Curing Olives (The Old-School Way)

A simple curing recipe and memories from a garden by the sea

I’ve been thinking a lot about olives lately - specifically, how to cure them. Maybe it’s the change in seasons or the fact that my local market just had a pile of raw green olives that looked too good to pass up. Either way, I decided to pull out the recipe that is close to my heart.

This recipe came from my Theio Anastasi - my uncle, who I was very close to. He had this incredible vegetable garden (the kind that made you believe in the magic of homegrown food), kept bees for honey, and was a brilliant fisherman. Honestly, I don’t think I every saw him come back from fishing empty-handed.

And then there was his greenhouse. Tucked behind the garden, it was a secret world - warm green, and alive in the coldest months. I used to love stepping inside; it smelled like damp earth and a fresh promise.

A visit to his house always meant I went home with a bagfull of vegetables - fresh, dirt-still-on-them kind of vegetables. Tomatoes that tasted like tomatoes. Handfuls of herbs. It was like his garden never stopped giving.

One of the things I remember most clearly is how he loved to prepare big jars of olives filled with brine. He made it look simple - just water, salt, time and patience - but there was an art to it, a rhythm.

Here is my recipe from my Theio. It is not fancy or fast, but that’s the point. It’s olid-school, like Theio Anastasi. And it still works like a charm.

Preserving olives!

His recipe, now mine, and maybe soon yours…just olives, salt, water, time and a little bit of love from a garden long gone but never forgotten.

Place your scored olives - scoring helps in the preserving and drawing out the bitterness - in a large basin or bucket and cover with cold clean water. I used a plastic basin for this and I placed a large plate on the olives so they stay submerged in the water. Change the water daily.

After 3 or 4 days, start adding salt to the water. I use 1 cup coarse salt to 10 cups of water. Cover with the plate so that all the olives are under the salty water. Pour out his liquid and replace with clean salty water daily for about 2 weeks.

You will know when your olives are ready simply by tasting them to see if the bitterness has gone.

When your olives are ready to be bottled, pour them into clean, sterilised jars and prepare the brine. Again, use a ratio of 1 cup salt to 10 cups water. Bring this to the boil, turn the heat off and allow to cool then carefully pour over the olives, covering them completely. Pour a little olive oil on top to seal and put the lids on. Store them in a cool cupboard until they are ready for use, this should take about 6 moths. They will also keep for up to 12 months.

When you are ready to use your olives, pour out the salty brine, replace with clean fresh water and refrigerate.

There should be enough salt in the olives to seep out into the water and create a weak salty brine.. You can add some garlic, oregano and lemon juice at this stage if you like, or any other favourite flavourings.

I like to leave them in this weak brine until I want to use them. I take out some of the olives and cover them with olive oil, a little fresh lemon juice or vinegar, garlic, black pepper and oregano - let them marinade overnight - delicous.