I posted this jar of olives on social media the other day after my Italian mother-in-law cheekily goes to me “hey blogger isn’t this something you want to photograph?”. It makes me smile thinking back to this comment as the whole concept of blogging and me taking photos of food didn’t make any sense to her when I first started foodie cravings 4 years ago.
Anyway, both burger boy and I don’t eat olives but seems like plenty of you do as I’ve had a few requests for tips on how my mother-in-law prepares and marinates her home picked olives.
It was too many words to post on social media so here’s my mother-in-law’s family olives recipe which she reluctantly shared over the phone this morning…
HOW TO PREPARE & MARINATE OLIVES
What you need…
- Olives & branches from the tree
- A glass jar
- Fresh chilli
- Fresh garlic
- Fennel seeds
- Salt
- An egg
- Vinegar
What to do…
- Rinse olives and set aside.
- Fill just below half the jar with water.
- Add a handful of salt, stir for a couple of minutes and let it stand.
- My mother-in-law’s family recipe secret to see if there is enough salt is to add a whole egg (uncracked) into the jar. Continue to add salt until the egg rises to the top (remember to remove the egg afterwards). She says this is important as if there’s not enough salt the olives will go off.
- Add fresh cut chilli, garlic and fennel seeds to suit your taste.
- Add olives.
- Add dash of vinegar then branches from the olive tree to hold down the olives really firmly.
- Put the lid on the had and wait 5-6 weeks or when the olives tastes sweet.
She says it is as simple as that
