Lore • Geography • Harvest • Classification • Nutrition • Production
“Except for the vine,” said the Latin author Pliny, the elder in his historic naturals in the first century (AD 23-79), “there is no plant which bears a fruit of as great importance, as the olive.”
Lore
Two millennia later, what spices were to the East, the olive is to the nations of the Mediterranean, the very symbol of their culture with a sense of history, place and change. The Greeks of antiquity said that wisdom is derived from the eating of olives; the Spanish regard them as a national staple. The olive is a symbol of peace, strength and nourishment, and it is said that civilization and olive cultivation developed together.
Spain is the country with the world’s most expansive olive groves with over 8000 square miles of the gray-green evergreen, which can live for hundreds of years, primarily in warm, southern Spain. Seville has the big fat gordal olive (known as the queen), and the smaller manzanilla. It was in Seville that the automatic pitting/stuffing machine was invented by engineer Leopoldo Salvador in 1970. The sevillano process of elaboration employs lactic fermentation to make olives edible. Natural olives have to be cured to remove oleuropein, a very bitter/unpalatable glucoside found in the skin of the fruit.
In Spain, when someone is particularly well favored, they say that they are blessed with “la suerte de las aceitunas”, the luck of the olive. It was allegedly Carthage that first introduced the olive to Iberia in the fourth century BC (although earlier seeds have been found), and came to Rome around 600 BC. All olives come from the tree family Oleaceae, order Scraphulariales, with the most popular cultivations being edible olives that come from the tree known as Olea Europea – derived from elea, the Greek work for olive, although there are many varieties of olives. Olives are a fruit. The fruit of the olive tree has been in the daily diets of the famous, then, for over 5500 years…in ancient Egypt/Iran/Palestine/Syria, medieval Greece/Italy, and renaissance Spain. Today, more than 50% of the world’s olives are commercially produced in Italy and Spain in this $10 billion industry. Olives were introduced to the US from Seville on/about 1520, probably the “Mission” variety. Missionaries would be the ones to take the olive tree to Baja California. The olive trees in Baja came from Mexico City.
Tradition has it that our ancestors discovered the secret of making olives edible by accident. The first olives were eaten on the beach. Though unpalatable straight off the tree, it was discovered that olives which had fallen into the sea and been washed about a bit, lost their bitterness and became almost sweet. The other thought is that olives were eaten from a fire pit where they came in contact with water and ash.
The olive is a drupe, a fleshy fruit with a single hard stone (peaches, plums and cherries are drupes). There are hundreds of varieties of olives. Their tastes range from salty to bland, from sour to sweet. In our pursuit to find the best olive, we must not forget that the fruit itself offers a myriad of tastes when preserved whole. There are delectable ranges of table olives: green or black, small or large, fleshy pitted or stuffed, packed in brine or oil – the variety is enormous.
Geography
Olives are found in California, the Mediterranean, and are generally native to lands between the 30th – 45th parallels. The world’s top producers of table olives are Greece, Italy, Morocco, Spain, Syria, Turkey and USA. Olive trees require a range of temperatures to produce fruit – hot summers, cool winters, and a location where water/soil are rich in mineral salts, iron and lime.
According to the International Olive Council, during the 2006 – 2007 crop year, Spain produced 486,000 tons of table olives (38% of total), way ahead of other producers, such as Turkey (240,000 tons), Egypt (210,000 tons), Syria (200,000 tons), Greece (107,000 tons, down 14% from 125,500 tons during 2005-6 olive-growing period), Morocco (100,000 tons), and Italy (80,000 tons).
Spain is losing market share while Argentina is growing. Peru is #10, and saw expansion of 14%, between 2005-6.
About 40% of Spanish table olives are consumed in Spain, most of them green, especially green olives stuffed with anchovies. The reminder are exported, reaching a total of 246,000 tons in 2006, and bringing in over 500 million euros. In recent years, exports have risen sharply and now extend to 115 countries. Americans consume 170,000 tons of olives annually. US imports of fresh/processed olives grew 26% between 2003-6. The value of US import has grown more than volume, which suggest that the US is now consuming olives of a higher quality/added value. Over the last decade, sales to Russia and other nations in eastern Europe have doubled, although it is still European Union countries that consume the most Spanish table olives, followed by the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Within the European Union, the best markets are Italy, France, Germany, and Portual.
Production in major countries
- Spain is the biggest producer of olives in the world, with more than 50% of the total production.
- Other major countries include: Greece, Argentina, Morocco, and U.S., but far from Spain.
| COUNTRY | 2004/02 | 2002/03 | 2003/04 | 2004/05 | 2005/06 | 2006/07 | 2007/08 ESTIMATE |
| SPAIN | 575 | 448 | 579 | 537 | 446 | 501 | 515 |
| GREECE | 116 | 100 | 92 | 101 | 123 | 110 | 95 |
| ITALY | 60 | 60 | 60 | 70 | 70 | 80 | 70 |
| PORTUGAL | 12 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| ARGENTINA | 38 | 45 | 70 | 60 | 87 | 75 | 90 |
| U.S. | 120 | 103 | 118 | 107 | 105 | 20 | 95 |
| MOROCCO | 90 | 80 | 110 | 80 | 75 | 90 | 100 |
| TOTAL | 1011 | 848 | 1043 | 967 | 916 | 886 | 975 |
US olive imports, by country of origin
| ORIGIN | 2005/06 | |
| TON | % | |
| SPAIN | 63,567 | 53.0 |
| GREECE | 16,715 | 13.9 |
| MOROCCO | 15,519 | 12.9 |
| ARGENTINA | 7,836 | 6.5 |
| MEXICO | 5,691 | 4.7 |
| TURKEY | 2,316 | 1.9 |
| ITALY | 1,616 | 1.3 |
| EGYPT | 1,229 | 1.0 |
| OTHER | 5,389 | 4.8 |
| TOTAL | 119,878 | 100.0 |
Spain Crop Report - Main Facts
- Olive crop for 2007 is estimated to be larger than last year crop. A good crop overall.
- By variety, Queens and Cacerenas will be reduced sensibly. Manzanillas and Hojiblancas will increase by around 10–15%.
- Final estimated olive balance will be similar to previous year.
- Seville continue to be the most important region in Spain for olives.
- Spain is still the biggest olive producer in the world, with more than 50% of total production.
- Spain is still the number one supplier for olives imported in the US.
Harvest
There are no male or female olive trees. The blossoms must be pollinated by the winds. 
When the olive first starts to form on the tree, it contains no oil, only a mixture of organic acids and sugars. By the magic of nature, a transformation occurs, as the olive ripens. A chemical process, called lipogenesis, slowly turns the acid’s sugars into oil, as the olive turns from pale green, eventually to black.
Olive trees blossom at the end of April. May is a key month for rainfall, in order to have a good crop. The olive tree is an evergreen; it usually begins to bear fruit 5-8 years after planting, grows to a height of 12’, and requires 15-30 years to be most fruitful…a 50-60 year old tree is ideal for producing a good crop of approximately 120 kilos of olives.
By the end of May, the modest flower of the olive tree becomes a tiny berry, which by September has grown into a full size olive. Olives do not become fully ripe until winter, but different varieties are picked at different degrees of ripeness, and this determines the taste. Between June and October, fruition takes place. This is the time during which the stone (endocarp) hardens and the pulp (mesocarp) fills out. The flesh is encased by the skin (epicarp), and as the olive ripens, the epicarp changes from green to violet, from red to black. Six to eight months after the blossoms appear, the olives have the maximum oil content – they are black, and fully ripe. Harvesting usually begins in September, and can run as late as March, although most are picked by December.
Before going into the process, some terms should be clarified first. According to the IOC, aceituna de mesa (table olive) is the product “prepared from the wholesome fruits from varieties of the cultivated olive tree (Olea europaea sativa), that are chosen for their production of olives whose volume, shape, flesh-to-pit ratio, taste, firmness and ease of detachment from the pit make them particularly suitable for processing.”
From a botanical point of view, the olive is a drupe made up of three elements: the epicarp, or skin, a layer containing aromatic products and natural colorings, the mesocarp, a spongy pulp that becomes softer as it ripens and that contains 70% of the oil, and the endocarp or pit which contains the remaining 30% of the oil. The fruit starts out green but changes to a purplish or black color as it ripens. Not all varieties take the same time to ripen, nor do they have the same size or proportion of flesh. Olives weigh between 1.5 and 12g (0.05 and 0.42oz) and measure 2-3cm (0.8-1.2in) in length and 1-2cm (0.4-0.8in) in diameter. They usually have 70-80% flesh, mostly comprised of oil and water in varying proportions depending on the envero. The moisture content decreases and the oil content increases as the fruit ripens, depending on the variety. But green olives have a special characteristic in that they cannot be eaten straight from the tree because not only are they very hard, but they are also extremely bitter. The bitterness comes from the oleuropein, a substance that isn’t toxic, but is unpleasant to eat. This is why table olives must undergo a set of processes that includes washing them directly in soft water, soaking them in brine, which allows for fermentation, and allowing the fruit’s sugars to be transformed into lactic acid, giving rise not only to a product that will keep well, but also one that has excellent gastronomic qualities.
Not all types of olives react to processing in the same way. The varieties in Spain traditionally considered to be the best are, Manzanilla and queens from the Seville area and, together with Jojiblanca, they are the most important commercially. All of these are mostly grown in Andalusia, in southern Spain. Other important varieties for processing as table olives, such as Manzanilla Cacerena and Carrasquena, generally come from Extremadura in southwest Spain. Following these at a distance come Verdial, Arbequina, Empeltre, Moruna, etc. Many of them being processed mostly for local consumption.
A good quality table olive should always have plenty of flesh, a small pit and a high oil content, although there are some dual-purpose varieties that are used for either oil extraction or as table olives.
Before going into the process, some terms should be clarified first. According to the IOC, “aceituna de mesa” (table olive) is the product “prepared from the wholesome fruits from varieties of the cultivated olive tree “olea europaea sativa” that are chosen for their production of olives whose volume, shape, flesh-to-pit ratio, taste, firmness and ease of detachment from the pit make them particularly suitable for processing”. From a botanical point of view, the olive is a drupe made up of three elements: the epicarp, or skin, a layer containing aromatic products and natural colorings, the mesocarp, a spongy pulp that becomes softer as it ripens, and that contains 70% of the oil, and the endocarp or pit, which contains the remaining 30% of the oil.
Classification
There are two main varieties of table olives – Queens and Manzanillas. The Queen olive is large and fleshy, with an oil content of 8-10%. The Manzanilla is less attractive, but due to its smaller pit,is more meaty and better tasting. The oil content of the Manzanilla is 13-20%. Oil can make up 15-26% of the ripe fruit, depending on the climate, condition, and care in cultivation. Throughout the world, there are approximately 24 million acres with over 800 million olive trees that are farmed, either intensively or extensively, of which 98% are located in Mediterranean countries. 10% of the world’s olive production is given to table olives, the rest for olive oil. Over 90% of the oil, and 80% of the table olives produced are still consumed in the country in which they originated.
Spanish legislation recognizes three basic types of table olive, which depend on the degree of ripeness of the fruit when picked, and the color of the end product. The categorizations are “green”, “natural black”, and “black”. The “green” type are those picked at the point of maturity where they have reached full size and not yet begun to turn color. They must be firm, healthy, and resistant to gentle squeezing, and free of any marks not attributable to their natural pigmentation. This category of fruit can vary in color from green to straw yellow. “Natural black” are olives picked when fully ripe or slightly before, and they can vary subtly in color from reddish black, purplish black, and violet to greenish black and dark chestnut brown. “Black” olives are, technically speaking, fruit which have been picked before quite ripe, and which have been blackened by oxidation (the bitterness is counteracted by treatment with an alkaline lye solution), packed in brine, and preserved using heat sterilization. With the exception of only a couple of varieties that sweeten as they ripen (Greek Thassos and Italian Dolce Di Andrea), olives are extremely bitter and inedible straight from the tree.
You can taste the difference between green and black olives. You may like one better than the other. Green olives have very little oil, their flesh is firm because they are not ripe, and they have a sharp tang. Black olives are full of oil, the flesh is soft, and the taste mellow – because they are ripe. Green olives, because they are unripe, are inedible, unless treated to remove their bitter glycosides. Treatment is done on a commercial basis by immersing olives in a soda solution, then washing them thoroughly in clean water, and finally packing them in brine. Green olives are used in chicken and rabbit dishes. Black olives, in contrast, being fully ripe, only need washing, and preserving in brine, or dry salt. Black olives are added to pasta dishes (as Puttanesca) and fish dishes. With table olives, the firmness and flesh of the fruit is important, whereas olives for pressing are prized for high oil content. The optimal degree of ripeness depends on the cultivator. Some are better green, some are better in the “blond” stage (midway between green and ripe), and some, like Kalandias, are best only when fully ripe (dark brown/black).
Black olives are crisp/firm/nutty. Some of the best include: the French Nicoise, Greek Kalamata, and the Italian Ligurian varieties. A black olive is simply one which has been allowed to oxidize by having constant air movement passing through an alkaline solution. The olives usually will oxidize in three days. Because of the way black olives are processed, they have a low salt level, and therefore need a sterilization process. 85% of the California crop is processed as black ripe olives.
Green olives do not need this – since they have a higher salt level, which serves as a natural preservative. The olives “cure” after two months, then are washed, sorted, graded, and stuffed…by hand, as in the case of anchovies/almonds. The Napoleon Co. now imports varieties of olives (out of almost 60 different varieties): Greek Kalamatas (black), Alfonsos (black), Argentina/Spanish, Manzanillas/Queens (green), and Egyptian ripe (black). Names might reflect the town of origin (Kalamata), the type (Picholine), or the style of cuisine (Sicilian).
Our Alfonsos are Peruvian. The olive tree was brought to Peru in the 16th century by the Spanish conquerors. It adapted well to the soil of the desert coastline, and today, Peru is one of very few countries in the world where fully mature deep purple olives are harvested on the tree, without chemical dyeing. It is also the only country in the world to grow olives in a tropical climate. The olives are cured with salt and water, and they can be kept in their brine for years (there is no processing required). Our Alfonsos are majestic, amethyst to violet, thin skinned, and soft, packed with extra virgin olive oil and brine. Because these olives are picked ripe from the tree and not chemically dyed (most black olives sold in the US are dyed), they will react to air and salt with a whiteish residue (a normal, non-toxic, oxidation process). The olive oil in the jar is to coat the Alfonsos and prevent the whitening reaction. Peak quality is reached in October.
Kalamatas come from the valley of Messina on the western end of the Peloponnesian peninsula, from the town of Kalamata. Kalamata olives are smooth, medium-sized, almond-shaped, with an intense earthy aftertaste, mealy flesh, and dark purple color. They are pitted, and packed in brine. It takes between 5-6 months to produce the flavor. Like fine red wine, the longer the olives remain in brine, the better the flavor. While yearly production varies, Greece is usually the third largest producer of olive oil, and second largest producer of olives.
Our Argentina Queens are big, medium-green, brine-cured, and stuffed was pimento. Our Peruvian Queens are stuffed with almonds, garlic, japalenos, onions, and piquillo peppers.
Manzanillas are smaller – medium sized, nutty green, with crisp flesh, and a slight aromatic flavor of smoke.
Our canned, Egyptian/Spanish ripe olives are picked before they are fully ripe, and placed in a 2% alkali solution in tanks. Repeated soaking/aerating cycles allow the alkali to penetrate to the stone. The olives are then thoroughly washed before being placed in a solution of ferrous gluconate (a nutritious substance used in iron supplements) to darken them. After pasteurization, the olives are put into a 3% brine solution for 2-3 days. The olives are then sorted by size, packed in our E-Z open cans, with new brine, sterilized, and imported…
When the freshly picked olives reach the processing plant, they are first left for a day to air out, which releases some of their moisture, and are then selected and washed. The usual method for treating green olives, and the most popular in Spain and internationally, ultimately prepares them completely submerging them in an alkaline solution, at a constant temperature, to remove their natural bitterness. The length of the process depends on the olive variety and the temperature – 6 or 7 hours for Hojiblanca, and 10 or 11 hours for Manzanilla and Queen. The solution should only penetrate through two-thirds or three-quarters of the olive flesh, but never as far as the pit, in order to maintain the olive flavor. The process supervisor cuts open the fruit to note the change in color. The olives are then washed, and placed in brine-just water and salt at a concentration of about 9%, in which the fermentation takes place, transforming the sugars. But, like other fermented products, such as wine and cheese, olives need to be cured and the whole process requires a minimum of 2 to 3 months, depending on the type of olive. When they are ready and before they are packed, the olives are sorted and classified by size and then sent for pitting, stuffing, etc., as required for their different commercial preparations.
The usual way of preparing tables olives in Spain – whether green, naturally black or turning color- is to ferment them in brine. Another procedure, although not generally applied on an industrial scale, is dehydration, which requires drying them in salt and leaving them wrinkled and obviously very salty, as is the case with aceitunas prietas, which are cured in salt for two months in the Sevillian town of Arahal, and are a prized local specialty. Green olives, olives turning color and black olives are the three basic type of table olives, but before they can be packed, they may still have to undergo pitting and sometimes stuffing, cutting, crushing, or seasoning. Once in packs, jars or cans, heat treatment gurantees their keeping qualities. This usually takes the form of pasteurization or sterilization in the case of blackened olives.
When the freshly picked olives reach the processing plant, they are first let for a day to air out, which releases some of their moisture, and are then selected and washed. The usual method for treating green olives, and the most popular in Spain and internationally, ultimately prepares Sevillian or Spanish-style olives, and consists in completely submerging them in an alkaline solution at a constant temperature to remove their natural bitterness. The length of the process depends on the olive variety and the temperature 6 or 7 hours for Manzanilla and Gordal. The solution should only penetrate through two-thirds or three-quarters of the olive flesh, but never as far as the pit, in order to maintain the olive flavor. The process supervisor cuts open the fruit to note the change in color. The olives are then washed and placed in brine-just water and salt at a concentration of about 9%, in which the fermentation takes place, transforming the sugars. But, like other fermented products, such as wine and cheese, olives need to be cured and the whole process requires a minimum 2 to 3 months, depending on the type of olive.
When they are ready and before they are packed, the olives are sorted and classified by sized, and then sent for pitting, stuffing, etc., as required for their different commercial preparations.
The usual way of preparing tables olives in Spain-whether green, naturally black or turning color, is to ferment them in brine. Another procedure, although not generally applied on an industrial scale, is dehydration, which requires drying them in salt and leaving them wrinkled and obviously very salty, as is the case with aceitunas prietas, which are cured in salt for 2 months in the Sevillian town of Arahal and are prized local specialty. Green olives, olives turning color and black olives are the three basic types of table olives, but before they can be packed, they may still have to undergo pitting and sometimes stuffing, cutting, crushing or seasoning. Once in packs, jars or cans, heat treatment guarantees their keeping qualities. This usually takes the form of pasteurization or sterilization in the case of blackened olives.
Real olives have pits. We now offer all our olives with full-flavored, traditionally cured olives, pitted or unpitted. In case anyone is wondering what happens to all of those pits removed from the olives before stuffing, the oil from the almond-shaped interior seed of the pit is extracted and used to make perfume. In wartime, olive pits were crushed into tablets to be used in gas masks.
The composition of the soil, prevailing winds, climate variation, local water – all have an effect on the olive – so olives vary in flavor, flesh, and oil content. In the U.S. olives are considered an appetizer, condiment, or garnish. Only 47% of all Americans eat olives, and just 56% of users keep them on hand. 50% of olive tonnage is for food service. Olives are an impulse buy in the U.S. – and clearly sell when merchandised. However, the highly nutritional fruit is a staple in the Mediterranean diet, as simple Spanish tapas or Greek meze. Expanding palates for Mediterranean foods, as well as an upturn in consumption, are among the factors fueling growth. The Atkins Diet recommends choosing olives as a snack.
Americans consume some 180,000 tons of olives annually:
110,000 tons of black olives from California
40,000 tons of Spanish-style stuffed green olives
25,000 tons of black ripe olives from Egypt/Morocco/Spain
5,000 tons of specialty olives, including Kalamatas
Olives enjoy good annual growth of 5-10%. The U.S., for instance, imports 50% of Spain’s crop, the EEC 28%, and the Arab countries 10%. Spain is the world’s biggest producer of table olives, with annual production at around 200,000 tons. With a base of about 300 million trees, Andalusia, particularly the province of Seville, accounts for some 50% of the national production. Harvesting begins in September.
Gourmet olives are becoming more mainstream as consumers’ sophistication level increases – people recognize varietals that apply to the curing flavor of olives. Consumers are looking for country of origin, freshness, with a sense of discovery, and a look to authenticity. Gourmet stuffed olives are growing too, and/or most producers too have a few kosher varieties, and now organic.
Nutrition
For years, we’ve heard about the health benefits of olive oil, but few consider the nutritional value of table olives. Olives have long suffered from an undeserved reputation as a fattening food. In fact, although olives do have a higher fat content than most drupes, they are relatively low in calories. For example, one large olive contains only seven calories, and 25 olives have fewer calories than a 6 oz serving of low-fat yogurt.
Recently, when I had a bad case of the hiccups, I remembered reading about eating a couple of green olives. I am a firm believer now. The hiccups were gone almost instantly after I ate the second olive. We don’t know if it is the olive itself, or the vinegar in the brine, that does the trick by stimulating the phrenic nerve, but we are always pleased to learn that a hiccup remedy has helped.
Like olive oil, the fat contained in olives is high in monounsaturated fat, which most nutritional experts agree is the best choice for a heart-healthy diet. In addition to monounsaturated fat, olives also contain a high proportion of essential amino acids, and are a good source of beta-carotene, calcium and magnesium, while remaining low in polyunsaturates/saturated fatty acids. Table olives are not only good to eat, but also have excellent nutritional qualities. The oil they contain is mostly made up of unsaturated fatty acids, especially oleic acid which, like olive oil, helps prevent cardiovascular diseases. They are also very easy to digest because of their fiber content and contain a good proportion of minerals, such as calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and iodine. Olive are widely believed to be fattening; however, 100g (3.5oz) of green olives have 154kcal and the same amount of black olives has 143, compared to 564 kcal from 100g of potato chips or 557 from 100g of fried corn kernels.
Although high in sodium, (caused by processing) the olive’s many nutrients and fiber make it an especially valuable addition to the North American diet. Olives are high in vitamins A, B1, B2, and C, D, K and iron. Our taste for olives dates back nearly 6000 years, and we eat them for the same reason as then – for flavor, and nutrition. With an average of 3 grams of fat, and 15 calories each, olives eaten in moderation are a good investment in health and taste. Given the intensity of flavor of most olives, it’s difficult to eat large quantities at one sitting, so even though they are not a low-fat food, they can be a satisfying, healthy and relatively low-calorie snack.
Black olives contain less salt, more iron and fewer calories – about 25 kilocalories per serving, compared to 40 in green olives. And not all green olives are the same. Generally speaking, Manzanilla (contain more salt and more vitamin E, while Hojiblanca have more fiber. We recommend about 25g (0.9oz), or seven olives a day. “The amount can be decreased for overweight people or for those with high blood pressure, or increased for people needing a higher energy and mineral intake, such as athletes.”
Production
The best olives are picked by hand – plucked at the right stage of ripeness, for sweet flavor/texture. Olives are inedible in their raw state. They have tannins in the pulp/pit, so they must be cured. To make the olives edible, they must go through several curing methods. All methods for curing olives remove the bitter oleuropein and transform the olive’s sugars so that they will aid fermentation. When the level of lactic acid exceeds 5% and the pH is reduced to 3.7, the olives are rinsed, graded, checked and stored in weaker brine, prior to final processing. In order to end up with mellower black olives, the green olives undergo a factory oxidization process, which matures them in a series of Jacuzzi-type tanks. As they mature and their oil content increases, the color of olives can turn to brown and black. They are finally sterilized to stop further biological activity. Caustic soda treatments speed the curing process, but adversely affect the taste and texture. Naturally cured olives are olives cured without the use of lye.
The curing process for olives is an intricate and skillful art form. Like the transformation of grapes into fine wine by the wine maker, the curing process is both art and tradition for the olive farmer – and often a closely guarded family secret. The first step is to crack the olives and place them in an alkaline bath to remove the oleuropein and bitterness. The alkaline solution penetrates the olive either partially of all the way to the pit, depending on the type of olive and the end result desires. Lye is a diluted solution of sodium hydroxide that speeds the fermentation process. Naturally cured olives can be cured in brine, salt, water, or oil. As these olives are left to cure naturally, the fermentation process takes longer, thus imparting a delicious depth of flavor to the olives. Naturally cured olives are a semi-perishable food that tends to stay firmer under refrigeration. Most of the flavor components in an olive come from fats, as 20-25% of an olive is its oil.
There are, then, five basic treatments;
- Brine Cured - olives are soaked in a salt-brine solution for 1 – 6 months
- Water Cured - olive are soaked in water, rinsed, and soaked again for many months. The fruit will remain more bitter, though the taste can be softened a bit if the olives are then brined
- Lye Cured - olives are soaked a few days in a strong alkaline solution of lye, wood ash, or caustic soda
- Dry Cured - olives are covered in salt to draw out moisture and bitterness. They can be rubbed in oli
- Oil Cured - olives are soaked in oil for several months
After employing any of these curing methods, seasonings are added to the olives as the finishing touch. The curing method coupled with particular seasonings produces the characteristic flavor, texture and aroma that we associate with a favorite variety of olive. And the variety endures, because for centuries, olives have been produced on family farms, each with its own special formula – combining curing technique and spices to achieve unique flavors. Some growers still preserve their own olives. Wild fennel, oregano, chili pepper or garlic can flavor the brine. A specialty of Umbria is black olives flavored with orange rind, garlic and bay leaves. Sicilians stuff their olives with anchovies and capers. When you stuff olives, it’s not an olive anymore, but a gourmet treat. Today, there are hundreds of varieties available for olive connoisseurs, varying notably in size, texture and flavor. Olives can be categorized by loosely grouping them according to the region of the world in which they are grown.
In choosing olives, the fruit should be firm, not mealy, and the flavor should not be overwhelmed by the brine. Most olives are packaged in brine to preserve freshness and flavor. Do not throw away the brine until all olives are eaten. Unless dry packaged, opened jars of olives should be stored in the refrigerator completely covered with brine. Olives “wrinkle” when in contact with air. Olives may generally be kept for up to one year on the shelf, or after opened, then refrigerated. 50° F seems to be the ideal temperature for olives. A white residue may appear on top of the olives, which is caused by oxidation and is not detrimental to health. Whether brine-packed or dried, olives should be rinsed in water before eating and should be served at room temperature to enhance the taste of the fruit. Olive bars are the popular today.
Americans like to live large, and their choices in olives are no exception. Customer response is that small ones are more work than pleasure. Some consumers do not yet understand that some smaller olives are the most flavorful.
How do you judge the quality of a table olive?
- Smell should be fresh, slightly pungent, herbal, complex…like fresh fruit;
- Texture should be quite firm, never pulpy/mushy…a crunchy flesh is ideal;
- Taste should never be overwhelmed by the salinity of the brine…superior olives should be bathed in a mellow, wine vinegar, preferably well aged.
We hope that you shall find our olives as a companion to our olive oil. Enjoy!