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All About Olives




Source of Recipe


Martha Stewart


Recipe Link: http://www.marthastewart.com

List of Ingredients




The olive has played a role in civilization throughout recorded history, from the appearance of the fruits in Greek myth and the Bible to the representations of the trees in the paintings of Vincent van Gogh. Today, they still figure prominently in the cultures and cuisines of the Mediterranean.



There are dozens of olive varieties varying in size and flavor. The olive is a fruit—more specifically a drupe, like a cherry or a peach, with thick skin, meaty pulp, and a single central seed or pit. But it has a low sugar content and high oil content, and cannot be eaten straight off the tree; all fresh olives are bitter, and the final flavor of the fruit greatly depends on how ripe it is when picked and the processing it receives.



The fermentation in brine, besides having a preservative function, breaks down the sugar that olives contain into lactic acid, adding to their flavor. The flavor is also improved by the use of herbs and spices, which are usually added to the brine to form marinades. Underripe olives are always green, whereas ripe olives may be either green or black. Green olives tend to be sharper and more pungent, whereas black ones taste richer. Though olives aren’t especially nutritious, they do supply some heart-healthy monounsaturated fat and small amounts of calcium, iron, and potassium.



Following is a selection of five Mediterranean olives, listed by country, commonly found in grocery stores:



France
PICHOLINE (green)
Picholine are a long, pointy, pale-green, brine-cured French variety. They are sweet, with a slight saltiness and a crunchy texture. Picholine olives are a cocktail favorite, but the pit is hard to remove.

NICOISE (black)
The sharp, briny little black niçoise olives are named for the Provençal port of Nice, where they’re processed. They have a sharp, somewhat sour taste and a large pit. This small, oval olive ranges in color from purple-brown to brown-black. Niçoise olives are cured in brine and packed in olive oil. Good specimens have a rich, nutty, mellow flavor.



Italy
BELLA DI CERIGNOLA (green)
Bella di Cerignola green are enormous blue-green, mildly smoky, southern Italian olives. They are cured whole in brine to produce sweet, dense, meaty, vegetable-like flesh. This variety is hard to pit, so it’s best to just cut the meat from the pit with a paring knife. For a delicious rustic lunch, you can pair them with chunks of Parmigiano and some fresh crusty bread. They’re also an excellent martini olive, but a favorite way to eat them is just by themselves.



Greece
KALAMATA OLIVES (green)
Greece is known for the kalamata olive—an almond-shaped olive that ranges in length from about 1/2 inch to 1 inch. Kalamatas are a dark eggplant color and have a flavor that can be rich and fruity. Kalamatas are marketed packed in either olive oil or vinegar, and they’re delicious used in breads, salads, and tapenades.



Morocco
MOROCCAN (black)
Moroccan oil-cured olives are probably the best example of oil-cured olives, also called dry-cured and salt-cured. Oil-curing can be just a soaking in oil for a few months or it can refer to dry-cured olives which are then rubbed with oil. Moroccan oil-cured olives are glistening, jet black, medium-sized, meaty, and slightly bitter. They have a smoky taste that lingers. Moister ones are easy to pit by pulling apart.










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