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RE: Olives, curing - an old post from the archives



I found this on a recipe site. Sounds  pretty scary!

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-----------------------------------

There may be more recent, and better methods for curing olives in brine,
but this is the one followed in Romagna [in 1891], with excellent
results.

For each pound of olives you will need:

1 pound wood ash
1 1/2 ounces quick lime (Lime is caustic. Wear rubber gloves at all
times
while handling it, and, whatever you do, don't get it in your eyes.)
8 teaspoons salt 
3 cups water

Lime is said to be quick when, upon being moistened with water, it
undergoes a chemical reaction, crackling, heating up, smoking, and
collapsing into a powder. At this point the lime is slaked, and no
longer
dangerous. Continue to wear gloves, however, till you have made the
slurry
described below. 
It is in this powdered state that you should use it, mixing it with the
ash and the water to make a not too dense slurry. Immerse the olives in
it, covering them with a weighted top that will keep them immersed in
the
slurry, and let them soak for twelve to fourteen hours, in other words,
until they have become quite soft. Touch them frequently to check their
progress. Some people check to see if the pulp of the olive comes free
from the pit, but this indicator is sometimes wrong.
Remove the olives from the slurry, rinse them repeatedly, and soak them
in
fresh water for four or five days, changing the water three times a day,
until the water comes clear and the olives lose their bitter taste. Once
the olives have reached this stage, set three cups of water to heat on
the
fire with the salt and several slices of bulb fennel. Boil the water for
several minutes, let it cool, pour it over the olives, and store the
olives in a glass gar or glazed urn.
To slake the lime, immerse it for five or six seconds in water and then
set it on a sheet of paper. Put the paper in a plastic bowl, which won't
>be damaged by the reaction.
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