How are olives cured?

CURING METHODS USING RIPE OLIVES

Greek Method:
Fully ripened, dark purple or black olives are gradually
fermented in brine (salt water) to leach out their bitter taste.
They are sweeter and richer with a more complex taste than
other varieties. Because caustic soda solutions, which speed
up the curing time, are not permitted in Greece, fermentation
takes eight to ten months. Kalamata olives are cured using red
wine vinegar or red wine to give them their distinctive flavor.
Dry Cured:
Fully ripened black olives that are rubbed with coarse salt and
left to cure for months resulting in their characteristically
wrinkled appearance. The salt is removed before the olives are
sold.
Sun Cured:
Fully ripe black olives that are left on the tree to dry.
Oil Cured:
Fully ripe black olives that are soaked in oil for a few months.

CURING METHODS USING UNRIPE OLIVES

Spanish Method:
Unripe, light green olives are soaked in a fast-acting lye
solution (caustic soda) for six to sixteen hours to leach out the
oleuropin, which gives them their bitter taste. This method of
using a lye solution to cure olives was invented in Spain.
Olives cured this way have a crisp texture and nutty flavor.
American Method:
Half-ripe, yellow-red-colored olives are soaked in an alkaline
lye solution without fermentation. A flow of air bubbled
through the olive-lye solution is used to oxidize the olives and
give them their characteristic black color. Cold water rinses
are used after curing to remove as much of the curing solution
as possible. Iron is also added (in the form of ferrous
gluconate) to preserve the dark color. Some varieties of
American olives, which are produced in California, include
Sevillano, Queens and Mission. Mission olives are dry-cured.

CANNED OLIVES
Canned black olives are made from unripe olives, which are
picked green, cured in lye and pumped with oxygen to make
them black. Canned green olives are cured in lye. Canned
olives are soft in texture and flat in flavor.