Making pseudo olives
Posted on do 03 november 2022 in blog
Ina found an interesting video on YouTube a while ago that talked about turning the cherries from Cornus mas (European cornel / gele kornoeille) into something resembling olives.
We have discovered three Cornus mas in the park nearby. This year the trees had a mast year. Naturally we decided to try this recepe ourselves.
Wash the cornel cherries and dry them. Put in a clean, sterile jar.
Prepare salty water by adding two tablespoons of salt to every liter of water. This corresponds to approximately 4% of salt to water by weight. Bring to a boil.
Pour the boiling water into the jar, covering the cherries.
Close the lid on the jar and let cool. Store in a dark, cool place for at least a month.
We made three jars at the end of July. In early September, I discovered one had started to ferment. We have transferred that jar into the refrigerator and we are eating the cherries. They do taste like olives!
The video linked above makes the suggestion to replace the water with olive oil after the resting period. We have not tried this (yet).