Pickled Olives
Ingredients
Directions
Remove the bitterness
In a large container, combine 100 pounds of olives with 2 cans of lye and cover with water.
Twice a day, draw off the water from the bottom and pour it back in from the top.
After four days, remove the water and replace it with fresh water, using half the amount of lye.
Let it sit for three days or until the bitterness is gone.
Brine and store
Remove the lye and cover the olives with water mixed with 5 lbs of coarse sea salt.
Change this water at least once a day until all the lye is removed.
Finally, cover the olives with strong brine and let them sit.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Olives
- The fruit being treated; its texture and flavor develop as the bitterness is removed.
- Lye
- Breaks down the olives' bitter compounds so they become edible.
- Coarse sea salt
- Forms the brine that seasons the olives and helps preserve them.
The step that matters
Removing all the lye. Lye is caustic, and any left in the olives will leave a harsh, soapy taste and can be harmful. Changing the water daily until it is fully removed protects both flavor and safety before the olives are brined.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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