Curing Olives

Posted on Tue May 26, 2020.

As the Coronavirus lockdown started in South Africa, so did olive season. We had our first olive harvest from our home garden!
A perfect time to learn how to do this ourselves, at home. Also a great way to keep the kids busy while teaching them.

Thanks to our friends Arno & Zile, who gave us this recipe for basic olive curing in salt water.

After picking the olives, rinse them well & ensure that all stems are removed.

Handle with care, not to bruise the fruit.

Make a small incision on each berry. Try not to cut all the way down to the pip.

Place in saltwater solution for 5 weeks, replacing the water weekly and increasing the salt ratio.

I based mine on 2 litres of water:
Week 1 - 40g salt
Week 2 - 80g salt
Week 3 - 120g salt
Week 4 - 160g salt
Week 5 - 200g salt

After 5 weeks, rinse and place olives in jars along with your choice of herbs.
Leave about 2cm open at the top of the jar.
Fill up jars with salt water ratio: 90% water /10% salt
Add a thin layer of olive oil to seal.
Leave for a few months, depending on how ripe the berries were when you picked them.

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