
The Bitter Truth About Olives (2016) - bpierre
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/people-and-culture/food/the-plate/2016/07/olives--the-bitter-truth/
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seszett
> _Black olives, though labeled as “ripe” on supermarket cans, actually
> aren’t: these, a California invention_

Maybe that's true of all black olives in the US, I don't know, but black
olives are _supposed_ to be ripe olives. Only the cheapest black olives are
not ripened, and at least in France they cannot be called just "black olives".

They're easy enough to distinguish as they are smooth and firm like green
olives, rather than soft and maybe a bit shriveled.

~~~
GlenTheMachine
These are very particular _canned_ olives in the US that have a different
taste. Twenty or thirty years ago they were the only black olives you could
get here. They are still available, but now you can easily get real tree-
ripened black olives as well.

~~~
brooklyn_ashey
yeah- kinda the olive version of the maraschino cherry

~~~
kingofpandora
That analogy shouldn't work but does.

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duck2
My grandma has an olive grove. When I last visited her, she offered me a jug
of cured olive. I told her I find cured olives still bitter. She seemed very
surprised and said she can't taste anything but olives recently. Maybe she
leaves them a little bitter, because the bitterness is very "tasteable".

I find it interesting how olive is praised in places it's planted. It's not
just my grandma who adores olive. If you chat with anyone from her town for
enough time, they will surely bring the subject to olives, cured olives or
olive oil.

What's even more weird is all abrahamic religions mention olive in their
books.

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mbel
> What's even more weird is all abrahamic religions mention olive in their
> books.

Not weird at all. After all they all originate roughly from the same region.

~~~
derrasterpunkt
Right, it would be weird if they mentioned potatoes or tomatoes in their
texts.

~~~
jhbadger
Although a lot of Americans get confused when "corn" is mentioned in various
translations of the bible, not understanding that maize is not being
referenced (which would be very weird indeed) but that the word "corn" used to
(and still does to some extant) be used to refer to grains in general and
wheat was probably being referred to.

~~~
Mediterraneo10
> Although a lot of Americans get confused when "corn" is mentioned in various
> translations of the bible, not understanding that maize is not being
> referenced (which would be very weird indeed)

A lot of people even in the Old World have forgotten that maize is an import.
For example, for several centuries now the staple food of the poor in Romania
was _mamaligă_ , mush from ground maize like Italy’s _polenta_. ( _Mamaligă_
still remains popular as a quick and convenient dish, made tasty with cheese
and sour cream). If you wonder out loud among Romanians what _mamaligă_ was
originally made from, a lot of people will tell you that it must have always
been made from maize; they aren’t even aware that maize was brought to Europe
after 1492.

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tluyben2
I have many olive trees in my garden and the dogs seem to like them raw from
the ground. Guess they don't notice the bitter protection effects.

~~~
AdamN
When it was really cold outside my dog would find frozen poop and gnaw on it.
Yum!

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chicob
In Portugal, after harvest in the Winter, we cure olives in water and salt,
sometimes some herbs. This produces a fermentation that allows for preserving
olives for a whole year. Around Easter they'll be good.

But before this, one needs to put them in water that is changed every now and
then - this gets rid of the bitterness. If one wants them ready for Christmas,
slicing them slightly is necessary to speed up the process.

There are naturally black olives: the Galega variety is usually black, with
shades of dark green. They're the best in my opinion, but only for eating.
They have lower levels of oil than most varieties.

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spodek
I predict that olive oil will soon go through the transition that orange juice
did. When I was a kid, people viewed orange juice as healthy. Now we see it as
unhealthy -- just the sugar. Maybe some vitamin C, but not many people get
scurvy. Whatever health benefits it has are overwhelmed by the otherwise empty
calories.

People want to believe more olive oil will make their diet into a healthy
Mediterranean one, but it's basically just fat -- whatever health benefits it
has are overwhelmed by the otherwise empty calories.

They both benefited from effective marketing, not making people healthy.

~~~
sureaboutthis
Maybe some Vitamin C?! Orange juice is 71% vitamin C! And there is NO added
sugar except maybe in the cartons you must be buying at your grocery store.

Olive oil is basically "just fat"?! You make me think that you think the fat
in olive oil is no different than the fat in pork or beef.

With those thoughts in mind, most of what you eat is just a little of this and
just a little of that and "basically just fat" but it's too early in the
morning for me to give you an education.

~~~
dasd99
> And there is NO added sugar

This is NO good argument - even without added sugar, orange juice is on par
with coke (about 10 gram sugar/100 ml).

~~~
sureaboutthis
I will put people who say this in the same category. Anyone who thinks added
sugar is the same as fruit sugar...well...

~~~
DanBC
Fruit juice contains high amounts of sugar. There's not much difference
between the sugars in fruit juice and the sugars in cola. Fruit juice is not a
healthy drink. This myth causes harm. Parents give their children fruit juice
because they think it's healthy, and this causes toot decay.

[https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/childrens-
health/...](https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/childrens-health/are-
squash-and-pure-fruit-juice-better-for-children-than-fizzy-drinks/)

> Like fizzy drinks, fruit juice and squash can be high in sugar, which can
> cause tooth decay. Because sugary drinks can be high in energy (calories),
> having these drinks too often can also lead to weight gain and obesity.

[https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/water-drinks-
nutrition...](https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/water-drinks-nutrition/)

> Unsweetened 100% fruit juice, vegetable juice and smoothies can only ever
> count as a maximum of 1 portion of your recommended 5 daily portions of
> fruit and vegetables.

> For example, if you have 2 glasses of fruit juice and a smoothie in 1 day,
> that still only counts as 1 portion.

> That's because fruit juice and smoothies don't contain the fibre found in
> whole fruits and vegetables. Have other types of fruit and vegetables for
> the other 4 (or more) portions.

> Fruit juice and smoothies also contains sugar that can damage teeth. It's
> best to drink them with a meal because this can help protect your teeth.

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etqwzutewzu
Funny to think "olive oil" is nearly pleonamsatic. Oil from Latin from Ancient
Greek comes from the word "olive".

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kazinator
> _Thank goodness we figured out how to press olives into oil, because eating
> them raw is not a pleasant option._

In a word: Castelvetrano.

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RickJWagner
Olive articles like this!

~~~
bregma
Sure, but your pun is the pits.

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coldtea
> _Thank goodness we figured out how to press olives into oil, because eating
> them raw is not a pleasant option._

We eat olives raw (and cured etc) for several millennia in my side of the
woods, and its a totally pleasant option -- and traditional part of Italian,
Greek, etc cuisines...

Black olives are totally not a "California invention" either, and they're
totally fine (except perhaps just those sold in California).

Not to mention that "bitter" (within reason) is also a taste in the palette of
tastes, not something to run away from.

Maybe Americans (like British) should refrain from opining about cuisine?

~~~
mcphage
> Black olives are totally not a "California invention" either, and they're
> totally fine (except perhaps just those sold in California).

There's a particular kind of processed olive sold in the US as "black olives"
which I think this is referring to. If you haven't had one, imagine... imagine
that you need to eat an olive, but you hate olives and everything about them,
so you invent something that's the shape of an olive but _not_.

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cr0sh
> so you invent something that's the shape of an olive but not.

That makes it sound like those olives aren't actual olive fruit, but
manufactured in some manner - which isn't true. They are highly processed, and
their black coloring is created as a part of that process - but they are still
actual olives.

