Zbirka: Olives

Olives are the fruits of the olive tree (Olea Europaea). There are about 700 varieties of different olives varieties in the world. Nevertheless, buying olives in a store you can usually see just two color type difference: green and black olives. 

Black is a symbolic name, because absolutely black olives do not exist in nature. Ripening, the olives darken, getting various shades, from bright brown to deep purple. 

If you bought perfectly black olives then most likely they are artificially colored green olives. Such olives are processed with caustic soda (sodium hydroxide, very toxic substance!) and then coloured with artificial color iron gluconate E579. They are less tasty and most of their nutrients are killed by this process. 

Right after harvesting, olives are impossible to eat because of their bitterness. In order to get rid of bitterness, olives are kept in brine for several months. The only exceptions are Greek olives Throuba from Thasos island. These olives lose their bitterness during the ripening and by the time of harvesting are already edible.

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