Here in Israel slash Palestine the hills are landscaped with olive trees.
Fact: I very much enjoy a good olive
Having so many olives easily accessible, I grew excited at the prospect of being able to pick my own olives right off the tree when they ripened.
Fact: You cannot eat olives directly from the tree
I explained to my roommate Alina that I was getting impatient waiting for the olives to ripen (as every other week I pick one, take a nibble, and spit it out when the bitterness overwhelms my taste buds). At the mention of this, Alina responded with a "tsic tsic" and a simultaneous head nod from left to right. The "tsic tsic" is a common response in these parts and can be imitated by putting the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth and pulling down quickly and with force.
Fact: Olives of all species must first go through a curing process to be edible
Being half Italian and coming from a father that praises anything and everything Italian, I have officially shamed my heritage. To compensate, I have since educated myself on the process of olive preparation. If you too want to be enlightened, I have included the process in the following paragraphs.
Fact: Dani feels cheated by this knew found knowledge
Olives appear on the tree within eight years of life, but it takes fifteen to twenty years before they produce a worthy harvest. Crops continue to be produced until the tree is around 80 years old, though the life span of the olive tree can span for several hundred years.
Six to eight months after its flowers bloom, the olive reaches its greatest weight, twenty to thirty percent of which is oil (excluding the pit, which contains one or two seeds). Olives used for oil are left on the trees longer than those used for other purposes.
Depending on the curing method, pure water, caustic soda or lye, and coarse salt are used in combination to shape the taste and texture of the olive. Flavorings can be added to the brine such as red peppers, fennel, garlic, Mediterranean herbs, chillies, etc.
The flavor, color, and texture of the olive is determined by when it is harvested and the combination of the harvest, cure, and any added flavors which yield the unique characteristics produced by the maker.
The lye treatment removes the bitterness of the olive caused the compound glucoside. Since curing with lye softens the olive it can be picked earlier when it is still hard. Olives naturally cured must be more ripe, handled with more care, and readily processed.
When olives are harvested by hand, sheets of netting or plastic are placed on the ground under the trees and the harvesters climb ladders and comb the fruit from the branches with long-handled rakes made of wood or plastic. Handpicking and machine harvesting are also employed methods. Olives are then transferred to a processing plant where they are washed in pure water and placed placed in barrels where they are soaked in a curing solution for an elongated period of time. Curing solutions and salinity vary depending on the processor. Following the curing process the olives are rinsed in water, damaged olives are removed, and stored in jars that filled with an eight to eleven percent saline solution. If the saline is flavored, herbs or other flavorings are also added to the brine.
Fact: I very much enjoy a good olive
Having so many olives easily accessible, I grew excited at the prospect of being able to pick my own olives right off the tree when they ripened.
Fact: You cannot eat olives directly from the tree
I explained to my roommate Alina that I was getting impatient waiting for the olives to ripen (as every other week I pick one, take a nibble, and spit it out when the bitterness overwhelms my taste buds). At the mention of this, Alina responded with a "tsic tsic" and a simultaneous head nod from left to right. The "tsic tsic" is a common response in these parts and can be imitated by putting the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth and pulling down quickly and with force.
Fact: Olives of all species must first go through a curing process to be edible
Being half Italian and coming from a father that praises anything and everything Italian, I have officially shamed my heritage. To compensate, I have since educated myself on the process of olive preparation. If you too want to be enlightened, I have included the process in the following paragraphs.
Fact: Dani feels cheated by this knew found knowledge
Olives appear on the tree within eight years of life, but it takes fifteen to twenty years before they produce a worthy harvest. Crops continue to be produced until the tree is around 80 years old, though the life span of the olive tree can span for several hundred years.
Six to eight months after its flowers bloom, the olive reaches its greatest weight, twenty to thirty percent of which is oil (excluding the pit, which contains one or two seeds). Olives used for oil are left on the trees longer than those used for other purposes.
Depending on the curing method, pure water, caustic soda or lye, and coarse salt are used in combination to shape the taste and texture of the olive. Flavorings can be added to the brine such as red peppers, fennel, garlic, Mediterranean herbs, chillies, etc.
The flavor, color, and texture of the olive is determined by when it is harvested and the combination of the harvest, cure, and any added flavors which yield the unique characteristics produced by the maker.
The lye treatment removes the bitterness of the olive caused the compound glucoside. Since curing with lye softens the olive it can be picked earlier when it is still hard. Olives naturally cured must be more ripe, handled with more care, and readily processed.
When olives are harvested by hand, sheets of netting or plastic are placed on the ground under the trees and the harvesters climb ladders and comb the fruit from the branches with long-handled rakes made of wood or plastic. Handpicking and machine harvesting are also employed methods. Olives are then transferred to a processing plant where they are washed in pure water and placed placed in barrels where they are soaked in a curing solution for an elongated period of time. Curing solutions and salinity vary depending on the processor. Following the curing process the olives are rinsed in water, damaged olives are removed, and stored in jars that filled with an eight to eleven percent saline solution. If the saline is flavored, herbs or other flavorings are also added to the brine.
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