How to cure an olive
Lenna Jawdat
1. Grow an olive tree.
Be patient.
It takes 12 years & 2 months of rest
before they grow fruit.
2. Wait until the fruit has ripened.
Be patient.
It takes 6-8 months before they
are ripe enough to harvest
3. Submerge the fruit in saline.
Be patient.
It takes 3-6 weeks to cure.
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Combine 1 part salt: 10 parts water
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Shake once a day
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Change the brine weekly
4. Scoop fruit into sterile jars
Season and cover with brine & let soak
Blanket with a layer of olive oil
Be patient.
5. Survive*.
Survive.
Survive.
I come from Olive:
Tough, resilient, patient creatures. Elders woven in the earth, rough-skinned and silver haired. Each knot, each snarl, each contortion, proof of adaptability. Each tree lives up to 2,000 years
I come from Olive:
Self-pollinating, self-sufficient.
Even their fruit takes patience
I come from Olive:
Bitter, unpalatable.
Harvested fruit has to soak in the sea.
You may wish to slice our flesh with a knife, or weigh us down to abraid our skin. This will only make us sweeter.
I come from Olive:
You may press us / for oil / but we’ll use it as a protective cloak / to brace against the elements.
I come from Olive:
Equipped to survive sub-zero temperatures, droughts and fires, with roots that can regrow.
* Destroyed in an instant. 800,000 olive trees in Palestine destroyed since 1967. That’s the number of trees in central park— 33 times over.