Green and Black Olives

[jevs]

I’ve never seen olives in a can. Ever. We buy both by the jar, love them.

 

[tvguy]

I’ve never seen olives in a can. Ever. We buy both by the jar, love them.

 

[MomofKatie]

I haven't bought either kind in a jar or can- olives are horrible!!

 

[bcla]

If you are getting good black olives, like kalamata olives, as opposed to those flavorless olives they put on most pizzas they do come in a jar.

They're not exactly black though.

There's a place near where I live that has this great kalamata olive bread. The business mostly sells wholesale pasta to restaurants, but they also have this olive bread delivered to local businesses and sold at farmers markets. I remember when they had a previous location that they lost because the landlord wouldn't renew. I'd get it fresh out of the oven. As in so hot it could actually burn you skin if you grabbed it from the basket.

 

[bcla]

Here's the history if you're interested. Short answer is that California black olives are picked green (unripe) and artificially turned black by curing. So they're not really ripe, even though they call it that.

https://www.marketplace.org/2014/05...y-green-olives-come-jars-black-ones-come-cans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freda_Ehmann

But wait, there's more:

http://calolive.org/our-story/how-olives-are-made/
The method of processing California Ripe Olives was invented in the late 1800s by a housewife named Freda Ehmann and that same recipe is followed today. It is a multi-day process that starts by putting the olives into a lye curing solution to leach the natural bitterness out. This is followed by a series of cold-water rinses, which remove every trace of curing solution. Throughout the multi-day curing process, pure air is constantly bubbled through the olives. This air is what creates the natural, rich dark color of California Black Ripe Olives. Green Ripe Olives go through a nearly identical curing process. However, their tanks are not injected with air, allowing them to retain their green color. At the very end, a trace of organic iron salt (ferrous gluconate) is sometimes added, which acts as a color fixer so the olives will maintain their rich black color after the cans are stored.
​

So basically they use lye to essentially destroy most of the flavor in the olive. And you can get green ones too, like you'd see in a martini.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I like both kinds, and the science lessons are really interesting!

 

[usnuzuloose]

I love all olives. No matter how they are packed.

 

[Buckeye218]

I don't know what the question is, but YESSS!!!!

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Admittedly our household is snobbish about olives and we mostly buy them loose in oil, from the various Italian grocery stores in our area...

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

I've never met an olive I didn't like! Castlevetrano are one of my favorite varieties.

Same here, as long as someone didn't defile the olive by stuffing something disgusting into it like cheese or an anchovy. (Pimentos ok)

 

[tvguy]

Same here, as long as someone didn't defile the olive by stuffing something disgusting into it like cheese or an anchovy. (Pimentos ok)

Oh lord........olives stuffed with blue cheese or a clove of garlic ARE TO DIE FOR!

 

[L&Lfan]

I love olives stuffed with blue cheese or gorgonzola in my martinis and Bloody Marys. They used to have a truffle olive martini in the Disney lounges a few years back that was my go to libation after a long park day. I'd have 1 or 4 at the Belle Vue, then off to bed...

 

[willowsnn3]

Oh lord........olives stuffed with blue cheese or a clove of garlic ARE TO DIE FOR!

The olives on the salad bar at Cape May dinner buffet ARE TO DIE FOR! I dream about those things. Heard they are marinated in wine.

 

[mjkacmom]

I love olives, I get them from the olive bar at my grocery store (although there are tons of canned and jarred variety in the vinegar/oil aisle).

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I like plain old canned black olives the best... The small/medium ones though... If they’re too big they’re squishy.

 

[low-key]

I don't know, but they both should end up in the garbage disposal

 

[bcla]

Again - "California ripe black olives" have extremely mild flavor by design. Not really wrong with it. I think they're fine on a pizza or a salad where it won't overpower it. They're not well suited for eating by themselves though.