Olives are in fact, one of the healthiest foods around. Furthermore, the olives also have many varieties to choose from and a good addition to many cuisines and dishes. In addition, many probably might not know that the olives are a fruit. You might already like the shiny black olives, which you can see in the pizzas or the green olives that are bob in the martinis. If you found these two tasty, then you might not want to miss the other variety of the olives, which is the Kalamata olives. Give this article a read and get to know about the different health benefits of Kalamata olives.
You might already see the dark and wrinkly Kalamata olives in the market or in the local stores. Moreover, you might probably want to add this to your dishes as it adds additional flavor. This topic is all about this variety of fruit and if you want to know more continue reading below.
Kalamata Olives: What is it?
The Kalamata olives, or what they scientifically call as Olea europaea, come from the small town Kalamata in the Southern Peloponnese, Greece. They are a cherry-sized fruit which grown on the small kalamon trees.
Despite that, these are known as the “Greek black olives”, they are actually having a color that is deep purple. They are typically canned or jarred in olive oil. Their taste is a bit similar to the other olives by having the salty and briny flavor and meaty consistency. Compare to the black and green olives, they have a plumper and oblong shape and are bigger in size.
But how they are prepared for the consumption? Well, the growers pick these olives by hand in order to avoid bruising the fruit. Then the workers will either prepare them to be talve olives or process into olive oil.
When the fresh ones are incredibly bitter, they will enter the process called “debittering”. There are two ways to that which includes:
- The long way. Each of the olives will have a slit and then they will store them in a 10% salt-water for fermentation until they will debitter. This process usually will take around 3 months.
- The short way. The olives will be soaked in brine for a week. Then, the workers will pack them with wine vinegar, olive oil, slices of lemon, and brine for retail.
Nutrition Facts
This variety of olives are a good source of dietary fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, and Vitamin E. This is also providing some potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium per servings as well as the B-vitamins.
Even though these olives have the high amount of fat considering their size, the majority of the fat is the healthy fat called monounsaturated fats. A 4 tablespoon serving of this variety of olives has 0.3 g of polyunsaturated fats and 2.7 g of monounsaturated fats.
Like the pure Greek olive oil, these olives contain natural antioxidants that are called as phenolic compounds. This compound gives the olive the unique taste.
Uses
There are many different ways you can do with this variety of olives. The first one is simple in which they can taste great on their own. They can be a perfect combination with the fruits and cheese on a wine platter. Also, you can slice them in order to be an additional ingredient to healthy pizza. But if you want a clear recipe in which these olives are one of the ingredients, do not worry because we will give you one.
Marinated olives and cheese
| Ingredients: | Procedure: |
| · ½ teaspoon crushed dried red pepper · 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning · 12 ounce drained Kalamat olives · 16 ounce of vinegar and oil · 6 large crush garlic cloves. · 6 rosemary sprigs · 8 ounce package of cube Colby-Jack cheese | 1. Combine all the ingredients except the rosemary in a large bowl gently. Cover and refrigerate for 8-24 hours. 2. Divide the olive and cheese mixture between 6 jars. Place rosemary sprigs in each jar. Store in the refrigerators for up to two weeks. |
Health Benefits of Kalamata Olives
The health benefits that you can get is the same as the others varieties of the olives. Here are some of the amazing health benefits of Kalamata Olives:
- Helps in lowering the risk of having cancer. The intake of the olive oil has a relation to the cancer prevalence. When compared to the standard diet, the rates of breast cancer are 3 times lower in the olive oil diet.
- Improves the health of the cardiovascular system. People who are consuming olive oil had a 35 percent reduced risk of the cardiovascular disease. The Greek men have the less risk of cardiovascular disease and long life expectancy compared to the North American and European.
- Lowers the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The olive oil plays a significant role in the Mediterranean region of people’s diet. These people are displaying a lower level of dementia and long life expectancy. The chemical compounds from the olives like the oleocanthal are enhancing the plaque clearance from the brain.
