Ingredient Information

Olives

Green olives (also known as Spanish olives) are olives that are picked before they are fully ripe and treated to lessen their bitter flavor. They are then fermented in brine for up to a year. These are the olives that are often pitted and stuffed with  pimentos, almonds, anchovies, etc.

For the most part the recipes in this book call for ripe olives. Ripe olives can be either green or black. Lesser quality ripe olives are picked unripe and treated in a similar fashion as unripe olives by soaking them in a lye solution to reduce  bitterness. This faster industrial process leeches much of the flavor from the fruit.

Higher quality ripe olives use water or brine to reduce the bitterness and are brined and then cured in olive oil or vinegar or a
combination of the two.

The amount of fat and salt in olives varies by how it is cured. The information below is based on brine-cured olives.

1 ounce olives = 23 calories, 2g fat, <1g sat fat, 1.5g mono fat, <1g protein, 1.5g carbohydrates, 255mg sodium, 0mg cholesterol