Why olives taste so different: Curing explained
Olives can’t be eaten straight from the tree. The olives you buy online or in grocery stores have all been cured. Just-picked olives not only have a high oil content of up to 30%, but they also contain a compound called oleuropein, which makes them taste bitter.
That’s why curing olives is key. Whether you immerse the fruit in brine or oil, pack them in salt, or use another approach, curing converts olives’ comparatively low natural sugars into lactic acid and mellows the bitter oleuropein. It turns a low-key unpalatable tree fruit into a salty, delicious snack.
The curing method used impacts the olives’ flavors and textures. Here are four of the most common ways.
Producers ferment fully ripened olives in vats of brackish liquid for up to a year to develop salty, fruity flavors.
Brine-curing tends to keep the olives’ color brighter and gives them a snappy texture, too, says Brad Hedeman, the head of marketing and product selection for Zingerman’s Mail Order. “The salt in the brine draws out their moisture, and that leaves the flesh tighter and firmer.”
For a month or more, olives nestle into heaps of salt, which pulls out their moisture and bitterness. The process intensifies their flavors and can prune their skins. If you’re handed a wrinkly olive that looks like an overgrown raisin, chances are, it was dry-cured.
After dry-curing olives, producers macerate them in oil for a few months to soften and enrich them.
“Oil-curing olives brings the olive oil into their flesh, and that usually creates a richer, fuller texture and flavor,” Hedeman says.
Used by large-scale commercial operations and avoided by those who are serious about quality olives, this method involves treating raw olives in an alkaline lye solution. The lightning-fast process leeches out flavor and compromises textures, and can produce bland, mushy results.
How to use each type of olive
Most olives pair especially well with citrus, fennel, tomatoes, bitter greens, aged cheeses, and hardy herbs like rosemary and thyme. But they are also diverse, distinctive, and incredibly versatile. Put yours to work in the kitchen and at happy hour.
While you can garnish a cocktail with a variety of olives, most bartenders find that mild, brine-cured olives are best. Their firmer textures stay intact in the boozy liquid, and their easygoing flavors won’t overpower your drink. Our favorite martini olives include Castelvetrano and Gordal.
