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| Curing Black Olives |
Seasonal Recipes in Turkish Cuisine
Different seasonal recipes come to the fore in different seasons in Turkish cuisine. During the summer season, different delicious jams are made using fresh fruits. Strawberry jam, cherry jam and apricot jam are perhaps the most favorite jam recipes in Anatolia that are made in summertime. In additon, tomato paste and pepper paste are prepared from fresh and fragnant tomatoes or red capia peppers in summer to be used in Turkish recipes in winter. When I was a kid, all the women of the house would come together and work together to make all these seasonal meal preparations. Under the leadership of my grandmother, tomatoes or peppers were chopped and then salted into plastic barrels. Again, the freshest strawberries, freshest cherries or freshest apricots were used in jams. Then the fruits were boiled with sugar and jams were prepared and placed in jars. The world famous tarhana soup was also prepared by the women of the house after grueling ways. At the end of the summer, when the autumn time came, the quinces were gathered. Quince jams were also started to be prepared. So when was time to collect black olives? I can specify the harvesting process of olives to be processed as brining olives, pickled olives or dried olives as october-november-december depending on the temperature of the year. In october, november and december ; when the black olives turned black and ripened, our whole family was in a hurry to collect black olives. Black olives are harvested in two different ways. The first way was the easy olive picking way. Plastic covers were placed under the olive trees. Olive branches were hit with long sticks and the olives were whipped. Although this tecnique of picking black olives is easy, it can cause spoilage or loss of taste of the black olive, as the skin of the olive can be torn or damaged during picking. For these reasons, our black olives were collected by hand picking from the tree, which is the more laborious way. Whether to produce extra virgin olive oil or to prepare black olives in the saddle, the way of picking olives from the trees by hand or with hand rakes always gives better results.
Drying Olives at Home
In the method of making dry saddle black olives, the olive grains are harvested after they have darkened and matured on the tree. When transferring the olives to plastic bottles or jars, you should be careful to add rock salt along with the olives. A layer of salt and a layer of olives are stacked inside the plastic bottles or jars. Black olives are more delicate than green olives. The salt you will add will not only make the olives taste better but also keep them intact for a much longer period of time, and will not soften easily. The bottles are rolled upside down or shaked left and right so that the salt reaches all the olives. Black olives release their water with the effect of the salt. In this way, after 3-4 weeks, the bitterness of the olives are gone and black olives become edible. Adding olive oil to the black olives in the jars will prevent mold growth on the olives.
Are Black Olives Good For You?
Besides being indispensable for Turkish breakfasts, there are many black olive benefits. Black olives are known to prevent anemia due to its high iron content. Experts say that black olives, which are very rich in vitamins A, D, E and K are very beneficial in terms of strengthening bone development by preventing calcium loss in the body. In addition, studies have shown that the antioxidant nutrients in black olives help prevent heart disease.
Ingredients of Olive Curing
3 kg Black Olives
Half Cup (100 ml) Rock Salt
Half Cup (100 ml) Olive Oil
Black Olive Recipe at Home
Fill 3 kg of black olives into a 5 liter plastic water bottle.
With the help of a funnel, put 100 ml of rock salt and then 100 ml of olive oil into the bottle that you have filled with black olives.
Close the cap of the plastic bottle.
Roll the bottle up and down so that the salt in the bottle combines with all the olives.
After rolling, shake the bottle with your hands.
You should roll and shake the bottle which is filled with olives for a certain period of time every day for 1-1,5 months.
After about 3 months, all the juice of your olives will disappear due to salt and the bitter taste will disappear.
At the end of 3 months, your black olives will be edible.
Enjoy your meal.
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