After patiently tending to your Arbequina olive tree and harvesting its fruit, it’s time for the magic – transforming those bitter raw olives into tasty treats you can actually eat! Curing olives at home may sound intimidating, but it’s quite doable with basic kitchen supplies and a little time. In this guide, we’ll cover a couple of popular curing methods for Arbequina olives (a simple brine cure and a dry salt cure), and then share some ideas and recipes for enjoying your cured olives, from flavorful marinades to a classic olive tapenade spread. Let’s turn your homegrown olives into something delicious!
Why Olives Need Curing
Straight off the tree, olives are extremely bitter due to a compound called oleuropein. Curing is the process that removes or reduces that bitterness and preserves the olives. Depending on the method, it can also infuse other flavors. Arbequina olives, being small, actually cure relatively faster than larger olives – so that’s great for the impatient cook!
There are many ways to cure olives – water curing, brine curing, lye curing, dry salt curing, etc. We’ll focus on two beginner-friendly methods:
- Brine Cure (Saltwater soak) – This is very popular and retains a nice firm texture.
- Dry Salt Cure – Great for fully ripe olives to create intense, wrinkled olives (often enjoyed in olive oil).
You can choose one or do some of each if you have both green and black olives from your harvest.
Note: Always use food-grade materials (non-reactive containers like glass, ceramic, or food-grade plastic) for curing since you’ll have salt and acid involved. Cleanliness is important to prevent bad bacteria – wash containers and utensils well.
Brine Curing Arbequina Olives (Basic Brine Method)
This method works for both green and black olives, though the timing will differ (green takes longer).
What You’ll Need:
- Fresh olives (green or black or mixed – ideally sort by color/ripeness for even curing).
- Pickling salt or sea salt (non-iodized; iodine can darken olives).
- Water (non-chlorinated best; if using tap water, let it sit overnight to let chlorine dissipate or use filtered water).
- A large jar or crock to hold the olives and brine.
- Optional: a weight to keep olives submerged (small ceramic dish, or a zip-top bag filled with water/salt brine).
Step 1: Rinse and Soak (optional pre-soak): After harvesting, rinse the olives in cool water to remove dirt. Some folks then soak the olives in plain water for 2-3 days before brining, changing the water daily. This can kickstart the debittering. It’s optional – you can also go straight to brine. For a mild olive like Arbequina, you might skip to brining directly.
Step 2: Prepare Brine: A common brine strength to start with is 10% salt by weight. For example, dissolve 100 grams of salt per 1 liter of water (or about 6 tablespoons of salt per 1/2 gallon of water). This makes a fairly salty brine that will draw out bitterness and help ferment the olives a bit. You might need enough brine to fully cover your olives – mix a volume appropriate for your container.
Step 3: Jar Up the Olives: Place your olives in the jar/crock. You can fill pretty full, but leave some space at top. Pour the brine over the olives to cover them completely. Olives tend to float – you need to keep them submerged to avoid spoilage. Use a weight if necessary (e.g., a smaller lid or dish that fits inside the jar, or a brine-filled plastic bag gently inserted on top of olives – the bag conforms and presses them down).
Step 4: Fermentation and Brining Period: Cover the container loosely (gas needs to escape during fermentation). A piece of cheesecloth or an airlock lid if you have one for fermenting veggies works, or just a loose lid. Now, put the jar in a cool, dark place (like a pantry or basement). Over the next days and weeks, beneficial lactobacillus bacteria will naturally ferment the sugars in the olives, producing lactic acid – this is good, it preserves and flavors the olives. You might see some cloudiness in the brine or white sediment – that’s normal from fermentation and yeast. If you see mold on the surface (fuzzy, not just white film), it means some olives were exposed to air – skim it off, remove any problematic floating olives, add more brine to submerge, and next time ensure full coverage. A thin white film (kahm yeast) can appear – it’s generally harmless, just wipe it away.
Let the olives soak in this brine for at least 3-4 weeks before first taste testing. Green olives will likely need 6-8 weeks or more. Black, ripe olives might be palatable after 3-4 weeks because they have less bitterness to start. It’s a bit of trial; each olive variety and batch differs.
Step 5: Check and Change Brine: Some recommend changing the brine after a certain period (like after the first week, replace with fresh brine, maybe slightly less salty like 5-8%). This can help remove bitterness faster and keep flavors clean. If you do, always use brine, not plain water, or you’ll shock the olives. For simplicity, you can leave them in the same brine throughout – just know they might be saltier at the end and require a rinse or soak to reduce salt later.
Step 6: Tasting: After about a month (for black) or two (for green), take an olive out, rinse it, and taste. If it’s still very bitter, they need more time. If it’s pleasantly only slightly bitter or tangy and salted, they’re ready for the next stage. Home-cured olives often retain a little bitterness which many people find pleasant (it’s part of their flavor). But it shouldn’t be overwhelmingly bitter.
Step 7: Final Flavor Brine/Storage: Once the olives have lost enough bitterness, you can move them to a fresh container with a finishing brine. This brine can be less salty, say 5% (50g salt per liter, or about 3 Tbsp per quart). Often, vinegar is added to this final brine for flavor and preservation – for example, a common recipe is 1 part white wine vinegar to 10 parts water with 5% salt. You can also add spices: crushed garlic, lemon slices, bay leaves, chili peppers, oregano, rosemary – get creative. Arbequina olives have a mild, buttery flavor that pairs well with herbs and citrus.
Transfer the olives to this new brine and keep refrigerated (or in a cool spot). They will continue to slowly pickle and take on the added flavors. They are basically ready to eat now, but a week in the final brine will deepen their taste.
Properly brined and stored in salt/vinegar, olives can last many months (in the fridge, easily 6-12 months). Always keep them submerged to prevent any spoilage.
Quick Marinated Olives (for already cured olives)
If you have store-bought plain olives or after you’ve cured yours, you might want to make a quick marinade for serving. Here’s a simple recipe for Mediterranean Marinated Arbequina Olives:
- 2 cups cured Arbequina olives (brined, rinsed).
- 2-3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced.
- Strips of lemon or orange zest (a few pieces).
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (or use some fresh sprigs of rosemary or thyme).
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes (for a bit of heat, optional).
- A few cracks of black pepper.
- Enough extra virgin olive oil to cover (about 1/2 cup or more).
Mix everything in a jar and pour olive oil to cover the olives. Let marinate at least overnight (at room temp or in fridge; bring to room temp to serve for best flavor). These olives will be richly flavored and the oil will also become a yummy garlic-herb infused oil you can use for dressings or dipping bread.
You can store marinated olives in the fridge for several weeks. Ensure no water is in the mix (it can cause spoilage) – using fully cured, relatively dry-out-of-brine olives is key before adding oil.
Salt-Curing Ripe Olives (Oil-Cured Style)
If you have a bunch of fully ripe black Arbequinas and want an intense, wrinkly olive (often called oil-cured olives, though the curing is actually done with salt), here’s how:
What You Need:
- Black, fully ripe olives.
- Coarse sea salt (a lot of it).
- A breathable container (wooden box, basket, burlap sack, or large colander all have been used traditionally).
Step 1: Sort and rinse olives. Ensure they are all ripe (if some are not, they won’t cure evenly).
Step 2: Pack olives in layers with salt. For example, in a basket or colander, put a layer of salt, a layer of olives (maybe 1 olive deep), then another layer of salt to cover, then olives, etc., ending with salt covering all olives. The container should allow liquid to drain because olives will shed bitter juice.
Step 3: Place the container somewhere it can drain (if using a colander or basket, set it in a sink or over a tray). Over days, the salt will draw out moisture. Once a day (or every few days), give the olives a gentle stir or shake to expose different sides to salt and pour off any liquid that collected.
Step 4: Cure time might be about 3-4 weeks. The olives will gradually wrinkle and shrink as they lose moisture. Taste test after a couple weeks – when they are no longer bitter (just salty and intense), they’re done.
Step 5: Rinse and store. When cured, you have very salty, wrinkled olives. Brush off the excess salt (you can even rinse them quickly and then dry them). Then typically they are stored in olive oil to keep them pliable and flavorful. Put them in a jar and cover with olive oil. You can add herbs or garlic to this oil too. These don’t need refrigeration if fully salt-cured and kept in oil, but they’ll last longer in the fridge.
Salt-cured olives are robust, somewhat chewy, and great chopped up in recipes or marinated further with spices. They have a concentrated olive flavor.
Olive Tapenade Recipe
One of the classic things to do with cured olives is make Tapenade, a Provencal olive paste. Here’s a simple recipe that works wonderfully with Arbequina olives:
- 1 cup pitted cured olives (Arbequinas lend a fruity flavor).
- 1-2 cloves garlic.
- 2 tablespoons capers (rinsed).
- 2-3 anchovy fillets (optional but traditional; adds umami).
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley or a few fresh basil leaves (optional for freshness).
- Juice of half a lemon (about 1-2 tablespoons).
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil.
- Fresh black pepper to taste.
Combine olives, garlic, capers, anchovies, and herbs in a food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped. Add lemon juice and olive oil, then blend to a somewhat smooth paste (some texture is fine). If too thick, add a bit more oil. Taste – depending on olive saltiness, you may not need added salt (anchovies and capers add salt too). Add pepper and perhaps a tiny pinch of salt if needed.
Tapenade is fantastic spread on crusty bread or crackers, used as a dip for veggies, or as a condiment for grilled chicken or fish. It keeps about a week in the fridge (cover to avoid it drying; a thin layer of olive oil on top helps preserve it).
Other Uses and Recipes:
- Pasta and Salads: Toss your cured Arbequina olives (whole or chopped) into pasta dishes, Greek salads (they work well instead of or alongside kalamata olives), or grain salads. Their mild flavor and small size are really versatile.
- Roasted Olives: Yes, you can roast olives! Take some brined olives, toss with a bit of olive oil, herbs, and maybe cherry tomatoes, and roast in the oven at 400°F for about 15-20 minutes until the tomatoes blister. The olives get warm and extra savory – a lovely appetizer with bread and cheese.
- Bread or Focaccia: Knead chopped olives into bread dough or press them into focaccia before baking for an olive-studded bread.
- Infused Olive Oil: If you have a lot of cured olives in oil, that oil itself can be used to drizzle on dishes for a subtle olive flavor.
- Cocktails: Don’t forget martinis! Arbequina olives can make a fine garnish for a martini or other cocktails that call for olives.
Finally, be sure to share and enjoy your home-cured olives with friends – there’s nothing quite like presenting a bowl of olives and saying “I grew and cured these myself.” It’s a conversation starter and a delicious payoff for your efforts.
Enjoy experimenting with flavors and recipes – olive curing is both an art and a science, and every batch can be a bit different. With Arbequinas, you have an olive that’s forgiving to cure and wonderful to eat. Bon appétit!