On a rainy day at the end of March, I made my way to Tulbagh to attend my first event as the newest member of the SA Olive team. The Tulbagh Valley is beautiful any day of the year, but with water-heavy clouds gently clinging to the mountain slopes, it’s magical.
Table Olive Workshop
It was the perfect weather for a Table Olive Workshop on Tuesday 24 Apr 2018 – it was raining and therefore no one could harvest olives and had no excuse to miss the workshop!
Olive Storage
Olives should be relatively firm, and never mushy or visibly bruised. If you’re shopping for olives at a store’s “olive bar,” look for olives dressed in brine, which helps them retain their moisture and flavour. They should also be turned over frequently for freshness. Alternatively purchase olives in a jar.
Olive Curing
Olives need to undergo a curing process before they’re ready to eat, due to the bitterness of oleuropein. If you’ve accidentally bitten into a raw olive, you are familiar with the bitterness that follows.
Olive Colours
The colour of an olive indicates its ripeness. The darker the olive, the riper it was when it was plucked from the tree. Olives transform from green to light pink to red and finally black.
