In brine, in oil, stuffed, fried: there are many ways to taste olives, an indispensable ingredient for a perfect aperitif. And can you listen to those from Ascoli?
They are like cherries, one leads to another. The olives they are the fruit of the olive tree, a very long-lived plant native to Asia that lives in warm and sunny places, with a Mediterranean climate, which in Italy is cultivated above all in Liguria, Tuscany and the southern regions.
Olives: a rich fruit
The olives are fleshy berries, with a green or black color, different in size and taste, with a typically ovoid shape. In Italy there are about 50 varieties, divided between table olives and olive oil. The first are harvested at the end of full ripening, in winter (especially the black ones) or in late summer (the green ones). The others, on the other hand, are picked a little before they are completely ripe, in order to obtain a low-acid oil with specific organoleptic characteristics. Some olives, such as the Oliva Bella della Daunia (produced in the Foggia area) and the Oliva Ascolana del Piceno (produced in Ascoli Piceno and Teramo), have received the protected designation of origin. The olives must be treated before being consumed: they cannot be used immediately after harvesting. Normally they undergo a fermentation process and are then immersed in a brine enriched with lactic acid. Some green varieties are instead sweetened with lime and caustic soda treatments. Or they are sweetened, kept in salt and finally washed and left to dry in the oven for a short time. On appearance they appear dry and wrinkled.
serve olives, excellent as an aperitif or for a mid-day snack. There are some on the market different qualities, each with its own sensory profile. The blacks of Gaeta they are small, light brown in color and have a slightly bitter and slightly acid taste; those called "from Greece", are large, dark purple, are put in brine with the addition of vinegar and have a sharp taste. They are perfect in salads. The most famous greens are those of Cerignola, large, sweet and with a crunchy pulp. Instead, they are smaller than Naples, of a bright green, sweet and soft. Then there are the white olives, typical of Sicily, which are left in a strong brine to lose color and then placed in water to sweeten.
Ascoli olives
They are always very welcome. It is not impossible to do them. Below recipe.
In a saucepan, fry 80 g of lard with a little oil. Once melted add 100 g of beef and 100 g of pork meat. Fry for a few minutes, add 1 tablespoon of double tomato paste and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes. Add 40 g of veal liver, leave on the heat for another 5 minutes and then mix everything until you get a coarsely chopped mixture. Add to the mixture 1 egg, 3 tablespoons of grated Parmesan and the squeezed molllica of a sandwich soaked in water. Season with salt, add cinnamon and nutmeg and with this filling stuffed forty green Ascolane olives (the sweet variety) pitted. Once stuffed flour them, pass them in a beaten egg and then in the breadcrumbs. In a large saucepan, heat peanut oil and then fry the stuffed olives. When they are golden, dab them with absorbent paper and serve hot.
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