Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Fruit from Morocco

Zitoun meslalla (Moroccan cracked green olives)مسلالة

Meslalla is a Moroccan green olive cultivar, also called the cracked green olive, that is often used to pickle garlic and hot peppers. Moroccan rules define cracked olives as whole olives whose flesh is burst open while the stone stays whole. For green olives fermented directly in their brine ("au naturel") they ask for at least 6 % salt and a pH of 4.3 or lower in the brine.

Fully documentedFruit

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo fixed batch size or recipe amounts in the sources used here. The Moroccan standard sets the brine, not the amounts of olives or flavourings.
Green olivesMeslalla is also the name of a Moroccan olive cultivar used for pickling[wp]
Salt brineAt least 6 % sodium chloride for olives fermented in brine[maroc2021]
Garlic and hot peppersWikipedia says the Meslalla olive is often used to pickle garlic and hot peppers; the Moroccan standard also allows chilli, onion, spices, herbs, vinegar and olive oil in the brine[wp][maroc2021]
Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Each green olive is cracked so the flesh splits but the stone stays whole

Step 1 of 3
Crack each green olive
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts

Moroccan rules define cracked olives (olives cassées) as whole olives whose flesh is burst open without crushing the stone [maroc2021]. Output: olives with the flesh split and the stone whole.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Meslalla is a Moroccan green olive cultivar, also called the cracked green olive, that is often used to pickle garlic and hot peppers. Moroccan rules define cracked olives as whole olives whose flesh is burst open while the stone stays whole. For green olives fermented directly in their brine ("au naturel") they ask for at least 6 % salt and a pH of 4.3 or lower in the brine. Salt is at least 6 % (Morocco 2021). Lactic acid bacteria and yeasts; Lactobacillus plantarum and Candida pelliculosa were isolated from traditional Moroccan green olives fermented directly in brine does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Saltat least 6 %Set[maroc2021]Ferment in salt brine
AciditypH up to 4.3Set[maroc2021]Ferment in salt brine

What makes this one different

Meslalla olives are cracked, and the Moroccan standard's "au naturel" class treats olives directly in the brine they ferment in. Spanish-style green olives are lye-treated first, then fermented in brine (FAO).

Related ferments

Variants

  • Tailladées (slit olives)Olives slit lengthwise through the skin and part of the flesh instead of cracked [maroc2021].

Safety

Moroccan rules for olives fermented in brine set a brine of at least 6 % salt and pH 4.3 or lower [maroc2021]. These are product rules for the finished olives, not a tested home method. WHO says C. botulinum does not grow below pH 4.6, that acid does not break down toxin already formed, and that homemade preserved or fermented foods are a common source of botulism. A home batch has no acid barrier until its brine has soured.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Morocco's table-olive standard (arrêté no. 1339-21 of 20 May 2021, published in the Bulletin officiel of 21 October 2021) defines cracked olives and slit olives and sets the brine limits for olives fermented in brine [maroc2021].

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Process times
The sources we found give no figure for how long any of its steps take.
  1. [maroc2021] Morocco, Arrêté du ministre de l'agriculture n° 1339-21 du 20 mai 2021 fixant les dénominations et les caractéristiques des olives de table, Bulletin officiel n° 7032, 21-10-2021, Annexe I (via FAOLEX)spec
  2. [fao134] Battcock M., Azam-Ali S. 1998, Fermented fruits and vegetables. A global perspective, FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin 134, chapter 6.2.4 Green olivesgov
  3. [rokni2021] Rokni Y., Abouloifa H., Bellaouchi R. et al. 2021, Characterization of β-glucosidase of Lactobacillus plantarum FSO1 and Candida pelliculosa L18 isolated from traditional fermented green olive, J Genet Eng Biotechnol 19:117, doi:10.1186/s43141-021-00213-3paper
  4. [wp] English Wikipedia, Meslalla (cultivar used for pickling with garlic and hot peppers)wiki
  5. [who-botulism] World Health Organization, Botulism, fact sheetgov