Raw Olives

[Mookie]

What olives are considered raw? I saw them at a produce store kinda off the tree raw- they were not good at all!

Are those bins full of loose olives at the stores raw? I love olives - bit want to continue raw- I am pretty sure tha tthe ones in the jars are cooked.

Thank you fo ryour help....

[jaurequi]

Mookie, the jarred and canned olives in markets are not raw. I did happen across a farmer who sold raw olives which he marinated himself and sold at our Farmers Market.
You can find raw olives (already prepared for you) at NATURAL ZING (http://www.naturalzing.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=21_32&osCsid=c6c3fc1d7b4bacc081f2583b7ea9bc56) and NATURE"S FIRST LAW (http://www.rawfood.com/cgi-bin/order/index.cgi) has some too.

You are actually lucky to have found those raw olives in the market; if they were organic, I would have loved to have made my own brine and marinade for homemade olives! Maybe you should give it a try.

Best,

[RowanC]

Again, you can process olives yourself at home and they turn out great. Anyone who wants paper copied instructions can email me with their SNAIL address and I'll make copies. You can also often get the instructions from the Department of Agriculture Extension office in your town.

BASICALLY, you pick the olives when they're black and ripe. Then, using a pure salt, you layer a layer of olives, a layer of salt, a layer of olives, a layer of salt... etc. I use burlap folded up at the bottom to catch the brine and I do this outside when it's warm. Once they're dried, I keep them in a jar in the fridge.

It's a bit of work, but really worth it considering salt dried or oil dried olives here in portland are around $9 per pound!

Here is a recipe I found online if you want to try this yourself:

It is usually best to prepare Greek-style olives from mature olives that are dark-red to black. Mission olives are commonly used, but any variety will do. Use smaller olives because larger ones get soft. The olives will become shriveled since they are salt cured. These olives are salty and slightly bitter, and you may have to acquire a taste for them.

How To Prepare

Cover the bottom of a wooden box with burlap (or some absorbant cloth). I use the apple boxes (wooden) from the grocery store. Weigh out 1 pound of salt for each 2 pounds of olives. Mix the salt and olives well in the box to prevent mold from developing. Pour a layer of salt over the olives to a depth of 1 inch. CAUTION Place the box outdoors so that the brine formed will not ruin the floor.

After 1 week, pour olives and salt into another box, then back into the first box to mix them. Repeat this mixing process once every 3 days until the olives are cured and edible. This usually takes about 30 to 35 days.

Sift out most of the salt through a screen. Dip the olives momentarily in boiling water. Drain. Let them dry overnight.

Add 1 pound of salt to each 10 pounds of olives. Mix and put the olives in a cool place. Use within 1 month, or store in a refrigerator or home freezer until used. Just before using, coat the olives with olive oil. Do not use oil if you plan to use the olives for cooking. To coat with oil, put them in a large pan or box and sprinkle a little olive oil over them. Work the olives with your hands to coat them with oil. This type of olive is aweseome for flavoring stews, tamale pie, spaghetti, and as a relish eaten out-of-hand. :D

[pdx kris]

hi rowan,

i'm in portland too! i've seen the olives at zupans that are, like you said, 9 dollars a pounds. knowing that i won't take the time to cure my own olives, i've thought about buying the salt cured ones but because there isn't any other information so i'm not sure if they are actually raw or if they went through some other process and then were just tossed in some salt. do you know if they are?

kris

[RowanC]

Both the New Seasons on Division and the one in Beaverton have oil-cured olives. I spoke with the manager of that department and he assured me they are not heated, just oil cured.

The one on Division had salt-cured a month or so ago. I haven't been there lately. At Division, the olives are right after you walk in, to your right at a bulk counter.

At Beaverton, they're back in the back right hand corner of the store, past the cheeses, in a bulk section. I bought oil cured there this week. They're STRONG but yummy!

[lane]

Santa Barbaras Sundried Black Olives (in a jar) at many natural food stores are raw- I've spoken with a rep. from the company and she assured me that they are not heated above 102 degrees at any stage of processing.
-lane

[sport]

I recently bought some raw olivs from Shazie's site. She had expensive ones in jars and I only bought one jar and they are fantastic. She had cheaper ones in bags and I bought lots but they will require a lot of work to get them fit to eat. I am sorry that I was so mean, because I would have been better off if I had spent the same money but only on the good ones. I would have had less but so much nicer.