How to prepare marinated olives at home

What a beautiful sunset today! On my midday walk with my dear Fusta, I met a man harvesting olives. He was an older gentleman, and it turns out that for many years he had been in charge of tending an estate with 80 olive trees! I couldn't resist asking how we should prepare them, so I'll leave here his tips for making cracked and seasoned olives, in brine, to enjoy in a few days.

- Aren't those olives still green?

- For what we want they're not, they're perfect.

- Well then please tell me how I should make them.

...

Wash the olives and bruise them or make a few longitudinal cuts with a knife.

Leave them covered in lukewarm water for 10 to 12 days, changing the water each day. Taste them; you should notice them sweet, you should see that they've lost their bitterness. If you still find them bitter, keep them in water for up to 20 or 25 days if necessary, changing the water daily.

When you notice they have lost their bitterness, wash them and put them in a jar or a tub.

Prepare the water for the brine. You should count approximately a handful of salt per kilo of olives, but you can do the egg test: take a wide pitcher full of water and put in a fresh egg. Add a few tablespoons of salt and gently stir the contents, stop stirring and observe if the egg floats or sinks back to the bottom. If it sinks to the bottom, it needs more salt; add more salt and repeat the operation until the egg floats — that will be the optimal salt point for the brine. Remove the egg.

Pour the salted water into the jar, tub, or jars where you placed the olives, covering them. Leave the olives in the brine for 3 days ideally. Wash the olives and now let's season them.

For the seasoning: I recommend thyme and orange peel, but some people add bay leaf, savory, rosemary, oregano, fennel, lemon, ñoras, onion, garlic (crushed), dried peppers, basil, carob leaves...

Set up the tub or in the jars in which you will put the seasoned olives. Apply a layer of thyme and place a layer of olives; then add more seasoning (more thyme, crushed garlic, orange peel...) and add another layer of olives... And so on until you reach the top of the jar. Pour salted water again until it reaches the top edge of the container (it can be in brine — the egg-floating point — or slightly reduced salt). Close the jars.

You now have your seasoned olives! Let them sit a few days so they absorb the flavor of the seasoning, and then you can enjoy them in salads or as a great snack.

Remember to use a wooden spoon! They say that if you use a steel one or others they soften or don't sit well.

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• To preserve your olives, you may find Luigi Bormioli jars, ideal for all kinds of preserves (and so many other things).
• The advice to use a wooden spoon for the olives is well known. If you want to follow it and use a wooden spoon to handle, pick up or serve the olives, I recommend the Bérard olive spoon, which also has holes designed to drain the liquid.
• If you want a perfect dish to win over your guests and serve great appetizers, with olives of course (it's clear they must never be missing from a celebration and especially homemade ones), I encourage you to see the Le Creuset appetizer serving dish.

I hope that, like me, you feel inspired to prepare olives at home with your favorite flavors.

Le Creuset appetizer and cold cuts dish