Marinated
cracked olives
Ingredients
5kg green (raw) olives
4 lemons, sliced
rock salt
white vinegar
olive oil
8 cloves of garlic
oregano to taste*
dried fennel seeds to taste*
bay leaves, chopped or whole, to taste*
dried chilli flakes, to taste*
*
do a bit of experimenting to get a mixture that suits your taste.
Method
A glass or two of a good wine to enjoy as you work is almost mandatory for this recipe.
1. Crush the olives with the bottom of a jar or bottle (a stubbie bottle works
well as the concave bottom stops the olives from shooting off all over the
place). Don't crush too hard; just enough to split the olive to remove the pip
but not enough to lose the shape of the olive (again the concave bottom of the
stubbie assists here). Do this on a large wooden board and as you split the
olives move them to one end of the board.
Another
person working with you to pick up the split olives and remove the pips is great
as the olives are moved to stage 2 faster, and you also have someone to talk to.
2. As you crush the olives, put them into a bucket of cold water with two of the
sliced lemons. This acidified water helps prevent discolouration. Once you have
finished crushing the olives, or your bucket is full, if you are doing a larger
quantity. Rinse the olives in the water and change the water twice. Leave the
olives to soak for 24 hours in fresh water to which the remaining sliced lemons
have been added.
3. Drain the olives and put into a shallow dish, then generously sprinkle with
the salt. Allow to stand (out of the refrigerator) for another 24 hours
4. By now the olives will be sitting in some liquid. Stir them and then drain.
5. Sprinkle with enough vinegar to cover them. Leave for another 24 hours.
6. Drain the olives, put into a bowl, add a little olive oil and all the herbs.
Mix well and put into sterilised jars. Top with olive oil and seal.
7. The olives should be edible straight away. Although slightly bitter if eaten
early, they will mature in the olive oil and become less bitter and softer with
time. They will keep for about 12 months (if you can resist eating them all
sooner) but always keep them covered in olive oil.