Reub's journey

03 January 2010

Olives


Jessica made a two week stop in Morocco on her way home from Niger, and when at last she showed up here in Oregon she had a small collection of really interesting stuff. This included a plastic sack full of olives and a little blue and white bowl inscribed with verses from the Koran, perfect together.
The Moroccan olives are fantastic, mixed with pickles and hot peppers: yummm, plus they were so pretty:


Olives. I have always liked them, but because of all that Omega-3 it seems they're playing a bigger role in our diet than ever before . I have been using such increasing amounts of olive oil that the bottles I buy have become bigger and bigger, approaching huge.

Olive oil is on the expensive side, but I guess I can see why. A mature olive tree only produces from 2/3 to 4 gallons of oil per year. And it's tricky knowing when olives are ready for harvest, since their color isn't a true indication; in a recent news article a California olive grower describes how he knows when an olive is ripe :

"I close my eyes, squeeze the olives, and check the drag against my fingers; less drag means more oil. That's how I know."

So olives are a pretty interesting thing. But I wouldn't go so far as making olive oil tasting trips, ala vineyard wine-tastings. Check out this olive grower (do look at the recipes); imagine sidling up to the bar and sampling this many olive oils:

I love olive oil, but I don't think I could do it. Wine, yes. Somehow it goes down easier.



Still. I am sorely tempted by this Olive Oyl costume for next Halloween, available on Amazon for just 35 bucks. I probably don't deserve it though, if I'm not willing to do the olive-oil-tasting thing.

4 comments:

  1. Love olives, but my Italian heritage is probably why. They are better than popcorn in the evening. Lots of high calories as well!

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  2. Oh you should do the olive oil tasting thing...If I lived near you I would go with you! There is such a difference in flavors and if you have it with yummy fresh bread all the better. We love to have Italian bread with olive oil on a plate mixed with garlic, fresh rosemary and some Italian spices. Even the kids dig in!

    Oh do it and blog about it for us all! You might be surprised!

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  3. oh, aren't those gorgeous? bowl and olives. we used to be able to eat olives and not have to compete with our kiddos...no longer, they too know the joys of the olive. now i have to hide them behind things in the fridge (um, not hard to do).

    yes! do it! maybe they'll serve you wine along WITH the olive oil and yummy breads...

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  4. You're right! You're right! I should do it. Then I can dress up as Olive Oyl.

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