Mediterranean Cooking from the Garden with Linda Dalal Sawaya—curing olives...olive curing
misson and picholine olives (left) Douma, Lebanon olive orchard © linda dalal sawaya 2015
The beauty of the olive tree, revered for centuries besides providing wealth of oil and fruit, has long been used as a symbol for peace. From ancient Greek and Roman coins, to symbolism in Christianity, to its use on the United Nations seal and the Great Seal of the United States, the olive branch often occurring with a dove are a universal symbol of peace. Additionally symbolizing immortality, fertility, fruitfulness, victory, and virtue, the olive is impressive in it’s appeal. It is considered the Tree of Life, as I’ve illustrated in this poster for Friends of Sabeel North America, a Christian Palestinian group in their quest for peace in Palestine/Israel—for “The Healing of the Nations”. Copies of this poster are available from Friends of Sabeel and online donations are accepted to further their peace work in the region.
Tree of Life © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Throughout Mediterranean lands, where the olive is said to have originated in Syria, geometrically spaced trees in beautifully terraced gardens characterize the region, connoting sunshine, sea, and a temperate climate. The name for olive and olive tree in Arabic is zeitoun.
Douma, Lebanon home with solar panels and olive orchard © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Douma, Lebanon olive orchard © linda dalal sawaya 2015
historic ancient olive tree just before arriving to Douma at Beit Chlela, Lebanon © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Since my parents immigrated from Douma, a Lebanese mountain village profuse with olive trees, olive mills, and a love of the fruits of this species, which presents itself in practically every dish on the table from breakfast through dinner, they naturally planted an olive tree in our Los Angeles front garden as a reminder of home. Annually, the olives it produced were cured by my mother and grandmother, and graced our table in an ever-present bowl alongside homemade cheese, yogurt, and Arabic bread.
On my trip to Lebanon last year, I was blessed to be invited to homes of many generous relatives who were all fabulous cooks. In this Sawaya family lunch (ghadda) pictured below, olive oil occurs in every dish on the table: the french fries are fried in pure local olive oil from the family orchard; the onions on the mjaddrah are carmelized in olive oil; the mjaddrah is cooked in olive oil; the shourba adas ou rishta (lentil noodle soup) is cooked with olive oil; and the salata is dressed with garlic, lemon, and olive oil. This is the supremely healthy Mediterranean diet.
fabulous Lebanese lunch at Douma Sawaya family home—olive oil abundant © linda dalal sawaya 2015
California and even Oregon are now consummate growers of olives, as more and more Americans have become aware of the healthful qualities of this oil and fruit. The olive is a drupe, along with pistachio nuts, coffee beans, dates, coconuts, cherries, nectarines, apricots, and walnuts.
The leaves of the tree as well as the fruit and its oil have beneficial health properties. Drinking organic olive leaf tea is said to have the following benefits: inhibition and prevention of cancer, building bone, anti-viral and anti-bacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, lowering blood pressure, fighting cholesterol, and strengthening the immune system. Olive oil is said to protect against cancer, alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and high blood pressure. This fall I took an online herbal class with a knowledgeable, young Lebanese herbalist in California, Layla Feghali, where I learned much about zeitoun and it’s healing properties.
my home-cured mission olives © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Sadly there are two new pests for the olive tree originating in Europe and at least one of them has begun showing up in California and Oregon. The olive fly is new to California since approximately 1998. I had never seen or heard of this fly until recently over many years of picking olives in Southern and Northern California to cure for home eating. This fall, some of the green olives I acquired for curing had olive fly larva, which caused me to compost the entire gallon. My experience has been with black olives which are ripe, rather than green, which are unripe and require cutting each olive with a knife and is rather labor intensive. So instead of that, I pounded them with a wooden mallet and salted them. At the end of two weeks, the olives began to shrivel, and not look so great. In the salt under the olives, I found an olive fly larva that was alive, with a few dead ones. I could not trust that there were not more, and happily my black olives arrived in the mail. So into the compost they went!
curing green olives © linda dalal sawaya 2015
A few years ago I planted an olive tree in my Portland garden at an elevation of 750 above sea level. The tree only survived a couple of winters, so now I am a scavenger of olives. I obtained some green olives from an olive orchard and mill in Oregon’s expanding wine country not far from Portland, and had marginal success curing those. Oregon Olive Mill mill has a beautiful orchard, mill, and gift shop along with a winery. It’s definitely worth a visit and their gift shop is now selling Alice’s Kitchen!
Oregon Olive Mill © linda dalal sawaya 2015
The other serious problem for olives is occuring in southern Italy: it’s a rampant disease threatening Italian olive orchards that have been around for generations—an infection of the xylella bacteria that is killing many trees, and wiping out orchards receiving a lot of attention, none too soon, this past year. We must hope for a cure to this soon, as the implications for Italian olive growers and consumers world-wide is critical.
Lucky for me and my friends, I purchased a large box of black mission olives from a grower near Chico, California just prior to the end of their season. Chaffin Family Orchards shipped me a beautiful box of olives via priority mail. They arrived in great condition!
fresh black ripe olives arrive from California © linda dalal sawaya 2015
These I cured in the manner described in Alice’s Kitchen, just as my mother had instructed: soaking the olives in fresh water for approximately 10 days, using purified water from my Multipure filter, and changing the water every day. The size of the olive determines the length of time required for this.
On the same day, a lovely box of picholine olives arrived from a new Lebanese friend who has an olive orchard in Santa Cruz, California called Belle Farms. The farm sells olive oil and olive oil soaps online and at farmers markets. Marguerite was kind enough to send me a box of olives from her orchard. This French variety are rather tiny, and required less soaking time.
curing black olives © linda dalal sawaya 2015
A taste test determines when the olives are ready for the next step. Once the olives are not terribly bitter any longer, I give them a final rinsing and spread them onto several layers of cotton sheets on a drying tray and generously sprinkle them with sea salt. The tray is placed in a warm, dry, place and the salt draws out the bitterness and moisture during several days.
salt curing black olives © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Every day more sea salt is added and I use my hands to mix them up and make sure they’re lightly coated in salt. On the fourth day, it’s time to taste an olive and decide if the bitterness is minimal enough to accept, and put them into sterile jars with a water and salt brine. With time, the olives become less and less bitter and are more and more delicious. First, the olives are placed into a big jar with the addition of enough cold pressed virgin olive oil to coat them.
black olives ready to brine © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Filtered water is added along with the addition of 3 T. of salt per gallon, and some lemon juice or citric acid. The olives must be covered with ½ inch of olive oil at the top of the jar to prevent mold. They can keep in this way up to a year.
brining and salting black olives © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Although I use woven reed flat drying baskets to salt cure my olives in the damp Pacific Northwest where I live, I vividly remember the deep enamel pots my mother and grandmother used in our warm, dry Los Angeles climate to salt cure the zeitune. In such a desert-like climate, they ca be cured in a deep pot, pouring off the water drawn out by the salt. Either way you do this next year, mabrouk to your success!
zeitoun for the table © linda dalal sawaya 2015
I wish you and yours many blessings, peace, love, and happy cooking in the New Year!
—Linda Dalal Sawaya is a Portland artist, cook, Master Gardener, daughter of Lebanese immigrants, and author of Alice’s Kitchen: Traditional Lebanese Cooking
Remember, as my mother Alice said, “If you make it with love, it will be delicious!”
all photos and story © linda dalal sawaya 2015