A simple trick to making olives last year-round
Winter is a time when we reach into our cupboards and storerooms at Zin House and pull out all the beautiful preserves we’ve created throughout the year. It’s a simple way we make sure no fruit or vegetable we grow goes to waste, and it helps us carry flavours across seasons in a sustainable way!
We’ve just finished pulling this year’s olive harvest off the trees, and we thought what better way to celebrate than to share how we brine these olives and save them for next year’s plates.
While Kim’s recipe calls for a year-long brine, we’ve got a few tricks to cut down that time if you simply can’t wait!
Ingredients
- olives (the number of your olives will vary, but use a 2:1 ratio when following these steps. If you have a 2L jar of olives, you’ll need approximately 1L of brine)
- salt
- water
Method
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Rinse olives, remove any defective ones.
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Make a 5% salt brine (50 grams salt per one litre water). Stir it in or heat a little water and dissolve the salt into that, add the balance of the water. Let the water cool.
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Use perfectly clean buckets, fermenting crock or glass jars that have been rinsed with vinegar.
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Submerge the olives with brine. Weight the top with a plate, or seal tightly depending on your vessel, to ensure they’re covered.
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Leave for one year or until your happy enough tannin has been removed to your taste. If you can’t wait a year, simply cut or smash the olives before adding brine to speed up the process.
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When they’re ready to use, drain, store in olive oil or marinate.
Our tips
If there’s pressure building up in your vessel over the year, “burp” the olives by quickly releasing pressure and resealing. Once they’ve brined, get creative with your marinades by adding herbs, chilli, and more!
