It's Olive Season Again

It's hard to believe that four seasons have passed and once again olive season has arrived. I started soaking my first batch of fresh olives yesterday and look forward to a few weeks from now when we can bite into the tangy green morsels of flavor. It is so worth it to brine your own olives, so give it a try. A recipe appears below.

My first batch of olives were purchased in Tel Aviv's Carmel Market from the olive guy on the far west side of the market (not on the main aisle) just north of the large parking lot. Allow some time for sorting through the olives to make sure you don't get any bruised ones in your bag.

Fresh Olives in the Carmel Market

Most of Israel's olives come from the northern part of the country - the Galilee and Golan. The 15th Annual Olive Branch Festival kicks off this weekend and continues through the 7th of November. Information is available in Hebrew only including a list of restaurants offering special menus during the festival.

Olive Recipe

1 kg/2.2 pounds olives off the tree
Brine - 100 grams of salt per each liter of water
1 head of garlic, separated but not peeled
1 lemon, thinly sliced lemon
2 small red chilies, 1 tablespoon of oregano or other herbs of choice (OPTIONAL)

1. Each olive needs to be slightly cracked open in order to release the bitter phytochemical compound called oleuropein. This can be done by giving each individual olive a slight tap with a hammer or mallet or by using a rolling pin over a number of olives. There's also the smashing the stone on the olives technique. Remember, you only want a slight crack in each olive.