How to Preserve Italian Olives
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- November 18, 2019
Listen to this articleSeasonality is important when preserving food. You want the best quality at the best time of year. In this article, author of Preserving The Italian Way: A Collection Of Old Style Casalinga Italian Recipes
How do you say olives in Italian?
The Italian word for olives is “olive” and pronounced /o li ve/ Oh-LEE-vey.
As you may know, Italian nouns are masculine or feminine. A singular olive is feminine, “un‘ oliva” and pronounced /o li va/ Oh-LEE-vah.
The name for an Olive tree is masculine, “un olivo” pronounced /o li vo/ Oh-LEE-voh
Olive oil is “Olio di oliva” – pronounced /o li o / /di/ /o li va/ OH– lee -o di Oh-LEE-vah.
Phrasebook:
Cerco l’olio di oliva artiginale. (I’m looking for artisan olive oil.)
Mi puoi passare l’olio di oliva, per favore? (Can you pass me the olive oil, please.)
Amo le olive! (I love olives!)
No grazie, sono allergica/o alle olive. (No thank you, I am allergic to olives.)
Olives are synonymous with Italy. As you move from the north to the south, the olive trees get taller and more twisted, each taking a form of its own, and if they could share their history, they would recount many stories of hardship and pleasure, of companionship and treachery, of honor and love or infamy and hate, of family struggles and successes. They carry the whole history of Italy through the ages, under different masters.
There are many ways to preserve olives; all involve salt, some involve water, and some involve caustic soda or lye. (We ask that you be careful when using caustic soda.) Here are two basic recipes that you can vary as you wish.
Always pick the freshest, firmest, non-bruised olives. If you have an olive tree, pick them when the first of the olives on the tree are changing from green to purple. This will ensure that they have the most flavor.
Get Pietro Demaio’s book Preserving the Italian Way on Amazon
OLIVE VERDI A SALAMOIA
Green olives in brine
green olives
water
garlic
lemon slices
fennel seeds
salt
1. Soak olives in fresh water for three days, changing water daily.
2. Put olives in clean glass jars and add a clove of garlic, a slice of lemon and some fennel seeds to each jar.
3. In a pot, add 100 grams of salt per liter of water (enough to fill all jars). Bring the brine to boiling point and then add to jars. Seal immediately. Boiling the brine ensures that olives will not develop a layer of fungus on top.
4. Leave jars in a dark cupboard for two months, then open. They will fizz furiously, which is normal and is the result of carbon dioxide from the fermentation that has turned the bitter fruit into beautiful, tasty olives.
5. Add a fine layer of oil to stop the brine going moldy before resealing.
OLIVE NERE SALATE
Salted black olives
A favourite recipe from the south of Italy. Choose ripe, unbruised olives, preferably Manzanello, Verdale or black Kalamata. You can’t use Spanish Queen with this recipe.
black olives
salt
olive oil, if required
garlic, sliced
fennel seeds
1. Place olives in a plastic tub and add 200 grams of salt per kilo of olives.
2. Mix thoroughly, then place a weight of approximately 10 kilos on the olives.
3. Remove the weight daily and agitate the olives. Replace the weight each time.
4. After six to eight days, taste the olives. They should be somewhat shriveled and have a slight bitterness.
5. Drain olives and spread on a table to dry for a day.
6. Put in plastic bags and freeze, or seal in vacuum bags. You can also put them in jars and cover with olive oil.
7. Serve with freshly sliced garlic and fennel seeds.
You will aslo need an olive oil bottle. Olive oil bottles are dark to filter UV light from oxidizing and discoloring the oil.
Article by Pietro Demaio, licensed through Partica.
Get Pietro Demaio’s book Preserving the Italian Way on Amazon
Preserving The Italian Way: A Collection Of Old Style Casalinga Italian Recipes
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