How do you do it? I know the stuff is engrained in the olives.
I've never had an olive made without salt. Never had one right from
the tree, or one that has been cured some other way. I'm obviously
not an olive expert although I know what I like. I used to buy mine
cheap at an arab market that has since shut down. Now when I get them
I use whole foods, $9 a pound. The ones I get are nice. I used to
get the piccholines, but they don't have them anymore. But they're
too salty. I tried soaking them in water multiple times but it didn't
do a great job. Does anyone know another method, or some kind of
secret to rinsing that gets out more salt. With me it's not an issue
of health, I just don't like the taste. The arab ones had less salt,
the small green ones. I'd rinse them multiple times anyway, then
squeeze the juice of a lemon in along with some olive oil and crushed
oregano and fresh minced garlic with water about halfway up. Very
good. Anyway, any hints on the best ways for getting salt out of
things, especially olives, would be appreciated. I wonder what an
olive tastes like straight from the tree. I imagine not so good,
otherwise how come we don't see them coming in that way?

TJ

Tommy Joe wrote:
>
> things, especially olives, would be appreciated. I wonder what an
> olive tastes like straight from the tree. I imagine not so good,
> otherwise how come we don't see them coming in that way?

They are extremely bitter right off the tree.

On Jun 11, 6:34*pm, Mark Thorson > wrote:
> Tommy Joe wrote:
>
> > things, especially olives, would be appreciated. *I wonder what an
> > olive tastes like straight from the tree. *I imagine not so good,
> > otherwise how come we don't see them coming in that way?
>
> They are extremely bitter right off the tree.

Oleuropein

Try soaking Kalamata or other water-cured olives -- looks like they
might be the least salty:

http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8267.pdf

Subject

See if you can find Graber Olives in your area.

Grown here in California, picked daily,
processed using processes and machinery
that is close to 100 years old.

Strictly a "Mom & Pop" operation compared to
the other olive operations here in California so
availibility may be limited.

Lew

Tommy Joe > wrote in news:d3af4dfa-602d-4e9c-8155-
:

>
> How do you do it?


http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipe/51...es/search/true


http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipe/200/Olive_pickling

http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipe/51...es/search/true



and the easiest method.........


http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/reci...ve-schiacciate



Olive Schiacciate

You can do as many of these as your patience will allow. You need green
olives for this recipe, a mallet and a chopping board. I strongly urge you
to use gloves and an apron.

Ingredients

* 1 kg raw green olives
* 1 red chilli, finely chopped
* 5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
* large pinch Murray river salt flakes
* extra virgin olive oil, enough to cover the jars you will use

Method

1. Place an olive on the board and hit it gently with the mallet, a
hammer, or a rolling pin, so that you can easily remove the stone. Do as
many as you like. Place your olives in fresh water and change that water
twice a day for eight days. On the eighth day they should be slightly
bitter, but not as much as a fresh olive. If they are too bitter for your
taste, continue to change the water until their taste suits you.
2. Drain them and spread them out on a cloth to absorb excess water.
3. Place olives in bowl and mix all ingredients together, except for
the olive oil. Place the olives in suitable jars and cover with oil. Apply
lid. These olives will keep for 2 – 3 months refrigerated.




--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia

First Law of Leftist Debate.......
The more you present a leftist with factual evidence
that is counter to his preconceived world view and the
more difficult it becomes for him to refute it without
losing face the chance of him calling you a racist, bigot,
homophobe approaches infinity.

Sqwertz wrote:
> On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:20:13 -0700 (PDT), Tommy Joe wrote:
>
> > How do you do it?
>
> Replace all or some of the brine with water. Osmosis will take
> over and the unsalted water will replace the salt water in the
> olives.
>
> -sw


Too tired and lazy at present to answer each post individually,
but want to thank everyone for the helpful responses. For you Sqewtz,
I have to ask though, how long does one soak the olives? I've soaked
olive and rinsed them multiple times with some positive effect, but
not enough to suit me. Yes, I've had the water based kalamatas, as
suggested by another person. I used to get olives at an armenian
place in Hollywood that were oily, which is good, but seemed hardly
salty at all. They were kalamatas, which I like. But my favorite is
the small green olives with the pits still in them. Thanks again to
all.

TJ

Tommy Joe > wrote in news:490b76fa-bb4c-42ce-a1a8-
:


> I have to ask though, how long does one soak the olives? I've soaked
> olive and rinsed them multiple times with some positive effect, but
> not enough to suit me. Yes, I've had the water based kalamatas, as
> suggested by another person. I used to get olives at an armenian
> place in Hollywood that were oily, which is good, but seemed hardly
> salty at all. They were kalamatas, which I like. But my favorite is
> the small green olives with the pits still in them.



In your case, just slash the whole olive on both sides to open the fruit
to the water..... but follow the instructions otherwise.


http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/reci...ve-schiacciate

"1. Place an olive on the board and hit it gently with the mallet, a
hammer, or a rolling pin, so that you can easily remove the stone. Do as
many as you like. Place your olives in fresh water and change that water
twice a day for eight days. On the eighth day they should be slightly
bitter, but not as much as a fresh olive. If they are too bitter for your
taste, continue to change the water until their taste suits you."


--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia

Pain is your friend, your ally, it will tell you when you are seriously
injured, it will keep you awake and angry, and remind you to finish the
job and get the hell home. But you know the best thing about pain?

It lets you know you're not dead yet!

PL wrote:

>
> "1. Place an olive on the board and hit it gently with the mallet, a
> hammer, or a rolling pin, so that you can easily remove the stone. Do as
> many as you like. Place your olives in fresh water and change that water
> twice a day for eight days. On the eighth day they should be slightly
> bitter, but not as much as a fresh olive. If they are too bitter for your
> taste, continue to change the water until their taste suits you."
>
>
> --
> Peter Lucas
> Brisbane
> Australia
>
> Pain is your friend, your ally, it will tell you when you are seriously
> injured, it will keep you awake and angry, and remind you to finish the
> job and get the hell home. But you know the best thing about pain?
>
> It lets you know you're not dead yet!


Pain after death is worse than the alive type. When you're alive
your brain controls your pain. When your brain dies, the pain
remains, free to rollick through your decaying body without any help
from your dead brain. Yes, the pain after death is pure, unfettered
by the brain and other control methods such as screaming. But let's
get back to food.

As long as you can eat, you know you're not dead. When you're
dead you become food for worms and things growing above your rotting
corpse. It's funny you mention slitting the olives on each side. The
small green ones I used to get at the arab store were called split
olives. They had the pits in them, but there was a slit on just one
side. I know they came off the pit a lot easier, but were not sloppy
and soft. They were also not massively salty. Why for sure I cannot
say. They had salt, but not overbearing. I have often wondered how
they de-pit olives, or how they did it before the invention of
whatever utensil they use nowadays. I'm talking about getting the pit
out and the olive doesn't look disturbed at all except for a tiny pin
hole on each end. What do they use? I like eating them off the pit
anyway. But I'm still interested to know.

Painfully dying to know,
TJ

Tommy Joe > wrote in news:c1b1918b-836f-428d-aff3-
:


> Painfully dying to know,
> TJ
>


That you're a ****ing troll???

You've known for a long time, you pathetic prick.



--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia

Pain is your friend, your ally, it will tell you when you are seriously
injured, it will keep you awake and angry, and remind you to finish the job
and get the hell home. But you know the best thing about pain?

It lets you know you're not dead yet!

In article >,
Sqwertz > wrote:

> On Sun, 13 Jun 2010 18:05:42 -0700 (PDT), Tommy Joe wrote:
>
> > Sqwertz wrote:
> >> On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:20:13 -0700 (PDT), Tommy Joe wrote:
> >>
> >>> How do you do it?
> >>
> >> Replace all or some of the brine with water. Osmosis will take
> >> over and the unsalted water will replace the salt water in the
> >> olives.
> >>
> >> -sw
> >
> > Too tired and lazy at present to answer each post individually,
> > but want to thank everyone for the helpful responses. For you Sqewtz,
> > I have to ask though, how long does one soak the olives? I've soaked
> > olive and rinsed them multiple times with some positive effect, but
> > not enough to suit me.
>
> Let them soak for 4-6 hours possibly overnight, in twice the
> weight of water. Osmosis dictates that the salinity of the water
> outside the olives will be that of inside the olives. They will
> reach an equilibrium sooner the thinner the cell walls are (olives
> are pretty thin-celled).
>
> Washing and rinsing won't do much at all.
>
> -swsw

I frequently soak green salad olives to desalinate them. I let them
soak for a good 12 hours and often do it twice.
--
Peace! Om

Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat. --Alex Levine

Andy wrote:
PL wrote:


>
> >> I have to ask though, how long does one soak the olives? I've soaked
> >> olive and rinsed them multiple times with some positive effect, but
> >> not enough to suit me. Yes, I've had the water based kalamatas, as



> I'd add lime juice to the water. It really helps neutralize the salt
> intensity without adding any noticeable flavor.

> That bit of magic was imparted to me by someone here at rfc many years
> ago as I got into my Thai chicken satay craze. The fish sauce made it way
> too salty and the advice was to double up on the lime juice, which
> excellently did the trick!
>
> Lemon juice might work similarly.


Thanks, that makes sense. The olives in the arab and armenian
places were usually less salty. I believe they used lemon. I use it
at home when I get olives. I guess all these things are preseratives
of a sort, right? I use olive oil and lemon as a base for most things
I make. If lemon is a preservative, maybe I'll live longer than the
average person. But still one day I will die. Then there will be no
need to discuss food as I will know the subject firsthand as I myself
become food for things that crawl beneath the ground.

TJ

PL wrote:

>
> That you're a ****ing troll???


> You've known for a long time, you pathetic prick.



I know everything. We all do. Occasionally some of us must
pretend not to know things to bolster conversation. We all pretend
not to know while deepdown we know everything, including many things
we don't want to know. But I'm not a troll, idiot - I'm just a guy
who posts here occasionally, usually to ask a question about food or
it's preparation. Then a guy likes you comes along and gives me an
opportunity to extend my visit, which has nothing to do with being a
troll, a term I hate using because it's a contrived fad-like internet
thing that won't even be around 100 years from now, I predict.

TJ

Omelet wrote:
Screwtz wrote

>
> > Washing and rinsing won't do much at all.


> I frequently soak green salad olives to desalinate them. I let them
> soak for a good 12 hours and often do it twice.


Thanks you two. I'll do that from now on. I've done it before but
never had the patience to wait 12 hours. That's pretty stupid now
that I think about it. I will stop thinking now if you don't mind.
Thanks again.

TJ

In article
>,
Tommy Joe > wrote:

> Omelet wrote:
> Screwtz wrote
>
> >
> > > Washing and rinsing won't do much at all.
>
>
> > I frequently soak green salad olives to desalinate them. I let them
> > soak for a good 12 hours and often do it twice.
>
>
> Thanks you two. I'll do that from now on. I've done it before but
> never had the patience to wait 12 hours. That's pretty stupid now
> that I think about it. I will stop thinking now if you don't mind.
> Thanks again.
>
> TJ

<laughs> Hope it works as well for you as it works for me!

I played with green and black olives this past New Years. I did a
double soak (planned ahead about 4 or 5 days before) then after soaking
the salt out of them, I re-added a mix of olive oil and balsamic vinegar
mixed with chopped fresh herbs.

It worked very well!

The black olives only needed one soak tho'.
--
Peace! Om

Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>
*Only Irish *coffee provides in a single glass all four *essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar *and fat. --Alex Levine

Omelet wrote:

>
> <laughs> Hope it works as well for you as it works for me!
>
> I played with green and black olives this past New Years. I did a
> double soak (planned ahead about 4 or 5 days before) then after soaking
> the salt out of them, I re-added a mix of olive oil and balsamic vinegar
> mixed with chopped fresh herbs.
>
> It worked very well!
>
> The black olives only needed one soak tho'.



Thanks for that. Yeah, the black ones probably had less salt
from the start, I'm guessing. I do something similar to you except I
use lemon instead of vinegar. But lately the olives I've been buying
have been from whole foods, not bad but too expensive for me. When I
have a chance to buy a larger amount at a cheaper joint, then yes, I
will the scientific method proposed in another post, use two times the
amount of fresh water to the weight of the olives. By the time I get
around to actually using the method I may by then have already lost my
taste for olives. For now like the black kalamatas, but also the
small green ones.

TJ

In article
>,
Tommy Joe > wrote:

> Omelet wrote:
>
> >
> > <laughs> Hope it works as well for you as it works for me!
> >
> > I played with green and black olives this past New Years. I did a
> > double soak (planned ahead about 4 or 5 days before) then after soaking
> > the salt out of them, I re-added a mix of olive oil and balsamic vinegar
> > mixed with chopped fresh herbs.
> >
> > It worked very well!
> >
> > The black olives only needed one soak tho'.
>
>
>
> Thanks for that. Yeah, the black ones probably had less salt
> from the start, I'm guessing. I do something similar to you except I
> use lemon instead of vinegar. But lately the olives I've been buying
> have been from whole foods, not bad but too expensive for me. When I
> have a chance to buy a larger amount at a cheaper joint, then yes, I
> will the scientific method proposed in another post, use two times the
> amount of fresh water to the weight of the olives. By the time I get
> around to actually using the method I may by then have already lost my
> taste for olives. For now like the black kalamatas, but also the
> small green ones.
>
> TJ

I will have to try lemon in place of vinegar, or perhaps a mix of the
two. Thanks for the idea!
--
Peace! Om

Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>
*Only Irish *coffee provides in a single glass all four *essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar *and fat. --Alex Levine

Omelet wrote:

>
> > Thanks for that. Yeah, the black ones probably had less salt
> > from the start, I'm guessing. I do something similar to you except I
> > use lemon instead of vinegar. But lately the olives I've been buying
> > have been from whole foods, not bad but too expensive for me. When I
> > have a chance to buy a larger amount at a cheaper joint, then yes, I
> > will the scientific method proposed in another post, use two times the
> > amount of fresh water to the weight of the olives. By the time I get
> > around to actually using the method I may by then have already lost my
> > taste for olives. For now like the black kalamatas, but also the
> > small green ones.


> I will have to try lemon in place of vinegar, or perhaps a mix of the
> two. Thanks for the idea!


I'm half arab on my fathers side. Lemon and olive oil were used
on almost everything. Salads of all types, tabouli, even a bread
salad made with tomato and thinly sliced onions and hard chunks of
hand-ripped pita bread. Obviously that's a dish that you don't let
sit around too long. But anyway, I have always preferred lemon or
lime to vinegar. I've tried some of the softer vinegars. They're ok,
but even the softest of them seem to harsh compared to lemon. A
matter of taste I guess. I'm going to try the scientific salt-removal
process as proposed in an earlier post, two times the weight of water
to the weight of the olives for 12 hours or however long it takes.
I'm not anti salt, but sometimes it can be overbearing in things. The
armenian market I used to shop at in L.A. was really great for that.
Their olives had salt of course, but were nice and oily and the salt
was barely noticeable. Thanks for the posts.

TJ

In article
>,
Tommy Joe > wrote:

> > I will have to try lemon in place of vinegar, or perhaps a mix of the
> > two. Thanks for the idea!
>
>
> I'm half arab on my fathers side. Lemon and olive oil were used
> on almost everything. Salads of all types, tabouli, even a bread
> salad made with tomato and thinly sliced onions and hard chunks of
> hand-ripped pita bread. Obviously that's a dish that you don't let
> sit around too long. But anyway, I have always preferred lemon or
> lime to vinegar. I've tried some of the softer vinegars. They're ok,
> but even the softest of them seem to harsh compared to lemon. A
> matter of taste I guess. I'm going to try the scientific salt-removal
> process as proposed in an earlier post, two times the weight of water
> to the weight of the olives for 12 hours or however long it takes.
> I'm not anti salt, but sometimes it can be overbearing in things. The
> armenian market I used to shop at in L.A. was really great for that.
> Their olives had salt of course, but were nice and oily and the salt
> was barely noticeable. Thanks for the posts.
>
> TJ

Cheers!

I'll have to explore lemon and lime more. Lately I've been playing with
small amounts of various types of vinegar. I've kinda burned out on the
fake Balsamic and have gone to using more apple cider vinegar. I think
I want to explore malt vinegar more.

Fruit vinegars (such as blackberry) are very flavorful and make good
salad dressings.

My #1 favorite spice mix is lemon or orange (dried) zest with pepper. It
brightens food nicely. I've gone more to mixing my own salt free lemon
pepper as it's not only less expensive, but I can increase the lemon to
pepper ratio.

Dried lime zest is not available locally so I'll have to try making my
own. It's not difficult! I use the air space between the two AC
filters in the hall closet (where I had the new AC installed several
years ago) and an herb dehydrator. Works a treat!
--
Peace! Om

Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>
*Only Irish *coffee provides in a single glass all four *essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar *and fat. --Alex Levine

On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:04:22 -0700, "Lew Hodgett"
> wrote:

> Subject
>
>See if you can find Graber Olives in your area.
>
>Grown here in California, picked daily,
>processed using processes and machinery
>that is close to 100 years old.
>
>Strictly a "Mom & Pop" operation compared to
>the other olive operations here in California so
>availibility may be limited.
>
>Lew
>

You remind me that several years ago, someone here had recommended
Graber when I asked about the availability of cured olives that could
match imported Mediterranean varieties in quality. Never found them
here in the Washington, DC area. So I just now googled "Graber
olives". Seems they are on a 184 acre ranch in the Central Valley?

Learned that olives (and some other products) can be ordered from
their web site: www.graberolives.com

This location and phone number was shown:
315 E. Fourth Street • Ontario, CA 91764 • Phone 800-996-5483

There was also a link to a page on Amazon to a supplier called,
"Taylor's Market Storefront" which offered a size 14, 7.5-oz. can for
$6.49.

So I guess we could even get them in Cleveland now!

Dick Kennedy
Y-L reserve squadron, Chesapeake branch.

On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:04:22 -0700, "Lew Hodgett"
> wrote:

> Subject
>
>See if you can find Graber Olives in your area.
>
>Grown here in California, picked daily,
>processed using processes and machinery
>that is close to 100 years old.
>
>Strictly a "Mom & Pop" operation compared to
>the other olive operations here in California so
>availibility may be limited.
>
>Lew
>

You remind me that several years ago, someone here had recommended
Graber when I asked about the availability of cured olives that could
match imported Mediterranean varieties in quality. Never found them
here in the Washington, DC area. So I just now googled "Graber
olives". Seems they are on a 184 acre ranch in the Central Valley?

Learned that olives (and some other products) can be ordered from
their web site: www.graberolives.com

This location and phone number was shown:
315 E. Fourth Street • Ontario, CA 91764 • Phone 800-996-5483

There was also a link to a page on Amazon to a supplier called,
"Taylor's Market Storefront" which offered a size 14, 7.5-oz. can for
$6.49.

So I guess we could even get them in Cleveland now!

Dick Kennedy
Y-L reserve squadron, Chesapeake branch.

On Friday, June 11, 2010 at 6:20:13 PM UTC-7, Tommy Joe wrote:
> How do you do it? I know the stuff is engrained in the olives.
> I've never had an olive made without salt. Never had one right from
> the tree, or one that has been cured some other way. I'm obviously
> not an olive expert although I know what I like. I used to buy mine
> cheap at an arab market that has since shut down. Now when I get them
> I use whole foods, $9 a pound. The ones I get are nice. I used to
> get the piccholines, but they don't have them anymore. But they're
> too salty. I tried soaking them in water multiple times but it didn't
> do a great job. Does anyone know another method, or some kind of
> secret to rinsing that gets out more salt. With me it's not an issue
> of health, I just don't like the taste. The arab ones had less salt,
> the small green ones. I'd rinse them multiple times anyway, then
> squeeze the juice of a lemon in along with some olive oil and crushed
> oregano and fresh minced garlic with water about halfway up. Very
> good. Anyway, any hints on the best ways for getting salt out of
> things, especially olives, would be appreciated. I wonder what an
> olive tastes like straight from the tree. I imagine not so good,
> otherwise how come we don't see them coming in that way?
>
> TJ

try soaking in steam distilled water over night then rinse and repeat. steam distilled water can do miracle's even if you drink it.