The olive tree I’ve been growing in a pot in the main garden since the start of this year has borne fruit, and as they’ve started to turn colour, I’ve harvested them. There are just over ten of them, but as it’s my first time, I’m delighted.
今年からメインガーデンで鉢で育てているオリーブに実が付いて、色づいてきたので収穫しました。わずかに10個余りですが、初めてでうれしいです。
I’d heard that they’re too astringent to eat as they are, so I looked into various methods for removing the astringency, but decided to try the one that seemed simplest: drying them. First, I pricked small holes in the olives with a fork, then left them by the window to catch the sun; once the sunlight had faded, I dried them in a food dryer. After repeating this process for two days, they became shrivelled and were quite dry. When I took a small bite, the astringency had almost completely disappeared.
そのままでは渋くて食べられないと聞き、いろいろな渋抜きの方法を調べましたが、一番簡単そうな方法をやってみることにしました。それは乾燥させる方法です。まずフォークで実に小さな穴をあけて、窓辺で日に当てて、日が陰ったらフードドライヤで乾かします。これを２日繰り返したらシワシワになってかなり乾きました。ちょっとだけかじってみると、ほとんど渋みはなくなっていました。
Finally, I decided to preserve them by soaking them in olive oil.
最後にオリーブ油に浸して保存することにしました。
