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| Over-wintering |
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| Ripe olives |
Sunday, 13 January 2013
Olive help needed
We have a standard olive tree in a large pot which lives outside in the summer and in the 'orangery' in the winter.
This year (cold & wet) it has produced a fair crop of olives which have ripened. They are small, about 20-25mm long.
My question is, are they worth putting into brine and 'dealing with'? And does anyone have any experience of this? I'm sure I can find a recipe but if any one had any pearls of wisdom it would be appreciated.
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No pearls of wisdom. Just respect. OUR olive tree, looking as though it's maybe been around a year or two more than yours, bore us two olives this year. Which fell off as we shrouded our tree against the winter which hasn't yet truly arrived. I'm more interested in who discovered, and how, that this bitter fruit became delicious if brined and so forth
ReplyDeleteTo be honest Margaret I had nothing to do with them, no idea how they got there really. I had heard tell that olives that fell into the Med and washed about a bit were the origins of making them delicious. But it is interesting how these things come about, bread is the one that fascinates me, how did that happen?
DeleteCoo. That's a nice little crop you have there, Sharon! I's definitely say to go for it. I've only done it once, when we came back from a January near Clermont l'Herault; we'd done a lot of walking and as we'd walked through olive groves tended to pick up the 'windfalls' (as you do) and stuff them in our pockets, so went home with loads. I don't remember too much about it except that we put the lid on too tight on one of the jars for the first soaking and it exploded ... I know we changed the brine after a month or so, at which point we added garlic and herbs and things, and then the olives cured in the second brine for 3 or 4 months - may have been longer, actually. You get a grey, mouldy looking scum on the top which looks a bit off putting but it's apparently A Good Thing because it's a sign that the fermentation is taking place. Oh, and don't wash your olives beforehand. Have fun! Look forward to reading about it ....
ReplyDeleteOK looks like I'll have to give it a go. Internet research here I come. Wonder why you don't wash them first?
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