Post #554264 by Atomic Tiki Punk on Thu, Sep 16, 2010 2:29 PM

On 2010-09-14 21:38, MadDogMike wrote:
Well, another batch of olives crashed and burned :(

"Spanish Gypsy Olives - Just a blush of Purple - 10 day water bath, saltwater brine, limes cubes (I didn't have any lemon), cumin seeds, oregano, garlic, vinegar, olive oil. Ready in 2 weeks."

The 2 weeks was up so I cracked them open and tried a couple. They are too bitter! Uncured olives are VERY bitter, seems that I tasted them after their 10 day water bath and the bitterness was gone. Now they have a good flavor but they are just a little too bitter. I can't tell if it's from the lime peel or if it's the natural bitterness of the olives.

Then to add insult to injury, I either got food poisoning after eating them or coincidentally got the flu. I followed the recipe fully and was very careful to keep everything clean. The two other people who sampled the olives last night didn't get sick so who knows?

So far the only successful batch was the lye-cured ones that taste like canned black olices. They are OK but black olives are about the most bland olives ever created.

It might have been the lime,I have substituted limes for lemons in the past to undesirable results,something about lemon & lemon rind(zest)
that lime does not come close too, Example:lemon in Salsa & Pico de Gallo tastes awful, it has to be lime, Drink wise if you put lime in a
Lapu Lapu instead of Lemon juice,it doesn't taste anything like it should,it has to be Lemons!

Lime juice seems to get bitter over time,anyway my 2 cents?