Pickling olives
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Pickling olives
- From: L* R* <l*@ozemail.com.au>
- Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 22:34:21 +0900
As it is autumn in the southern hemisphere, my
olives are ripe and ready for picking. I would be
very interested in medit-planters' experiences of
pickling. My olive tree is what is known locally
as 'feral', i.e. self-seeded. I live next to a
suburban creek, and there are many 'wild' olives
along its banks. As far as I can ascertain, you
can pick the fruit at any or all of three stages,
green, green-violet, and black. The pickling method
depends on the stage at which they're picked. I
have heard, and would be interested in confirmation
of this, that green olives are put into baskets and
left in the sea for a couple of weeks in the Mediterranean.
Sure beats changing the water every day. I've left
mine too late for green, they're all black now, and
can apparently be pickled in salt. I've consulted
Richard Olney, Elizabeth David, and an Australian
author Tess Mallos who gives a very interesting
Cypriot recipe for green olives. I've tried doing
the 'change the water every day for 40 days' method
but it's really not practical if you're working full
time. (That's why I'm fascinated by the seawater
thing and wish I lived close to the sea!) Much of the
olive oil pressed in the Adelaide area comes from
'feral' olives, and at this time of the year you can
see people collecting olives from the groves
that exist in the parklands surrounding the CBD.
We don't seem to have any Capetonians on this list.
When I lived in Cape Town 30 years ago one could buy
locally made olive oil (at some expense) so I'm
interested to know whether any progress has been
made there as far as a local olive industry goes.
Any Californians or Mediterraneans with olive recipes?
Liz
Liz Runciman
3a The Crescent
Marryatville SA 5068
Australia tel: 61 8 8332 9035
fax 61 8 8331 9041
