In the early preparation of olives in order to remove the bitterness, they were soaked in water, which was renewed from time to time, sometimes hot water being used. The olives, after draining, were then held in brine. The green olives as well as the mature and black were used.

The Romans exercised the greatest care in their preparation, and introduced refinements, by not only removing the bitterness, but by causing them to acquire various flavors through infusion in solutions containing aromatic substances.

One of their methods for the preparation of green olives consisted in adding roasted salt to the olives after a preliminary soaking in hot water, then covering them with grape must, boiled wine, or honey water, and to this solution were added fennel, mint, and lentiscus seed. Fennel was used as a tampon to keep the olives immersed. A simpler method was to use vinegar with the brine. Sometimes the olives were beaten to facilitate the action, but this caused discoloration, which was avoided by making cuts in them. The brine was replaced by oil as a preserving liquid. Another method was to put the olives with the aromatics in the brine at the start, then they were removed, crushed lightly, and put in a mixture of oil, vinegar, and honey, to which were added leek, celery, mint, and sometimes rue. The rue was supposed to be most efficacious in bringing out the natural flavor, and was most prized. The mature olives were first put in brine for 30 to 40 days, then put in the preserving liquid with the aromatics. Olives prepared in the ways indicated were known as “Colymbades”.

A form of conserve made by the ancients, and to which the name “Epityrum” was given, consisted in taking green, mature, or black fruit, though, as in the former, the green were preferred, and drying them in the shade, after which they were put in baskets, and crushed in a press. The crushed fruit was then put in vessels, sprinkled with salt, and had mixed with it lentiscus seed and minced leaves of fennel and rue, and was finally covered with oil.

Many recipes have been left by the ancients, the preparations varying as to time, strength of solutions, mixtures of spices, etc. To the recipes of Palladius (1518-1580) is owed the knowledge that the Romans were cognizant of and used lye solutions, though this is supposed to be a modern practise. In this particular recipe sifted ashes are indicated as one of the ingredients, and it is supposed that this recipe, changed in detail, furnished the basis for present day methods. The use of wood ashes was introduced into France by an Italian refugee named Picholini, who settled in Provence, devoting himself to the preparation and sale of preserved olives. The olives preserved according to his process are called “olives a la Picholine”. Previous to his time the preparation in southern France consisted of crushing the olives lightly, immersing in clear water, which was renewed each day for about nine days, then preserving in brine. This latter process is still employed for the olives in which appearance is not an asset. For the more carefully prepared ones, the method was to pick by hand when the olives had attained full development, then they were carefully sorted, and immersed in lye, the duration in the lye depending on the size of the fruit, and the concentration of the lye. They were removed from the lye when the flesh was penetrated to, and readily detached from, the stone.

There are many variations of the lye treatment. In the olive countries the preparation is done in the homes as well as in factories, and it is in the homes, naturally, that the greatest variations occur. Lime is often used with the ashes, one formula consisting of the olives mixed with a paste of wood ashes and freshly slaked lime. In the ordinary methods, however, a solution is made of the sifted ashes and lime, sometimes sodium carbonate taking the place of the ashes. In the ordinary factory preparations both ashes and lime are omitted, and either caustic soda or potash used. When removed from the lye, the olives are put in clear water, changed night and morning for three or four days, then put in brine.

The early accounts of olive preparation show quite conclusively that great variation in strength of the caustic solution was inevitable, but fortunately the tendency to err was on the weaker side. It was not until the modern introduction of caustic preparations of soda and potash that standardization of the process was possible. Even with this possibility the practise remains largely empirical and is based upon the experience of the operator. Some still adhere to the use of weak solutions, taking considerable time to act upon the olive, whereas others use relatively strong solutions so as to hasten the process.

The brine used has been subject to quite as marked variation as the lye. A weak brine has been used in order to encourage the natural fermentation of the fruit, which corresponds to the fermentation in our cucumber pickles. The other extreme is represented by the use of a very strong brine which practically inhibited all fermentative change and this same brine was filtered and used a succeeding season. Every gradation between these extremes has been in common use. As might be expected, more or less of the fruit softened and underwent changes which at present would be regarded as decomposition or rotting rather than as clean, normal fermentation. The esthetic side of olive preparation has not always been of the highest order, though, as in the case of many other foods, very great improvement has been wrought in recent years.

Even with the later methods the use of aromatic substances has not been abandoned, and many of these are used, such as bay leaves, cloves, coriander, cumin, mint, orange skin, fennel, etc., the amounts and combinations varying greatly. Sometimes the aromatics are first extracted, the solution concentrated, and a quantity of this solution added to the brine, or they are boiled in the brine at the start, then removed, and when the brine is cooled, it is ready for use.

In Spain the ripe olives are not treated ordinarily with lye, but by the slower process of soaking in water. The black olives, gathered late in the year, are cured in a salt brine to which black pepper is added. After the bitterness is removed, they are preserved in oil.

A process used at present for ripe olives which is very simple but effective, is to mix fine salt with them after they have been cleaned and sorted. They are stirred twice a day, and through the osmotic action of the salt, a dark-colored juice is exuded which contains, among other constituents, the substance causing the bitterness. To hasten the action the olives are pierced with a needle. The Spaniards vary this method by adding aromatics, as wild marjoram, thyme, fennel seed, anise seed, garlic, laurel leaves, etc., at the same time as the salt. The special spice mixtures are held as trade secrets by the manufacturers.

When the bitterness has been removed, the olives are washed, dried lightly, and placed in casks or jars until required. Before being served the olives are soaked in oil.

One style of Greek packing of ripe olives is of special excellence. Sour wine is added to the pickle to accentuate the flavor and the product is packed in oil. The olives are plump, tender, and brilliant, and possess a very rich flavor.

In parts of Southern Europe certain kinds of olives are left on the trees to become very ripe, and are then dried in the sun without any preparation. These are only used locally as they are lacking in the fine flavor of the prepared olive.

In the preparation of the olive, both green and ripe, during all these centuries, there had been no attempt at sterilization. The olive was preserved by partial drying, by the action of salt, and by its spontaneous fermentation in pickle in which certain desirable forms of organisms had the ascendency. With the good fruit thus prepared, there must have been considerable which was spoiled, and yet no illness is known to have resulted.

Though olives have figured so largely in the alimentation of southern Europe, the oil particularly being so important and general a food, the people of northern Europe have not esteemed either to an important extent. With the crude methods in vogue for transporting the oil, and the lack of understanding as to its nature, it is supposed that their apathetic attitude was due to its being received in poor condition.

In England also, though so close to the olive growing districts, the olive has not been used to any considerable extent, judging from its absence from menus and from their cookery. In examining old cookery books it was surprising to find no mention of olives. In Russel’s “Boke of Nurture” and Mrs. Napier’s “Noble Boke off Cookry” the manuscripts dating from the 15th century, there is no mention of olives, though there are condiments and spices from foreign countries used in sauces and other preparations. Neither is there any mention of olives in “The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Opened” written in the 17th century, though Digby had traveled much and lived on the continent. The earliest mention in 17 cookery books, published in the 17th and 18th centuries is the following, published in 1745, and which is really a translation of a French work by L. Lemery, physician to the King, and member of the Royal Academy. It is interesting in showing the many virtues attributed to olives.

Remarks

“Olives are oblong or oval and juicy Fruits, larger or smaller, according to the Country they grow in: Care must be taken to gather them before they are ripe, and then they have a harsh bitter Taste not to be endured, because their salts are clogg’d and swallow’d up by the earthy and gross Parts.

Olives are preserv’d with Water and Salt, and then they become pleasing to the Taste; the Reason is, because the Liquor of Brine causes a little Fermentation in the Olives, by the Help thereof the Salts free themselves by degrees of the earthy Parts that do retain them; and afterwards with more Lightness and Delicacy prick the nervous Fibres of the Tongue.

“The Brine produces another good Effect in the Olives; for by its saline Parts it stops up the Pores of this Fruit, and prevents the Air from ent’ring too much into it, and thereby cause a considerable Fermentation therein, which destroys the Fruit, and soon rots them.

Olives well preserv’d create an Appetite, by gently pricking the Sides of the Stomach, not only by their acid Salts, but also by those communicated to them by the Pickle. They also bind up and fortify the Stomach by their earthy Parts, which swallow up the over-abounding Moistures that relax the Fibres of that Part.

The Picholines are Olives cut in several Places, and then steep’d in Pickle; they are sooner in a Condition to be eaten than others, because that by the Help of the Incision made in them, the Brine or Pickle is sooner and more effectually communicated to their whole Substance.

Oil of Olives is much us’d in Ailments; it’s of a qualifying, mollifying, anodine, dissolving and detersive Nature, good for the Cholic and Bloody-flux, and is prepar’d in this Manner.

They get together in November or December, a great Quantity of full ripe Olives, and lay them by for a Time in some Corner of the House, where they are heated, and thereby become purified of their watry Moisture; then they grind them in a Mill, and put them into Rush or Palm Frails, plac’d on the Top of one another Pressways, and the first Oil that comes from them, is called Virgin’s Oil.

They sprinkle the Olives with warm water, and by pressing them a-new, and still the more, there comes a good Oil from them.

This done, they stir the Olives again, and sprinkle them with hot Water, from which, thus order’d, there proceeds another Oil full of Dregs, and not so good as the rest.

These Oils are easily separated from the Water, because they swim a top, but they find a Kind of Lees to the Bottom, which the Ancients called Amurca.

Those Olives of which you design to make Oil, must ripen ’till they are even rotten; and the Reason is, because the sulphurous Parts in them have had Time to disengage themselves from those gross Principles, which before fix’d them, which we know by the sweetish and oily Taste that then they had. They also let them ferment for some time before they press them, that so those sulphurous Parts may free themselves, and be more fully separated from the watry and saline Parts, with which they were united in the Fruits. Here it is to be observ’d that you cannot extract a Drop of Oil from green olives, but only a viscous Juice, because their oily Principles are very strictly united with their other Principles.

The Leaves of the Olive-Tree are astringent, and fit for to stop the Bleeding of the Nose, and Looseness.

There are certain wild Olive-Trees that grow near the Red-Sea, from which there sweats out a Gum that stops Blood, and cures Wounds.

The Olive-Tree in Latin called Olea, comes from the Greek Word elaia which also signifies the same Thing.”

A later work, “The Lady’s Assistant” published in 1778, gives a much better idea of how little they were used at that time in England.

At present the use of aromatic substances commercially is not large. It is contended that consumers cannot use flavored olives in sauces or other preparations so freely, as extraneous flavors are introduced which in some cases are undesirable, the unflavored olive permitting greater freedom in use.

For the preparation of the green olives “a la Sevillane,” the fruit is first treated with alkali, then washed in clear water, after which it is put into 2 or 3 per cent boiled brine, where after a time fermentation starts, which imparts a slight lactic acid taste to the fruit. It is then washed in water, graded for size, and put in barrels with a 5 or 6% salt, when they are ready for consumption.

The half ripe olives are put in a boiled brine of 12 to 15% for six days, after which they are washed in running water and then put in jars in a 6 to 8% brine with a bay leaf and a sprig of thyme and fennel. Olives prepared in this way are called “a la Provencale.” A variation on this method, called “a la Madrilene” is to put the olives in barrels, after the preliminary salting and washing, in 10% brine with red pimiento, pepper corns, laurel, thyme, and tomato purÉe.

The black olives are gathered at the time of the change in color, and put in water, renewed every 12 hours, until the bitterness has disappeared, which requires 40 to 50 days, sometimes even longer. They are then put into brine.

The large olive “La Tanche” after sorting and cleaning is put directly into a 10 to 15% brine in wooden casks or cement tanks which hold from 4,000 to 6,000 kilos. When the bitterness has been abstracted, they are ready for sale. The brine is decanted and held until the following year.

To prepare them so that they may be ready for sale sooner, the fruit is run over a roller provided with fine points which perforate the skin, after which the olives are put in layers and sprinkled generously with salt. They are stirred frequently, and when they “sweat,” they are put in barrels with pepper corns and bay leaves, or in jars with olive oil and condiments, or they may be put in jars without any addition as they are preserved by their own oil and the absorbed salt.

The methods of preparation cited are those used for olives consumed in foreign countries, very few thus prepared being imported, as they are known only to olive connoisseurs.

Imported Green Olives

Nearly all the green olives used in this country come from Spain and are generally known as “Queen olives.” In years of shortage a few come from Italy, Greece, and France. They are hand picked, cleaned, treated in the usual way with lye, and washed, but during this process care is exercised to prevent them being exposed to the air as it is desired to retain the green color. They are then graded for size and quality and placed in huge casks or “pipes” with sufficient brine to cover them. The “pipes” are exposed to the sun to favor the fermentation which requires six weeks or more, depending upon the temperature. During the fermentation, the olives change slowly from deep green to golden. The pipes hold from 160 to 180 gallons and are used for shipping the olives to this country. Ten per cent brine is used for filling the casks, but the brine weakens during the curing and is usually 7 or 7½% at the finish.

The Queen olives are hand graded for size on the basis of the number per kilo. The following grades are made:

They are also graded for quality, as: “prime” or “first quality,” “seconds,” and “Queen culls.” Only the first and second grade are sent to this country though all sizes are, but there is no designation by which the consumer may obtain a desired size. The term Queen olive may mean those having only 60 to the kilo or those with 220 to the kilo.

Some green olives are packed in tins and shipped to this country and a comparatively few are brought in bottles. The importers prefer to purchase the olives in bulk and pack according to their trade requirements, under the sanitary conditions imposed in this country rather than those found abroad. The olives are transferred from the pipes to bottles and either supplied with fresh brine or the brine from the pipe is carefully filtered and only such addition made as needed to make up the difference. The use of the original liquor gives a decidedly better flavor, though it is often sacrificed in order to get one which is perfectly clear.

The green olive is retailed almost wholly in glass, either in fancy hand packed packages or in pint and quart jars. Many attempts have been made to create a sale in tin containers, but without success as there are decided advantages in being able to see the size and quality. Seeing the fruit no doubt frequently suggests its use and purchase. A few olives are still retailed in bulk but they soon become covered with yeast and other organisms, and have an unattractive appearance.

The origin of the stuffed olive is of very recent date, but by whom originated is not quite clear. According to an authority[1] on Spanish olives, stuffed olives were unknown before 1893-4. It was in 1895 that SeÑor Picasa, the general manager of the Sevilla Packing Company, had seen olives stuffed with pimientos in Spain, and in the following year introduced them into the United States, the company packing them under the copyrighted name of “Pimola.” In 1897, a Spanish house packed pepper-stuffed olives, and later on other firms also, among the latter many American firms. As the pimiento is grown and prepared in Spain, and labor cheaper there than here, the industry has been practically transferred to that country.

[1.] H. C. Newcomb, former vice-consul to Spain.