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Fruit of the Silvery-Green Tree

docoflove1974

Entry posted by docoflove1974

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What is it about olives?

 

Just...what is it about them?

 

I used to hate them until very recently; the brine or cure in which they are placed often either tasted bad to me or really didn't sit well in my stomach. In general, most things that are pickled set my tummy into the duck-and-cover position, unless the balance is so light on the vinegar that it hardly has bite. Sourkraut is a total no-no, and most gardinera mixes (Italian pickled veggies, which are often part of an antipasto spread) never go past my lips. Essentially, only kosher dill pickles and 2 recipes in my possession for pickled beets were the only pickled items which didn't sour my gastromic organ. (Yet my absolute favorite 'dressing' for salad is rice wine or red wine vinegar, and plenty of it, or lemon juice and a hint of olive oil...who knew?)

 

Well, things have changed. The Brilliant One (as my mother calls me, rolling her eyes at the same time) has figured out that if I take olives, wash off the brine or cure, that they are tollerable, and more often than not they're damned tasty. I started with oil-cured Provencal olives...and have now tried it with Kalamata and Nicoise olives. This is amazing!

 

See, I grew up on olive oil (extra virgin, please), and love the taste of it. Hell, there is nothing better than a loaf of crusty bread straight out of the oven, dipped in olive oil/balsamico/cracked pepper...in fact, my heart breaks (hah) when all that's left is olive oil. The taste is devine. And I always knew that it was the brine/cure that was setting me off...just that I didn't put 2 and 2 together to get 10.

 

Now? Oh, there's always chopped olives in my salad...and the funniest part came tonight. Often when I'm chopping stuff, Bella (my cat) gets curious and wants to smell what I'm doing. So, I figured I'd let her smell an olive that I just cracked open and pitted. She couldn't stop smelling it! She didn't want to lick it--thank God, as I'm pretty sure that olives are bad for cats--but it was such a different smell that she didn't know what to do.

 

So, I repeat: what is it about olives!?

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Moonlapse

I love olives, especially Kalamata. Cucumber, feta, and Kalamatas are soooo good together. Ohhhh man, I'm really hungry now.

 

My cat really likes to smell stuff with out eating it. If I go out to eat, when I get back it will practically fight its way to my face to try and smell my breath. :) Sometimes I catch it sniffing something intently, and when it looks up it's mouth is gaping open like a dunce and I can see all of its tiny little Chicklet teeth.

 

Anyways, what is it about olives? I don't know, the taste is like nothing else and it really hits a certain savory spot.

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docoflove1974

This cat is addicted to the smell of menthol/eucalyptus. I have no clue what it is about that smell...it's not like she climbed a bunch of eucalyptus trees when she was younger. But she also loves to smell everything...oh, and lick watermelon :)

 

Isn't it proposed by someone (the Japanese?) that there is a 'savory' element on the tongue? It's unquantifiable, cannot be characterized, other than being the 'savory' taste?

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Nephele

Olives are wonderful. You can take two and put them over your closed eyelids (be sure to squeeze your brow and cheek muscles to hold the olives in place), then pretend they're your eyeballs and pop them out one after the other and eat them.

 

This has an especially satisfying effect when you're seated at a formal dinner and the dining partner you've been paired with for the evening is boring the crap out of you.

 

-- Nephele

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Pertinax
This cat is addicted to the smell of menthol/eucalyptus. I have no clue what it is about that smell...it's not like she climbed a bunch of eucalyptus trees when she was younger. But she also loves to smell everything...oh, and lick watermelon :)

 

Isn't it proposed by someone (the Japanese?) that there is a 'savory' element on the tongue? It's unquantifiable, cannot be characterized, other than being the 'savory' taste?

 

Indeed , there is (as far as I know ) just one herb that has all the tastes present and that is Schisandra (Wu-wei-zi) from China and Korea.Ive tasted the fluid extract and its literally a kaleidoscope of sensations.Catmint and Valerian also drive kittys wild.

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docoflove1974

Sort of on catnip and valerian. It's evidently a genetic thing--some cats are predisposed to liking their scent and taste, and some couldn't be bothered. I purposely bought a catnip plant for Bella to snort (she really does...it's hilarious...unlike Clinton, Bella inhales!), because she gets really spazzy and I figured it would calm her down a bit. And it does...when she wigs out, I try to corral her into the bedroom, bring the plant close to her, and let her inhale. If she doesn't go and chomp on the leaves, I'll pick one and she'll go to town on it. But she doesn't care about dried catnip...only live. Then again, this is a cat who loves to chomp on any plant that's alive; when I would work in the garden of my parents' house, she would go after my chives!

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Pertinax

Doc I have it :

 

Iridoids (as in the Iris) are usually glycosides , however a small group are non-glycosides including the sedative valepotriates.The latter are found in valerian , and chemically are very similar to nepetalactone which is in catnip (Nepeta cataria) The eucalypt you mention contains cineole which is a widely distributed chemical in many myrtle species, the eucalypts vary in strength but all are pain killers and inhaled ,mild, cardiac tonics.

From Pengelly:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Constituents-Medic...5432&sr=8-1

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docoflove1974

Hmmmmmm...so Bella's trying to snorty eucalyptus (and similar scents) to kill pain? Considering how klutzy she is (she comes by it naturally...and being the Queen of the Klutzes, I taught her well), and all the walls and furniture that she runs into, it might be!

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Moonlapse

Catnip can also be smoked or drank as a tea. :) No joke. My cat goes absolutely ape-s*** for dried catnip, as witnessed in my gallery pics. I'll have to take a little video of it for you guys. It avoids menthol and mint, though.

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docoflove1974

Oof...mine will go batty for eucalyptus/menthol, loves chives and parsley, and likes mint and thyme. But she wants nothing to do with cilantro or oregano. Oh, and she'll gnaw on any plant in the house, which is why there's only catnip now.

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Moonlapse

Heheh, mine prefers electronic cords over foliage - guitar cables, headphones, power cords, speaker wires... the more expensive, the more irresistible. Sometimes it sneaks into my computer room and when I see it run out like a guilty little snake, my heart skips a beat and I can just imagine that it has ruined my graphics tablet or something. Once it used a small stack of 80 year old books as a launching pad, half the books flew off the end of the table and snapped their thin hardcovers. I'm still bitter about that.

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docoflove1974

Hehe and yet they're still so cute, and we can't help but love them.

 

Bella's lately been acting positively canine in the morning...as in, if I'm not up by 6:15 (when my alarm first goes off during the week) she starts licking my face...then my arms...then whatever I put in her face to make her stop. I have no clue as to where she picked that one up; I swear she watches TV during the day when no one's home.

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docoflove1974

Umami! That's it!

 

I know that olives are good for us...and like I said, olive oil has been a constant element of my diet since I could breathe air. Just that the brine...yick.

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