Curing olives

I bought some ripe (black) Ascolana Olives from Knoll Farms on October 17, 2009. The farmer said that when the olives are ripe, you cure it by salting them in a colander and stirring them for two or three weeks until the bitterness is gone, then keeping them in a good olive oil for another week. When the olives are green, you brine them for several months.

After a day, I noticed several small larvae. I did some research and discovered that they were olive flies. Further research told me that I should throw those olives out. I went through the olives and threw out any that were open or had damage. I should have selected my olives more carefully.

References

• Hank Shaw on how to oil cure olives. Includes some discussion of olive flies
• Curing olives
• The olive fly
• Online Olive Oil Encyclopedia
• Well, it's official... we have bugs
• How to Cure Olives
• How to Cure Green Olives
• Prolific olive tree produces inedible fruit