Green Olives Simply Cured
The beauty of this recipe is there is no preparing the olives and no need to soak for days on end. The drawback of this ‘fill and forget’ method is that it takes a long time for the curing process to do its magic, as there are no obvious outlets for the olive bitterness to leach out into the brine. You may need to wait upwards of a year for your olives to be cured to an edible state. Patience is definitely needed and most people think they have done something wrong when they try their olives and they’re still bitter. The only thing they’ve done wrong is not wait long enough!
You will need:
- You can try this with any type of firm, green olive, especially ones that are too small to try and slit/split them
- Lemon
- Olive oil
- Brine solution: water, cooking salt, lemon juice, white vinegar
Brine Solution Recipe (10%)
For every 1 litre of water, you will need 100g of cooking salt (non-iodised).
Determine the volume of each jar by filling it with water, then measure the capacity. Prepare the solution by calculating 10% of this volume as salt. Add the salt to the required amount of water and stir until completely dissolved. Pour into your jar of olives, ensuring they are fully covered.
Method:
- Using a clean, sterilised glass jar, fill the jar up with the olives. Try to push in as many as will fit.
- Make up a 10% brine solution. Pour the dissolved solution into the jar to cover the olives.
- Put a slice of lemon over the olives to acidify the solution. This also helps to keep the olives submerged.
- Then add a 3-5mm layer of olive oil over the top before sealing the jar. If using a metal lid, even one with a rubber seal, it’s a good idea to create a barrier between the highly salty solution and the metal. To this end, I cut a square of baking paper and place it on top of the jar and then screw the lid in place.
- Store in a cool, dry place, preferably with an old cloth or paper towel underneath. There could be leakage as part of the fermentation process which helps cure the olives.
ESTIMATED TIME TO CURE:
- Small olives: up to one year
- Large green Jumbo Kalamata: up to two years
Unopened, the olives will keep for up to 2 years. Once opened, check for bitterness by tasting one. (You may notice fizzing – this is a natural part of the fermentation process in the brine). If still bitter, re-seal the jar, add a fresh lemon slice, top with oil once again and wait a month longer before re-trying. You might also drain the original brine from the jar and make up a fresh solution.
If the olives are to your taste, remove as many as needed and rinse them well; or put and keep them submerged in fresh water to remove the excess saltiness. You can then dress or marinate them for several hours before serving. Any olives remaining in the original jar need to have some oil left to cover the brine and should be stored in the fridge.