Moroccan Beldi Olives: A Homemade Recipe from My Grandmother’s Kitchen
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Nourell’s small kitchen. Today, I am sharing a special piece of my heritage: a traditional Moroccan recipe prepared right in my home. This isn’t just a recipe; it’s a craft I learned from my grandmother. I spent my childhood watching her prepare homemade olives, especially during the olive harvest season, which remains one of my most cherished memories.
Memories of the Olive Harvest Season
Let me tell you a little about those beautiful days. The harvest was a time when the whole family gathered, from the youngest to the oldest. We would climb the trees and shake the branches with all our might so the olives would fall onto the large mats we had spread out on the ground beforehand. The elders would use long sticks to gently strike the trunks, making the ripe olives rain down easily, while we children had the best time swaying the upper branches.
After a long day of hard work, my grandmother would call out to us for a break. She would have prepared a delicious pot of Moroccan mint tea and "Msmen," those flaky, golden Moroccan pancakes. Writing these words now, my eyes fill with tears as I remember those moments of pure joy and simplicity from my childhood. Although I’ve talked a lot about my memories, they are truly an inseparable part of making these olives.
What are Beldi Olives?
For those who are visiting for the first time and wondering, "What are beldi olives?", the term "Beldi" means traditional, natural, and local. Unlike the processed olives you find in stores, Moroccan beldi olives are known for their intense, rich flavor and unique wrinkled texture. They are a staple of the Moroccan table, and we prepare them in large quantities to last us throughout the year.
The Recipe: Traditional and Modern Methods
To start this homemade olives recipe, we choose olives that are fully purple or black. First, wash them thoroughly to remove any leaves or impurities, then let them drain completely.
The Traditional Way (My Grandmother’s Method):
My grandmother used to place the olives in a large "Khansha," which is a sack made of burlap (hessian) with small holes. She would layer the olives with a generous amount of "live salt" (coarse sea salt). This specific type of olive cures only with salt. Once the sack was full, she would tie it tightly and place it in a spot where the bitter liquid could drain out. She would place a heavy stone on top of the sack to press the olives and speed up the process. We leave it until all the bitterness is gone. Once cured, the olives are washed to remove excess salt, dried well under the Moroccan sun, and finally coated in olive oil to preserve them for a long time in a dark, dry place.
The Modern Easy Method (How I prepared this batch):
For this recipe, I used a simpler method that works perfectly for my small family. Instead of a burlap sack, I used a large container. I followed the same layering process: a layer of olives, then a layer of coarse salt, and so on. The salt is essential to ensure the olives cure properly without spoiling. I make sure to drain the extracted liquid every day.
Once the olives have that perfect wrinkled texture and the bitterness has disappeared, I wash them. Instead of sun-drying, I dried this batch in the oven on a very low heat. This step ensures they won't spoil over time, especially if you have a large quantity. The final and most important step is coating them in authentic Moroccan olive oil. There is nothing like the shine and taste of real olive oil!
Serving Suggestion
In my home, we love serving these olives at breakfast with "Beldi" eggs and, of course, a hot glass of Moroccan mint tea. It is a simple yet royal meal!
If you are reading this and visiting my blog for the first time, I truly welcome you here. I would be so happy to connect with you in the comments. Have you ever tasted authentic Moroccan Beldi olives?
I’m Nourell, a mother and a homemaker, sharing ordinary recipes from my kitchen, prepared with all my love for my small family. Sending you doses of sparkle!
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What wonderful memories you have! The olives sound amazing, it must be so neat to be able to harvest and process your own olives, I can't get anything except canned or pickled ones here, but when I was a kid we lived closer to where olives were grown in the US and there was more variety of ways to eat them then. Nothing as neat and traditional as this, though. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your sweet words! It really is a special feeling to carry on these traditions. I wish I could share a jar of these homemade olives with you so you could taste the difference from the canned ones! There’s definitely a unique magic in the old ways of doing things. I’m so glad my story brought back some of your childhood memories too!
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