This was somewhat improved by fermenting the olives in brine, which was marginally quicker, but the Romans found that supplementing the brine with lye from wood ashes (sodium hydroxide) cut the time required for producing an edible olive from months to hours.
When picked, green olives are bitter and have to be cured before human consumption, with pickling in brine the most common method42,43. During debittering, in local traditional societies, olives are soaked in salt water that is changed daily for up to ten days.
Select the best and put them in brine. The next day remove them and rinsing them carefully set them in place in a vessel, sprinkle with salt and satury and immerse in vinegar.” To keep olives, fresh from the tree, in a manner enabling you to make oil from them any time you desire just place them [in brine].
Roman olive harvests took place between October and December. Once collected, the olives were taken to a mill and turned into oil. Extractors would place the olives in a trapetum, which was a large basin carved into stone.
Olive oil was also a major export of Mycenaean Greece (c. 1450–1150 BC). Scholars believe the ancient olive oil was produced by a process where olives were placed in woven mats and squeezed, with the oil collected in vats.
The olives were smashed lightly with a wooden tool in order to break their flesh. They were then soaked in warm water, which helped make them less bitter, then sealed in clay jugs with layers of salt and water. Sometimes they were seasoned with a little wild fennel and then left for several months to cure.
Gathering Olives
Then, as now, olives were collected by beating the tree's branches. The act of beating an olive tree was so common and relatable that it was used as a poetic symbol in the Book of Isaiah.
The oil produced from olive trees in Spain's Castellón Province was once consumed by Roman soldiers. In Castellón Province, Spain, you'll see evidence of Roman life everywhere.
Raw olives were most likely eaten mixed with wine or vinegar for maximum nutrition as well.
Olive oil was also a big hit. It made up at least 12% of calories consumed at Herculaneum, and perhaps much more. The find supports historical sources indicating the average Roman consumed 20 liters of oil each year, and that the oil was one of the most significant fat sources in the Roman diet.
But no matter where they're grown, unless they're being harvested and pressed for oil, olives need some sort of cure before you can pop one in your mouth. Each variety has its favorite cure, and here's how it's done.
Dry Curing
Dry-cured olives are rubbed with salt and air-dried for a month to remove moisture and bitterness. The olives are then placed in olive oil to take off excess salt and soften.
In the Roman Empire, olive oil was an important commercial commodity, while the olive tree was a cultural and religious symbol. Legend has it that the heroic founders of Rome, brothers Romulus and Remus, were born in the shade of an olive tree before famously being nurtured by a she-wolf.
Harvested olives must be “cured” to remove the bitterness in order to make them palatable. The most common curing processes use brine, dry salt, water, or lye treatments. During these curing processes the water-soluble oleuropein compound is leached out of the olive flesh.
I use a vinegar brine, at a ratio of 2:5:20 salt, vinegar, water. For example, 40g salt, 100g vinegar and 400g water makes about half a litre of vinegar/salt brine. Add in any other flavourings you like such as lemon, lime, garlic, oregano, rosemary, chilli. Cover the olives with the vinegar brine and flavourings.
In the Mediterranean region, humans have relied on olives as a source of food, fuel, and ingredients for medicine and cosmetics since the Neolithic period.
Olives are inedible before they are cured. Many people don't know that olives are actually inedible when they are first picked. Raw olives straight from the tree contain oleuropein, an extremely bitter compound that makes olives completely unpalatable. This is why, for many years, olives weren't eaten at all!
As you'll learn below, most varieties of olives were cultivated since ancient times in Greece, and are native to the country. The fossilized remains of olive brunches have been found in Kaldera (in Santorini island), with their origins traced back 60,000 years ago.
The Romans had no aubergines, peppers, courgettes, green beans, or tomatoes, staples of modern Italian cooking. Fruit was also grown or harvested from wild trees and often preserved for out-of-season eating.
Ancient Rome
In richer patrician households, olive oil was often scented like a perfume, which would leave behind a sweet smell after it was gone. Like now, they would even pour some olive oil into their private baths to relax in them, to soften their skin and relax with some good aromatherapy.
The ancient Romans' diet was mainly based on cereals, vegetables, legumes and cheese, while meat and fish were mainly consumed by rich people.
Muadh Ibn Jabal (Allah Be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "The best miswak [1] is that of the olive tree as it is a blessed tree. It is my miswak and that used by Prophets before me”. Allah swears by the olive and mentions it seven times in the Qur'an.
The pressing of olives was a 3-part process. The 1st pressing produced olive oil that would be consecrated for 'holy' use such as keeping the Menorah in the Holy Place in the Temple burning. The 2nd pressing would be utilized for food. The 3rd pressing would then be used for heating purposes.
The trees are stripped at night because cool temperatures help to preserve the olives' aromatic compounds. Local governments and local, national and international communities urgently need to assess the impact of the practice and take steps to end it.