The Kalamata olive is a large, dark brown olive with a smooth, meaty texture, named after the city of Kalamata in the southern Peloponnese, Greece. Often used as table olives, they are usually preserved in wine vinegar or olive oil.
Spices and flavorings can be added to the brine – for example, the delicious Kalamata olives owe their winey flavor to the addition of red wine vinegar to their brine.
Kalamata olives in the raw form are bitter and would not be eaten until they are soaked in brine. This process creates a fermentation process that can take up to a few months. At the end of the brining process, they are complete with their rich, meaty flavor.
The prepared olives are soaked in water and the water is changed daily over a week or more, depending on the olive style and the desired level of bitterness. After curing, the olives are placed in a finish brine, which is a vinegar-salt solution that adds the characteristic flavors.
Named for the city in Greece where they were first grown, kalamata olives — like all olives — come from the olive tree and must be cured in a specific way before they can be eaten. Kalamata olives, in particular, only grow in the Peloponnese Peninsula in Greece.
Olive brine — or olive juice — is simply a mixture of salt, vinegar and water but as olives marinate, the liquid takes on a fantastically rich and delicious olive flavor. That salty goodness is a pungent boost that will deepen the flavor profile in your cooking.
Kalamata olives are rich in antioxidants, healthy fats and relatively low in carbs. Dare we say, they can be considered a 'superfood'!
Olives are generally not eaten as a fresh fruit; they are usually sold in jars or cans. To preserve the fruit until eaten, various chemicals are added to the olives. Green olives are usually packed in brine, which can be made with salt, acetic acid, or vinegar.
That's because the olives we enjoy are essentially pickles. Whether steeped in oil or a salt brine, olives only become truly edible after curing. The raw fruit is bursting with oleuropein, a bitter compound that must be removed prior to eating.
Brine-curing is easy, but takes a long time. You make a brine of 1/4 cup kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal) to 4 cups water, plus 1/2 cup of vinegar: white wine, cider or simple white vinegar. Submerge the olives in this brine and top with cheesecloth or something else to keep them underwater.
While its slimy, ghastly appearance is reminiscent of mold, this white residue is actually quite harmless. In fact, it's natural and even beneficial to your gut health since it's a lactobacillus probiotic bacteria that forms in fermentation between the brine and oxygen, per Healthline.
Mid October till mid January is the time when kalamon olives are harvested and collected to make olive oil and olives cured in brine. Early in October they are green but as they ripen on the tree they become darker and darker until they become black.
When olives are brought in fresh they are treated with a solution of lye and fresh water in order to de-bitter the olives more rapidly. The olives are then washed completely before they begin the curing process in a natural brine. Because the olives have been washed, the lye does not need to be listed as an ingredient.
Kalamata olives are known for their almond-like shape and dark purple skin. The trees on which they grow have leaves that are much larger than the silvery spindles of most olive trees. The Kalamata olives are kept on the trees well longer than most other olives.
According to DeLallo Foods, a food supplier specializing in Italian goods, olives undergo a curing, or fermentation, period to diminish the presence of oleuropein. There are a few main ways to achieve this effect: natural brine, lye, and salt- or air-curing.
The only difference is that the jarred olives will keep longer and they're usually more cost effective too.
Olives, like many other kinds of produce such as potatoes and sour cherries, just aren't something that you eat raw. Unprocessed, straight off the tree, they are bitter, very bitter, and the green ones even more so than ones which have fully ripened to black.
For example, olives that are being processed as Green olives will be picked when they have reached full size but are still green. Olives that are left on the tree longer will grow darker or more purple in color, such as the Kalamata.
Ans. Though olives are perfectly fine to consume straight from the jar, we recommend that you rinse them under cool water before serving. This removes most of the brine and sodium that coat the olive and can take away from the actual flavor. If you are watching your sodium intake rinsing is a must.
Vinegar and oil
Add 250ml of white wine vinegar for every 1L of brine and continue as above. Once cured, store the olives in the brine or drain and completely cover in extra-virgin olive oil, to which you can add flavourings such as dried oregano, chilli or fennel seeds.
Olives contain oleuropein in large amounts, which can lower blood sugar by stimulating the pancreas to secrete insulin. Insulin works to maintain normal blood sugar levels by promoting sugar uptake by the cells, which preserves the internal balance of the body. Insulin is a critical regulatory factor in diabetes.
Because they're a wonderfully tasty snack or mealtime ingredient that's also a good-for-you indulgence. In fact, olives pack such a healthy punch that working more of them into your diet is one of those no-brainer health-boosters nobody should miss out on.
Kalamata olives extremely nutritious, reduce bad cholesterol
One of the most significant findings of the study was that after the participants included Kalamata olives in their healthy diets, levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) decreased while levels of good cholesterol, or HDL, increased significantly.