Do you remember a few weeks back, I was asking about how to cure
olives?

Well, I managed to molest a few olive trees in a local school yard,
and brought home about a gallon green olives to cure. I used the
following process, and althought "technically" they aren't supposed to
be ready to eat until Sunday morning, I tried one this evening, and
they are going to be great.

Here's the recipe I used. It's water cure - no lye used.

Myrl Jeffcoat



Anzonini's Water-cured Green Olives

The Author says:

"This pungent recipe was given to me by a Spanish gypsy; it is almost
identical to the method for making the green olives of Provence called
olives cassées." --Maggie Blythe Klein

Ingredients
5 pounds green mature olives
1-1/2 quarts water
3 tablespoons salt
2 lemons, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 cups white wine vinegar
6 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
2 tablespoons cumin seeds, crushed in a mortar
Olive Oil

Instructions
Crack the flesh of the olives with a rolling pin, or by hitting each
one individually with a hammer. Rinse with cold water. Place them in a
stoneware, earthenware, glass, or porcelain jar and cover with cold
water. Weight them with a piece of wood or a plastic bag filled with
water (to keep the olives submerged) and keep them in a dark, cool
place for ten days, changing the water every day.

Boil the water and dissolve the salt in it. Empty the liquid from the
jar in which the olives have been soaking; rinse the olives in cold
water and cover the olives with the salt brine. Mix in the lemons,
oregano, vinegar, garlic, and cumin. Float enough olive oil on top to
cover the surface. Store in a cool place at least two weeks. To make a
more interesting mixture, add a few store-bought Kalamata olives.
Store in a cool, dark place. The olives keep quite well for at least
two months.

Credits-
From: The Feast of the Olive Maggie Blyth Klein (Aris Books)