Greek salad with olives
A simple dish to prepare. In Russia and several neighboring countries, there is a common belief that olives and maslines are different things—either differing in color (maslines being black and olives green), or supposedly coming from two different trees. However, this is not true—olives and maslines are in fact the same. Depending on the variety and ripeness, the fruits of the European olive tree can vary greatly in color, ranging from pale yellow to dark purple-black. In our country, the latter are most commonly sold under the name "maslines." Yet, they are usually not genuine black olives (also known as naturally black ripe olives). Their dark hue is typically achieved by producers passing oxygen through the brine to give the olives a "noble" black color. However, oxygen is just the beginning. To speed up production (since traditionally brined olives may take several months to be ready, which is inconvenient for manufacturers), caustic soda—also known as sodium hydroxide or food additive E524—is added to the brine. To stabilize the color, ferrous gluconate (food additive E579) is used. This information is usually not disclosed on the label... Of course, the recipe for Greek salad with olives calls for only high-quality olives prepared according to traditional methods. Such olives are hard to find and tend to be expensive—but you will notice the difference immediately. Signs of authentic olives: high price, sold in glass jars (though they may also be sold loose), color—usually not black (and if black, they must be soft and contain a pit). Truly natural olives rarely have a uniform color and often have small spots on the surface. But these are exactly the ones you need for preparing a proper Greek salad with olives ;) Serve chilled.
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