The Olive

FRUIT

The fruit has been considered a choice food at all times. It has appeared at the feasts of epicures, both ancient and modern, as a relish, and to be eaten at the end of the repast as part of the dessert, and at all times it has also furnished a staple food for the poor in the Orient and in Greek and Latin countries. Those who were well provided were admonished to have care for those less fortunate: “When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.” (Deuteronomy XXIV., 20.) The people obliged to live frugally have found it a great resource, particularly in Lent and for those at a distance from the sea unable to obtain fresh fish. It is said that Plato preferred olives to all other foods, and often made a meal on them alone.

Though olives are known and consumed throughout the civilized world, comparatively few persons, aside from those living in the regions of their cultivation, know that olives have to undergo certain treatment before they can be eaten. It is a common practise in olive regions to encourage the visitor to taste the fruit directly from the tree. The fruit, both green and black, looks so fine and tempting, that the disgust on tasting is correspondingly great. It is claimed that some of the older varieties could be eaten without preparation, that they dried naturally, and were sweet like raisins.

The olive contains a bitter and acrid substance or substances which must be removed before the olives are edible. It is referred to in most of the literature as a “bitter principle”, and has been called an acid, a tannin, and more recently a glucoside. Cruess has repeated the work of the various investigators, who claimed these different substances, and as a result has come to the conclusion that it is a glucoside, that is, a combination of glucose with another compound.

In immature fleshy fruits there is usually an accumulation of acids, tannins, and sometimes starch. As ripening proceeds, carbohydrates and aromatic substances are formed, and the bitter, acrid, or astringent taste disappears. In the olive there is no starch found at any stage of maturity. Glucose has been found in all stages, and is supposed to be the substance from which the oil is formed. The oil is in very minute quantities in the fruit up to the time when the pit is formed, from then on it increases gradually up to its maximum when the fruit is not quite mature. In the plant economy the fat or oil is one of the most important food reserves of plants. All parts of the fruit – rind, flesh, stone, and seed – contain oil, the fleshy part, forming about 80 % of the fruit, containing the largest amount.

Contrary to the condition existing in most fruits, the bitterness remains through all stages of development in the olive. A substance of glucosidic nature, given the name “oleuropeine”, has been isolated, and found to be of extreme bitterness. This may be the substance or one of the substances which cause the inedibility of the untreated olive.

The oil is the most important constituent of the fruit on account of its high food value and its use in the industries. It is used to a large extent in cold countries and also in dry countries where there are few cattle, the oil taking in the various culinary operations, the place of butter and other fats.

Among the ancient Jews the oil was considered indispensable and as necessary as bread. An abundance of oil was looked upon as a blessing from God. Vast public storehouses were constructed to hold it for the scarce years. To the Greeks the three indispensable foods were oil, grains, and wine, the oil entering into most of their dishes. The Romans had a large trade in the oil, and it was also used, to a large extent, in their domestic cooking. In Italy and Spain street vendors fry fritters in the oil and sell them while hot. It has considerable use in conserving fish, particularly sardines. The higher grades of French, Spanish, Norwegian, and American sardines are packed in olive oil. This use has been extended in recent years to the packing of tuna fish.

Olive oil occupies a high position as a vegetable fat. Many others have been prepared and offered as substitutes, and if judged by chemical composition alone, give practically equal food value, but are lacking in the delicious flavor which makes olive oil distinctive and gives it a superiority over all other oils.

The oil is a large factor in the industries; it serves as an extractive of perfumes, as a constituent of fine, smooth soaps, and as a lubricant in watch factories. Formerly the lower grades were used commonly for lubricating purposes, but with improved methods of clarifying and the greater expense attendant on its use, it has been superseded by cheaper lubricants.

An enormous quantity has been and is still used in religious ceremonies, in the ordinations of the clergy and rulers, and anointing in the sacraments, besides by old world peoples generally in the lamps in the churches and temples, many of which are kept burning continually. An idea of the vast amount consumed for this purpose can be obtained from the fact that in one mosque alone there are 1,200 lamps burning constantly, and requiring about 25,000 kilos of oil annually.

In medicine it has been and is still used extensively. The ancients rubbed it on their bodies to make the muscles supple and to cleanse and protect the skin, particularly after bathing, and it still functions for these purposes. It was used to heal wounds, in liniments, and as a mild laxative. At present it is a constituent of liniments, ointments, cerates, and plasters. The people who are habitual patrons of the olive and its oil are noted for their smooth, beautiful complexions. It is said “the warm rosy complexion of the Italian and Sicilian women is due to the free use of olive oil as much as to the air and climate of their country.”

The residue or marc which remains after the oil is extracted is used as a food for sheep and hogs, for fertilizer, and for fuel, and there is obtained from it a clear, illuminating gas.

PREPARATION OF FRUIT

Foreign

In the early preparation of olives in order to remove the bitterness, they were soaked in water, which was renewed from time to time, sometimes hot water being used. The olives, after draining, were then held in brine. The green olives as well as the mature and black were used.

The Romans exercised the greatest care in their preparation, and introduced refinements, by not only removing the bitterness, but by causing them to acquire various flavors through infusion in solutions containing aromatic substances.

One of their methods for the preparation of green olives consisted in adding roasted salt to the olives after a preliminary soaking in hot water, then covering them with grape must, boiled wine, or honey water, and to this solution were added fennel, mint, and lentiscus seed. Fennel was used as a tampon to keep the olives immersed. A simpler method was to use vinegar with the brine. Sometimes the olives were beaten to facilitate the action, but this caused discoloration, which was avoided by making cuts in them. The brine was replaced by oil as a preserving liquid. Another method was to put the olives with the aromatics in the brine at the start, then they were removed, crushed lightly, and put in a mixture of oil, vinegar, and honey, to which were added leek, celery, mint, and sometimes rue. The rue was supposed to be most efficacious in bringing out the natural flavor, and was most prized. The mature olives were first put in brine for 30 to 40 days, then put in the preserving liquid with the aromatics. Olives prepared in the ways indicated were known as “Colymbades”.

A form of conserve made by the ancients, and to which the name “Epityrum” was given, consisted in taking green, mature, or black fruit, though, as in the former, the green were preferred, and drying them in the shade, after which they were put in baskets, and crushed in a press. The crushed fruit was then put in vessels, sprinkled with salt, and had mixed with it lentiscus seed and minced leaves of fennel and rue, and was finally covered with oil.

Many recipes have been left by the ancients, the preparations varying as to time, strength of solutions, mixtures of spices, etc. To the recipes of Palladius (1518-1580) is owed the knowledge that the Romans were cognizant of and used lye solutions, though this is supposed to be a modern practise. In this particular recipe sifted ashes are indicated as one of the ingredients, and it is supposed that this recipe, changed in detail, furnished the basis for present day methods. The use of wood ashes was introduced into France by an Italian refugee named Picholini, who settled in Provence, devoting himself to the preparation and sale of preserved olives. The olives preserved according to his process are called “olives a la Picholine”. Previous to his time the preparation in southern France consisted of crushing the olives lightly, immersing in clear water, which was renewed each day for about nine days, then preserving in brine. This latter process is still employed for the olives in which appearance is not an asset. For the more carefully prepared ones, the method was to pick by hand when the olives had attained full development, then they were carefully sorted, and immersed in lye, the duration in the lye depending on the size of the fruit, and the concentration of the lye. They were removed from the lye when the flesh was penetrated to, and readily detached from, the stone.

There are many variations of the lye treatment. In the olive countries the preparation is done in the homes as well as in factories, and it is in the homes, naturally, that the greatest variations occur. Lime is often used with the ashes, one formula consisting of the olives mixed with a paste of wood ashes and freshly slaked lime. In the ordinary methods, however, a solution is made of the sifted ashes and lime, sometimes sodium carbonate taking the place of the ashes. In the ordinary factory preparations both ashes and lime are omitted, and either caustic soda or potash used. When removed from the lye, the olives are put in clear water, changed night and morning for three or four days, then put in brine.

The early accounts of olive preparation show quite conclusively that great variation in strength of the caustic solution was inevitable, but fortunately the tendency to err was on the weaker side. It was not until the modern introduction of caustic preparations of soda and potash that standardization of the process was possible. Even with this possibility the practise remains largely empirical and is based upon the experience of the operator. Some still adhere to the use of weak solutions, taking considerable time to act upon the olive, whereas others use relatively strong solutions so as to hasten the process.

The brine used has been subject to quite as marked variation as the lye. A weak brine has been used in order to encourage the natural fermentation of the fruit, which corresponds to the fermentation in our cucumber pickles. The other extreme is represented by the use of a very strong brine which practically inhibited all fermentative change and this same brine was filtered and used a succeeding season. Every gradation between these extremes has been in common use. As might be expected, more or less of the fruit softened and underwent changes which at present would be regarded as decomposition or rotting rather than as clean, normal fermentation. The esthetic side of olive preparation has not always been of the highest order, though, as in the case of many other foods, very great improvement has been wrought in recent years.

Even with the later methods the use of aromatic substances has not been abandoned, and many of these are used, such as bay leaves, cloves, coriander, cumin, mint, orange skin, fennel, etc., the amounts and combinations varying greatly. Sometimes the aromatics are first extracted, the solution concentrated, and a quantity of this solution added to the brine, or they are boiled in the brine at the start, then removed, and when the brine is cooled, it is ready for use.

In Spain the ripe olives are not treated ordinarily with lye, but by the slower process of soaking in water. The black olives, gathered late in the year, are cured in a salt brine to which black pepper is added. After the bitterness is removed, they are preserved in oil.

A process used at present for ripe olives which is very simple but effective, is to mix fine salt with them after they have been cleaned and sorted. They are stirred twice a day, and through the osmotic action of the salt, a dark-colored juice is exuded which contains, among other constituents, the substance causing the bitterness. To hasten the action the olives are pierced with a needle. The Spaniards vary this method by adding aromatics, as wild marjoram, thyme, fennel seed, anise seed, garlic, laurel leaves, etc., at the same time as the salt. The special spice mixtures are held as trade secrets by the manufacturers.

When the bitterness has been removed, the olives are washed, dried lightly, and placed in casks or jars until required. Before being served the olives are soaked in oil.

One style of Greek packing of ripe olives is of special excellence. Sour wine is added to the pickle to accentuate the flavor and the product is packed in oil. The olives are plump, tender, and brilliant, and possess a very rich flavor.

In parts of Southern Europe certain kinds of olives are left on the trees to become very ripe, and are then dried in the sun without any preparation. These are only used locally as they are lacking in the fine flavor of the prepared olive.

In the preparation of the olive, both green and ripe, during all these centuries, there had been no attempt at sterilization. The olive was preserved by partial drying, by the action of salt, and by its spontaneous fermentation in pickle in which certain desirable forms of organisms had the ascendency. With the good fruit thus prepared, there must have been considerable which was spoiled, and yet no illness is known to have resulted.

Though olives have figured so largely in the alimentation of southern Europe, the oil particularly being so important and general a food, the people of northern Europe have not esteemed either to an important extent. With the crude methods in vogue for transporting the oil, and the lack of understanding as to its nature, it is supposed that their apathetic attitude was due to its being received in poor condition.

In England also, though so close to the olive growing districts, the olive has not been used to any considerable extent, judging from its absence from menus and from their cookery. In examining old cookery books it was surprising to find no mention of olives. In Russel’s “Boke of Nurture” and Mrs. Napier’s “Noble Boke off Cookry” the manuscripts dating from the 15th century, there is no mention of olives, though there are condiments and spices from foreign countries used in sauces and other preparations. Neither is there any mention of olives in “The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Opened” written in the 17th century, though Digby had traveled much and lived on the continent. The earliest mention in 17 cookery books, published in the 17th and 18th centuries is the following, published in 1745, and which is really a translation of a French work by L. Lemery, physician to the King, and member of the Royal Academy. It is interesting in showing the many virtues attributed to olives.

“OF OLIVES”

“You ought to chuse such as are large, pulpy, well preserv’d and tasted, and those that have been cultivated in hot Countries.

They create an Appetite, fortify the Stomach, dissolve and expell the viscous and gross Humours fix’d there, repress Reachings, and are a little nourishing.

They produce no ill Effects, unless they are us’d to excess.

They contain much Oil, Phlegm, and esseZntial Salt.

They agree in cold Weather with any Sort of Age and Constitution, provided they are good, and well preserv’d.”

Remarks

“Olives are oblong or oval and juicy Fruits, larger or smaller, according to the Country they grow in: Care must be taken to gather them before they are ripe, and then they have a harsh bitter Taste not to be endured, because their salts are clogg’d and swallow’d up by the earthy and gross Parts.

Olives are preserv’d with Water and Salt, and then they become pleasing to the Taste; the Reason is, because the Liquor of Brine causes a little Fermentation in the Olives, by the Help thereof the Salts free themselves by degrees of the earthy Parts that do retain them; and afterwards with more Lightness and Delicacy prick the nervous Fibres of the Tongue.

“The Brine produces another good Effect in the Olives; for by its saline Parts it stops up the Pores of this Fruit, and prevents the Air from ent’ring too much into it, and thereby cause a considerable Fermentation therein, which destroys the Fruit, and soon rots them.

Olives well preserv’d create an Appetite, by gently pricking the Sides of the Stomach, not only by their acid Salts, but also by those communicated to them by the Pickle. They also bind up and fortify the Stomach by their earthy Parts, which swallow up the over-abounding Moistures that relax the Fibres of that Part.

The Picholines are Olives cut in several Places, and then steep’d in Pickle; they are sooner in a Condition to be eaten than others, because that by the Help of the Incision made in them, the Brine or Pickle is sooner and more effectually communicated to their whole Substance.

Oil of Olives is much us’d in Ailments; it’s of a qualifying, mollifying, anodine, dissolving and detersive Nature, good for the Cholic and Bloody-flux, and is prepar’d in this Manner.

They get together in November or December, a great Quantity of full ripe Olives, and lay them by for a Time in some Corner of the House, where they are heated, and thereby become purified of their watry Moisture; then they grind them in a Mill, and put them into Rush or Palm Frails, plac’d on the Top of one another Pressways, and the first Oil that comes from them, is called Virgin’s Oil.

They sprinkle the Olives with warm water, and by pressing them a-new, and still the more, there comes a good Oil from them.

This done, they stir the Olives again, and sprinkle them with hot Water, from which, thus order’d, there proceeds another Oil full of Dregs, and not so good as the rest.

These Oils are easily separated from the Water, because they swim a top, but they find a Kind of Lees to the Bottom, which the Ancients called Amurca.

Those Olives of which you design to make Oil, must ripen ’till they are even rotten; and the Reason is, because the sulphurous Parts in them have had Time to disengage themselves from those gross Principles, which before fix’d them, which we know by the sweetish and oily Taste that then they had. They also let them ferment for some time before they press them, that so those sulphurous Parts may free themselves, and be more fully separated from the watry and saline Parts, with which they were united in the Fruits. Here it is to be observ’d that you cannot extract a Drop of Oil from green olives, but only a viscous Juice, because their oily Principles are very strictly united with their other Principles.