The Olive - 'One of the Most Perfect Foods'

I was a 'foodie' in the Eighties (in the days when I ate...everything) and, on the raw food diet, still am - always on the lookout for the best ingredients, the most delicious taste experiences! One food I missed in the early days of raw was olives, but oh how that has changed, due to my discovery of truly raw olives (more later).

The Roman poet, Horace, described his own very simple diet thus: 'As for me, olives, endives and smooth mallows provide sustenance.' How can this be? We are always being told we need to consume a wide variety of foods for a 'balanced' diet. But, unless Horace was fibbing, apparently just three foods were supplying his nutritional needs! Well, as raw fooders know, it is possible to be healthy eating a relatively small number of foods, provided those foods are whole, and undamaged by heat.

The olive was described by the philosopher Lord Monboddo as 'one of the most perfect foods'. And 'the science bits' can explain why. The olive is a fatty fruit, but the fat is mostly monounsaturated (the good kind, that lowers cholesterol). It also has an alkalising effect on our bodies (disease thrives in an acid environment). Olives are loaded with beneficial omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids (the ones some would have you believe are only contained in fish). They're also high in Vitamin A (carotene) and Vitamin E and are full of antioxidants (that destroy the 'free radicals' that can cause cancer). They're rich in calcium and magnesium and high in amino-acids (which our bodies use to make protein). And of course the olive plays a starring role in the (cooked-food) 'Mediterranean diet'.

But of course these precious, and so delicious, little powerhouses of good things will only contain the full complement of nutrients if they're raw, ie not damaged by heat.

Since going raw, I've been aware that there is some confusion as to whether olives on sale at retail outlets are raw or not, whether it's possible to obtain raw olives, and if indeed raw olives would be good to eat; as a grecophile with a passion for olives I'm pleased to tell you that not only can I supply answers to these questions but I can also tell you where you can buy the most delicious, truly raw olives.

Are olives commonly on sale in the UK raw?

In 99% of cases, no - not even those sold in the deli or farmers' market. They'll have been pasteurised (heated to around 80 C for a few minutes). But, these premium olives, if soaked in brine only with no additives, are relatively close to the raw olive. So, if you're not 100% raw, and happy eating pasteurised olives, these are the ones to buy.

Give a wide berth to canned olives (often sterilised to 125 C for half an hour and mixed with preservatives). Also, be aware that green olives are (usually) unripe olives. As you know, they taste quite different from black olives. Did anyone enjoy their first taste of a green olive? I believe it's a taste we shouldn't have 'acquired', as fruit should be eaten when it's ripe and not before. Beware of 'black' olives (in jars or tins) that include ferrous glucomate. They're often green olives in disguise. Ferrous glucomate is variably listed as a stabiliser or colour, but the effect is to darken the colour of the olive. I used to find these sorts of olives didn't taste very nice either. They can often be found on cheap pizzas or in 'healthy' salads at fast food chains.

Is it possible to buy olives that have not been heat-treated at all? Yes, it is.

Are olives in their natural state bitter?

When writing the first version of this article, I asked Waitrose whether their olives were raw or pasteurised and they informed me that 'you can't eat olives raw - they'd be too bitter.' Well, you certainly can! Some on-line raw food stores sell unpasteurised olives, and they taste very good! However, some of the varieties are cured (salted) and perhaps what Waitrose meant by raw was not only unpasteurised, but not cured, ie 'from the tree'.

And many people do believe that olives from the tree, not cured (unsalted), are 'inedible', and 'too bitter'.

However, I have recently had the good fortune to sample uncured Greek olives. I found them delicious, and sweet (with a wonderfully crunchy texture)! These were ripe olives, air-dried. Unripe raw olives, by all accounts, don't taste good, but neither does any unripe fruit. Raw, uncured olives that are ripe, whether they've ripened on the tree or after falling to the ground, taste quite different. I wonder if the reports of uncured olives being 'inedible' possibly come from the fact that those producing olives pick them unripe?

I've heard there are differences between varieties, and although I find the raw, uncured Peruvian olives currently sold by the online stores palatable, I can't say that I enjoy them nearly as much as the Greek ones - they're less sweet. Although it's not really fair of me to tell you that, as the particular Greek ones I'd tried aren't on sale - yet. (But there's a very good alternative - more later!)

Perhaps the reason some describe raw olives as inedible, and others love them is simply because tastes do vary, as did those of the raw mother and daughter in this account:

Victoria Boutenko ('Twelve Steps to Raw'): 'During our travels that spring, we visited our friend Marlene. Marlene had a beautiful olive tree. There were olives underneath the tree already starting to rot. Valya said, 'I want to try them. Oh they are delicious.' I tried them. To me they were too bitter. Valya enjoyed the olives so much that she gathered them up in plastic bags to take with us.'

Curing

Heat is not necessary. Provided olives are salted only, and not heated, the vital nutrients should be left intact. Most olives sold throughout the world are cured, ie left in salt water for several months (some commercial processes speed up the curing by artificially oxidising the olives then adding caustic soda, then heat-treating to kill bacteria).

So, in order to enjoy cured olives as close to the natural state as possible, find suppliers that salt the olives in the gentlest way possible and do not pasteurise before sale. Or, ideally, find suppliers that do not use salt in the curing.

And, hey, in the UK, we're lucky enough to have one! Gina Panayi of therawgreek.com is selling delicious UNSALTED, RAW Kalamata olives! They're soaked in olive oil, so if you want your olive is near to 'off the tree' as possible, just rinse off the oil. I much prefer these to the Peruvian type - Gina's are plump and moist - like the Kalamatas we ate in our 'previous lives'!

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Raw olives certainly cost more than the pasteurised cooked variety. But it's worth it for the preservation of all the nutrients the olive was designed to give us, not to mention the taste!