Preserved olives

Preserve olives is very simple

Olives are something wonderful. Versatile and always different depending on the preparation.

You can preserve olives yourself!

You only need a few ingredients – depending on your taste. What you need more of is time.

Depending on the preparation, the olives need about 2-4 weeks until they are ready.

Then you can enjoy them just as they are or add them to a dish while cooking

The most important ingredient is of course the olives themselves. But freshly picked olives are not easy to find. Maybe you are the lucky owner of your own olive tree. Otherwise, you may know someone who has one or more.

The most important thing is to water the olives long enough

They are very bitter raw and almost inedible. When they are soaked, they lose their bitterness.

The fastest way to do this is to pierce or bruise them. Then the juice comes out faster.

You can pierce them several times with a fork, score them with a knife, or squeeze them with a hammer or meat tenderizer. This way – after soaking – they are ready for further processing about 2 weeks later.

If you don’t have the time – or the inclination – to process them, you can also water them as whole fruits. They will just take longer to flush out the bitterness. They will be ready in about 4 weeks.

You also have several options when watering them. You simply cover them with cold water that you change 1-2 times a week. You can also add salt to the water, which helps to flush out the bitter substances. (About 7 tablespoons to 1 liter of water).

Another method is to pour hot, heavily salted water over the olives (about 100 g of salt to 1 liter of water) and then leave them in this decoction for 1 week. If necessary, repeat this procedure.

Personally, I like this version less, because then the olives are slightly cooked.

The olives must be well covered with water. If they float on the surface, you can weigh them down with a plate.

The water will become cloudy and oily over time, with small white flakes on the surface. But that doesn’t matter, when you change the water, it will be clear again.

In between, you can try an olive and decide whether they are already good.

After that it’s time for preserving and flavoring

Then you can really let your imagination run wild.

The olives are preserved either with oil or with salt water (7 tablespoons of salt for 1 liter of water).

• They become very good with garlic and thyme in olive oil or with lemon and thyme in brine.
• Rosemary or oregano also go very well.
• Of course, you can also use more exotic spices. For example, cumin or coriander seeds. Or mixtures like curry.

The olives must always be well covered with oil or brine, otherwise, they can mold. Always well covered, however, they last several months.

But usually, they are gone faster because they are so delicious.

How do you preserve olives?