Olives are quite possibly the world's most perfect food! David Wolfe has written in his book The Sunfood Diet Success System if he had to pick one fruit to live on for the rest of his life, it would be the olive. The Romans believed the olive to be an incredibly sexual fruit, an aphrodisiac, especially when eaten in large quantities. Once you delve into the olive, you will become privy to the great Mediterranean secret of health, happiness, and longevity.

The olive is a magical fruit. Consider the power and benefits of the olive. The raw olive is:

• The highest fruit in minerals!
• The highest fruit in calcium. Olives contain twice as much calcium as oranges by weight.
• High in magnesium.
• High in amino acids, including: leucine, aspartic acid, and glutaminic acid
• An alkaline fruit.
• A fatty fruit (mostly monounsaturated fat).
• An alkaline fat source.
• Loaded with beneficial omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids.
• High in vitamins A and E.
• In possession of many antioxidant properties. Antioxidants deactivate free radicals allowing us to live longer, overcome illness, and maintain more acute mental and muscular faculties.
• Available in different varieties, which fruit all year around.
• Pressable into a powerful oil, usable in a limitless number of ways all year around. (13) Able to soothe the mucous membranes with its oil.

In addition to all this, olives have the greatest propensity of any fruit to dissolve toxic mucus in the system!

These delicious sundried olives have been prepared for us by award-winning olivery Telegraph Hill.  They are alkalising and a great source of oil and antioxidants.

They were picked in July when they began to wrinkle.  They are then graded and washed. All olives with any blemishes are taken out (bird pecks, bruises, etc).  Also any small olives are taken out at this stage.

The olives are then put in Certified organic sea salt, kilo for kilo, and monitored for 4 months.  Over this time the bitterness is leached out of the olives by the salt.  Then the olives are given a final grade, washed and packed into 1kg bags, ready to eat.

Add them to salads as they are or you may eat by themselves - rinse the salt off if you prefer less salt.