Above the village, in the garrigue, there are countless Lucques olive trees that don't seem to belong to anyone. The olives in this region are picked green and taken to the olive oil co-op for pressing by the end of December.
Can I cure them once they've turned black? Need to do some research! Pin It
7 comments:
What a lovely photo. And yes, research is needed. Too bad I couldn't help you out with that ;)
I've cured ripe olives in salt. It's a good bit of work and mess - the salt pulls out the water, which you must drain away - but when they're done you have something no one else has, like homemade wine. The flavor is generally quite sharp, as not all of the astringent chemicals are removed.
Part of the process involves cutting a small cross in each one with a very sharp knife. On Crete I put mine salted in a basket and hung it from a tree so the liquid could drip out.You should give them a stir with a wooden spoon every few days. But I've completely forgotten how long it took. Maybe Daniel knows
Loulou whenever I want to find out
anything, I google my question.
I just typed "how to cure olives?" and sure enough, I got lots of choices. Now, I have been trying to find Speculoos cookies but I guess they are not sold in the US, only on line coming directly from Belgium. I will get them next time I go to France or have my Mom send them to me. Also google "food network" and you will be able to watch their shows. Maybe it easier to do it in the US than from Europe? Everyday I thank the smart people who created the Internet.
My Mélange
I'll spend some time online doing research as soon as all of the festivities end. Glad you like the photo!
Daniel
Thank you for the advice! The idea of curing in lye never sounded palatable to me, so salt sounds like a much better option.
martha
Very practical advice, thank you!
:)
Nadege
Google is such a great resource for help. What would we do without it?
I've never seen Speculoos in America. Maybe Cost Plus?
http://www.worldmarket.com/home.jsp
Good luck!
You might enjoy visiting a new olive mill in Roubia which does custom pressing of small to large amounts of olives into oil and cures olives -- MOULIN A HUILE DE LA RESTANQUE Magali REYNES 38 Avenue des Loisirs 11200 ROUBIA Tél : 04 68 90 40 48 Fax : 04 68 91 26 03 Email: roubia11@aol.com. It is run by a 30's ish couple, Magali et Laurent Reynes; she speaks fairly good English. My husband and I visited in late November and received a very warm welcome. It is good to see young couples moving to the countryside and starting agricultural businesses. FYI I just discovered your blog today -- lovely pictures and great descriptions! Keep it up!
Thank you Maggie! I'll go check them out. Roubia is just down the road.
Glad you like the blog. :)
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