...and we're back.

Yes indeed after a prolonged absence due to work, exams, foreign travel and other assorted excuses the blogging resumes.

Way back in the summer I promised an Italian feast. This was somewhat hampered by the fact that Louise threw my home cured olives away by mistake however I am about to make good on my promise starting right now. Yes you read correctly. I am in the kitchen as I write surrounded by fresh ingredients and with a tight deadline. Guests arrive at 6:30 for 7 so here goes.

I'll be posting live updates on Twitter so keep following.

Steve

A quick rant then business as usual.

Rant begins.

On Sunday afternoon the water supply for the whole of Santa Margarita, the village where we live was cut off. The neighbourhood took to their phones to complain to the water company only to be told that the supply would be restored in a matter of hours or a day or so at the most. I write this post on Friday afternoon and guess what! Still no water. We're now being told that there is a faulty pump in Malaga which won't be repaired until next Tuesday when the enginer returns from his holidays!!!

Firstly, what does a faulty pump in Malaga have to do with a village just over 100km away?

Secondly, should not the fact that during a hot summer thousands of residents are left without running water from which to drink, wash in and flush toilets constitute some kind of emergency? How many diseases spread from toilets backed up with...?!?

While Spain may hold itself up to be a modern sophisticated European society sadly it still displays the traits of a third world country. We may as well be living in a mud hut somewhere in Africa.

Rant ends.

Doctor, doctor! Can you cure my olive?

We went for a hike about a couple of weeks ago with some friends through a forest in the mountains just off the road from Marbella to the town of Coin. The weather was fantastic which after the rain fall Spain and in fact the rest of the Iberian peninsular has sufferred recently was very welcome. The walk was very relaxing and led to a viewing point on the edge of a cliff with most of the Costa Del Sol spread out before us. From this point Marbella lay in front of us with views of the coast up to Malaga in one direction while in the other direction we could just make out the shape of Gibraltar in the distance. From this point it is also possible, on a clear day of course to see the coast of Africa just across the Med'. During the walk back to where we had parked our cars we passed through some olive groves and while most of the trees were bare, my daughter noticed a few which still had some olives on the branches. Being quite fond of olives we decided to pick a few but were warned by our companions not to eat them straight from the tree as they are far too bitter. Aparently, olives need to be cured first and hence the title of this post.

How do you cure olives? well after a bit of research, it appears that one way is to soak them in brine (water with a high consentration of salt) for about six weeks before trying them. Now I love experimenting with things; always have. I'm still amazed that the family home was not burned to the ground with some of the wilder experiments I attempted with my chemistry set as a young teenager. By comparison, curing olives is safe and non-incendary.

The photo that follows shows a small test group of olives which have been in salt water for a week now. The water has to be changed weekly and in fact was done just prior to the photograph being taken. Water from the first week had actually turned a dark red colour.

The idea is that after the six weeks, I will cook an Italian feast with the olives being a part of the ingredients. Look out for that blog next month. In the meantime you can find a weekly update on the olives right here.

Steve