Olives in Salt
I have had many attempts at preserving and preparing olives but none of them worked very well until I found this simple technique.
When olives are prepared by any method we are basically doing two things. 1. Stopping the olives rotting. 2. Getting rid of some of the bitterness from the olives.
My technique is very easy. Just pick some black olives (the later you pick them the more oil content they have) then put them in a container with sea salt. It is best if the container is totally open at the top and it is good if the sun shines on them to evaporate some of the liquid. Mix them around every few days with a stick or with your hands. At first a lot of liquid collects at the bottom of the container. You can pour this off.
The salt draws the liquid and most of the bitterness from the olives. Eventually after about 6 weeks the olives become totally dry.
Separate them from the salt with a garden riddle or any other type of sieve. After this you have dessicated olives which you can store for as long as you like.
Every couple of days put a handful of olives in a glass jar of water in the kitchen. It takes anything between 8 and 48 hours for them to re-hydrate. Put a handful of the re-hydrated olives on salads, pizzas or anything you want. If you put them in a bowl and them put a few drops of olive oil over them they taste and look like the Greek olives I used to buy when I lived in Finsbury Park London.
I lived and worked as an olive farmer in Italy for many years producing olive oil and used to pick a few handfuls and lade them down on paper and covered then with salt, gave them a stir every 3 days for a bout 6 weeks, some times added chilly or other herbs or orange and lemon peel. When all dry brushed away as much salt as could and put them in to a jar with olive oil and more herbs or lemon peel. Loved them.