Calling any Olive experts, are all black olives are made with squid ink?

[Dozy-Mare]

Im watching This Mornings Gino d' Campo's cookery section and he just said i quote "never trust a black olive" as they are made using squid ink. This can't be true as I've seen black olives and their skin is pitted and a complete different texture to the green and purple ones. Can any olive fans shed any light on this for me please?

[woofgang]

where do they get all the squid ink from??? I think he was having a laugh

[mccfluff]

i thought black olives where dyed, not sure where i got that from though

[Dozy-Mare]

He was serious woofgang and you're right where do the olive farmers miles away from the sea in the mountains get squid ink from to do this?
Dyed mcfluff? So black olives are not naturally black?

[mccfluff]

hmmm

http://www.independen...-colours-1361349.html

[mccfluff]

was just something i had in my head not sure where i got it from , i love the purple kalamata ones best.

[woofgang]

http://uk.answers.yah...20070228100816AAbDXmT

[mccfluff]

can;t find anything that suppoerts the squid ink theory and a lot of people calling it an urban leg

[Dozy-Mare]

So they end up black anyway but the blackness is speeded up with chemicals due to demand. Thanks for that mcfluff, personally I find the black ones too bitter to eat on their own but don't mind a little on a pizza or in a salad to add a little sourness. I absolutely love the green stuffed ones with red pepper, I can remember someone telling me that you can get them stuffed with pine nuts and feta cheese i think but haven't seen these around.

[jackthehat]

Dunno.
But my neighbour lobbed 11 of them over my garden wall earlier this year.........

[Dozy-Mare]

Thank you too woofgang, with squid ink being used in pasta now maybe it's true that some olive farmers nearer to the sea may have used squid ink but i can only see this happening as a little poured over a meal and not a commercial process as im sure that you can only retrieve a little ink at a time from squid.

[mccfluff]

i live that olive story JTH, still makes me laugh now

Yuu have to try the green ones stuffed garlic they are divine! i've had them with almonds but i've never seen pine nuts, surely they would be too small?

[Ankou]

squid ink is used to make black pasta and cooking sauces. i see no reason why it wouldn't be used for black oloives but this is not generally 'how' they are blackened, this is done using ferrous gluconate, which is an iron supplement.