Pickles and preserves
These basket-cured olives are made by dry-salting fully blackened Gemlik olives in a perforated basket without soaking them in water. The salt draws out their bitter liquid; the olives wrinkle and develop dense, oily flesh with a gently bitter flavor. They are drier and more concentrated than brined olives and are served for breakfast with olive oil and thyme.
Spread the olives on a large tray and discard any that are bruised, punctured, or worm-damaged. Wash them in cold water and dry them completely on a clean cloth.
Toss the olives with the salt in a large bowl, then transfer them to a perforated basket or a plastic container with holes in the bottom. Place a bowl underneath to catch the bitter liquid draining from the olives, and cover with cheesecloth.
Each day, hold the basket with both hands and shake it to turn the olives over. Discard the dark, bitter liquid collected in the bowl underneath. This takes 2 minutes a day and continues until the olives are ready; add a handful of salt as the salt dissolves and diminishes.
Shake excess salt off the cured olives by hand. Pack them into a jar sterilized in boiling water for 10 minutes. Add the olive oil and thyme, shake the jar, wipe the rim, seal, and refrigerate.
The olives cure in salt for 3–5 weeks; this waiting time is not included in the recipe time. Taste one washed olive every few days to check the bitterness: they are ready when the sharp bitterness is gone, leaving a salty, gently bitter taste, and the flesh wrinkles and separates easily from the pit. Store in a jar covered with olive oil in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.
No one has commented on this recipe yet. Write the first comment.
Recipes tried by those who liked this one, fitting the same table.
Suggestions, complaints or questions — we read them all.
Your message has been saved. Our team will read it; if you left an email address, we will reply there when needed.