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.
“OF OLIVES”
“You ought to chuse such as are large, pulpy, well preserv’d and tasted, and those that have been cultivated in hot Countries.
They create an Appetite, fortify the Stomach, dissolve and expell the viscous and gross Humours fix’d there, repress Reachings, and are a little nourishing.
They produce no ill Effects, unless they are us’d to excess.
They contain much Oil, Phlegm, and esseZntial Salt.
They agree in cold Weather with any Sort of Age and Constitution, provided they are good, and well preserv’d.”
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.
OLIVES
“OLIVES are the fruits of trees, which grow wild in the warmer parts of Europe; we have them in some of our gardens; but with us they will not ripen to any perfection.
There are three kinds, the Italian, Spanish, and French; we have them therefore of various sizes and flavors; some prefer one, and some the other.
The fine sallad oil, as has been before mentioned, is made from this fruit, for which purpose they are gathered ripe; but for pickling they are gathered when half-ripe, at the latter end of June: they are put into fresh water to soak for two days; after this they throw them into lime-water in which some pearl-ashes have been dissolved: they lie in this liquor six-and-thirty hours; then they are thrown into water which has had bay-salt dissolved in it: this is the last preparation, and they are sent over to us in this liquor: they are naturally as they grow on the tree very bitter, and therefore require all these preparations to bring them to their fine flavor. To some olives they add a small quantity of essence of spices, which is an oil drawn from cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander and sweet-fennel seed distilled together for that purpose: twelve drops are enough for a bushel of olives: some prefer them flavored with this essence, but others like them best plain.”
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.