Gemlik olive

Gemlik-Tirilye
Olive (Olea europaea)
Color of the ripe fruit	Black
Origin	Turkey
Notable regions	Zeytinbağı, Gemlik
Use	Table and oil

A Gemlik olive,Tirilye olive is variety from the Gemlik, Zeytinbağı area of northern Turkey. Gemlik olives called the following names as Tirilye, Curly, wrapping paper and black. They are small to medium-sized black olives with a high oil content. This type of olive is very common in Turkey and is sold as a breakfast olive in the cured formats of either Yagli Sele, Salamura or Duble; though there are other less common curings. The sign of a traditionally cured Gemlik olive is that the flesh comes away from the pip easily.

There are many olive factories located in Gemlik that export to Western Europe; the largest and most popular one is Marmarabirlik.

A true Gemlik olive should be grown and cured in the Gemlik area. The climate is ideal for olives, with high summer and cold winters. All Gemlik olives are hand picked between November and February, depending on the crop. A Gemlik olive tree can produce up to forty kilograms of olives in a good year.

Small family growers in the area have been growing, picking and curing Gemlik olives for centuries. Particularly villages, namely Karacaali, Umurbey, Kumla etc. have a history of producing high quality traditionally cured Gemlik olives.

Gemlik or Tirilye variety is the most widespread one. Of the regional olive groves, 75-80% consists of this variety (Gemlik, Erdek, Mudanya, Edincik, Tirilye), Edincik Su (Bursa, Yalova, Kocaeli), Beyaz Yağlık, Eşek Zeytini, Şam ve Siyah Salamuralık.

With the olive being high in oil, it makes it very versatile in the ways it can be cured. The various curings are as follows:

Yagli Sele — oil-cured (rotated in drums with a little salt, which the olive and causes it to exude oil). These are then dry stored. Very hard to maintain as the containers need to be rotated on a regularly basis. This is a rich low salt tasting olive.

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Wikipedia