Azeitona Britada

Description: Maçanilha olives from the Algarve (especially from the Northeast Serrano), fleshy, crushed, green in color, seasoned with garlic, oregano, thyme, calf and lemon peel.

Region: Algarve.

Special feature: Slightly crushed olives, pickled.

History: It is a traditional way of preserving olives, truly typical of this region. It will be sufficient to verify the nature of the condiments used to confirm this assertion. The know-how of this product is as old as the existence of olive trees in the region.

Use: As an accompaniment to meals, as a snack or appetizer.

Know-how: The olives, harvested at the beginning of ripening at the end of September, are broken by hitting them between two stones. They are then soaked in water for a period of between 8 and 15 days, changing the water daily. When they are "sweet", they are placed in an earthenware pot and covered with a brine. The exact point of salt concentration is verified by pouring an egg in. If it rises to the surface of the water, they don't need any more salt. Curiously, this process of evaluating the concentration of a brine is already described in a sixteenth-century book. The olives are then seasoned with garlic cloves, whole and only crushed, aromatic herbs and lemon peel. They can be consumed a few days after being in this preparation. Its consumption season runs from September to December/January.

Source: Produtos Tradicionais Portugueses, Lisboa, DGDR, 2001