoid bleeding. Wrap the beets in foil and bake at 350 deg. Until smooth (time depends on size of beets:1-2 hrs). remove beets form oven and let cool. Peel off and discard skins. Meanwhile, put onion and apples in a non-reactive large saucepan. Add the red ine vinegar and malt vinegar. Bring to a boil, then simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 min. or until tender. Chop the beets and add to the pan along with the horseradish, brown sugar and raisins. Heat gently, stirring, until sugar has dissolved, then simmer for about 10 minutes until relish has thickened. It will thicken further upon standing. Ladle into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Remove bubbles. Wipe rims, adjust lids and rings. Process 15 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Source: Perfect Preserves.

Pickled Lemon Slices

(a good substitute for preserved lemons)

Yield: 6 half pints

1 ½ quarts white vinegar
½ cup salt
2 T. sugar
15 whole cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp mace
1T. mustard seed
1 hot chili pepper, seeded
15 lemons
6 garlic cloves, peeled (optional)
Can add or sub bay leaves

In a large saucepan, combine vinegar, salt and sugar. Tie the cloves in a muslin or cheesecloth bag and add it to the mixture, along with the nutmeg, mace, mustard seed and chili pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. While syrup is simmering, cut the lemons into thin slices. Add the slices to the syrup and simmer for 10 minutes or until the lemons are tender. Place one whole garlic clove in each jar. Remove the spice bag and the whole pepper from the syrup. Ladle lemons into hot jars and cover with simmering syrup, leave ½ inch headspace. Remove bubbles. Wipe rims. Adjust lids and rings. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Source: The Food Lovers Guide to Canning

Grandma R's 100 year Old Piccalilli Recipe

Grandma's Piccalilli

Book: Steve's Recipes


This is a 100 year old recipe from my grandmother. It has been updated for modern processing but the ingredients are the original. Prepare 16 pint jars, rings and lids. The recipe is for 12 pints but there is usually a little more.
Serves: 480

1 quart cider vinegar (up to 1 1/2 quart) Also 2 quarts that is discarded.
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Assuming you have done some canning, prepare 16 one pint jars, rings and lids. When ready to fill jars, keep lids in hot water. (not boiling, it damages the lids seal) Rotate empty jars to boiling water as you fill them. Have a canning water bath and rack, jar tongs and clean kitchen towels ready.

Wash 1 peck (18 quarts, about 15 pounds) of green tomatoes. Cut out stem ends and cut to quarters or eighths. Do similar prep for the peppers, discarding seeds and fibrous portions.

Put the vegetables through a food chopper or grinder. They should be the consistency of sweet pickle relish. An old fashioned hand grinder with a medium blade is ideal. I use my Kitchen Aid mixer, grinder attachment with the large blade. DON'T TURN THE VEGETABLES TO MUSH.

Pour vegetables into colander to drain. Place vegetables in kettle with 2 quarts vinegar. Boil, stirring often, for 30 minutes. Drain vegetables, discarding liquid.

Return vegetables to kettle and add e53rh etyhce. Simmer for 3 minutes after mixture starts to boil.

Pack the Piccallili immediately into the sterilized jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Hot water process for 10 minutes.

If unfamiliar with canning, do some research, first. The Ball, blue book is helpful.

NUTRITION FACTS
Amount Per Serving
Calories 15 Calories from Fat 0
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 119mg 5%
Total Carbohydrate 4g 1%
Dietary Fiber 0g 1%
Sugars 3g
Protein 0g
Vitamin A 2% Vitamin C 5%
Calcium 0% Iron 0%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.