Recipe - Fresh Olives

20 Fresh Shasta olives (up to
22)
2 Peeled garlic cloves
One half teaspoon Dried oregano
1/3 cup Chopped celery
1/3 cup Chopped carrots
1/3 cup Olive oil
1/3 cup Good wine vinegar,
preferably white, boiled
for thirty seconds
Hot pepper flakes to taste

Fresh olives are easy to cure. I first ran across them in Melbourne. My
greengrocer gave me a recipe of sorts. Make up a strong brine, he said,
add some herbs and spices, and cure until done.

I did make a brine, which was easy. Added, oh, bay leaves, peppercorns,
fennel seeds, and probably some other goodies. Then I simply tasted the
olives until they were done. I think it took three or four weeks. I
probably packed them in jars with some olive oil and garlic.

They were smashing. I've never see fresh olives in a market in the States
alas. They certainly don't have them here in Tennessee.

Here's a second recipe. It's from one of Ed Gobbi's cookbooks, Pleasures
of the Good Earth, and it's for Shasta olives, although I'm sure it would
work with any fresh olives. It's a bit different in that you don't have to
brine the olives. It makes a pint of olives

Scald a onepint jar. Put the olives, garlic, oregano, celery, and carrots
in the jar so that the olives are tightly packed. Add the olive oil,
vinegar, and pepper flakes. Cover loosely so the air can escape. After two
weeks, tighten the cap. Allow the olives to rest for four to five weeks
until the bitterness is gone.

They'll keep for four to five months, but who'd want to wait that long?
Posted to FOODWINE Digest 23 October 96

Date: Thu, 24 Oct 1996 07:34:09 0500

From: "David L. Rados" radosdl@CTRVAX.VANDERBILT.EDU