Today I will tell you how I make tasty edible homemade olives.
At the back of the property, there is a relatively small olive tree. It grows practically by itself without any care. Her olives ripened earlier than the others. This year (I know I’m unforgiving), I looked up and noticed them.
Big, fleshy, luscious, black and shiny.
A pity to waste them, I thought. Times are hard, and olives are too expensive to buy.
I’ll make homemade olives I exclaimed!
But how? I looked on the internet for recipes, asked my neighbors, and my in-laws.
I heard/found all kinds of recipes. From simple to complex. Being a simple person I thought I would follow the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle. So here’s how I made my own edible olives!
Olive picking
Pick the olives one by one carefully by hand. All the ones I could reach from the bottom and the tallest ones using a ladder. Sure it’s a time consuming way, but the secret is not to hurt the olives that will become edible. You should not drop them by hitting the tree and the olives.
Sorting olives
In the next phase, I sorted out the good olives from the ones that were in trouble (fortunately there were few). I removed the olives that had insect infestations and kept only the good ones.
Washing olives
Next, I washed the olives thoroughly. I filled a basin halfway with olives and washed them several times to get rid of the dust. Then I let them drain.
Carving olives
The next step is to carve each olive 3 to 4 times with a knifr. I carve it lengthwise, from the top to the base. The carving should not go all the way to the pit. Once I have carved all the olives, I am ready to move on to the next phase, unwaxing the olives.
Remove the bitterness fromolives
The reason of this stage is to remove the bitterness from the olives.
I place the carved olives in a basin of water. To make sure that all the olives are under the water, I place another basin on top and pour some water into it to weight and push the olives into the water.
Each day (24 hours) I empty the water I put in the day before and refill the basin with clean water and stir. I again place the second basin on top.
The first few days, I see that the water I empty is dark. As the days go by, the water becomes clearer and clearer.
With each passing day, the olives become less and less bitter.
After 6 or 7 days I taste my olives. If the olives have lost the bitterness, they are ready and you can move on to the next phase. If not, I leave them for more days.
Olives and salt
I leave the olives for one day (24 hours) in salt water. I use coarse salt.
To make the salt water, I use 100 grams of coarse salt for every kilo of olives.
I make the salt water in the basin, dissolving the salt well (it takes a lot of stirring).
I make sure that the salt water covers the olives. I use the second basin trick again.
Rinse the olives
After leaving them in the salt water for a day, I drain the salt water and rinse them really well!
I put the olives in vinegar
I fill the basin with the olives with vinegar. I used plain vinegar that I found at the supermarket.
I stir the olives well so that the vinegar goes everywhere.
I cover again with the second basin and leave for 2 to 3 hours.
Packaging – Storage
To store my olives, I take them out of the vinegar. Attention! I don’t throw away the vinegar, I will use it later.
I put the olives in jars. I squeeze them lightly to fit as many as possible. I pour the vinegar until it reaches 1 to 2 cm below the top olive.
I fill with oil to cover the olives.
Screw on the lids and store in a cool, shady place.
How delicious did olives turn out?
Those who tried them went crazy with the deliciousness. So did I. This is the first time I’ve ever eaten such delicious and fresh olives.
Summary
To make edible olives you will need:
- raw olives (curved)
- 2 basins
- a large amount of water
- coarse salt
- vinegar
- 7 to 10 days time
I wish you good luck!
Tags: EDIBLE OLIVES • HOMEMADE OLIVES • I MAKE • OLIVES • RECIPE • RECIPES
