Ripe Olive Loaf

A soft baked loaf of the Battle Creek health-food school, held together by egg and swollen cereal rather than flour. The whole thing turns on what "granola" meant when this was written.

• Granola is not breakfast granolaIn this period granola meant the twice-baked, coarsely ground whole-grain crumb sold by the sanitarium food companies o foats, honey, nuts or dried fruit. Modern clustered granola will make the loaf sweet and greasy. Dry, unsweetened whole-wheat breadcrumbs or a plain toasted wheat cereal crumbed fine is the closer stand-in.
• A large cupCup measures were not standardised here; read it as a generous 8 oz cup, about 250 ml loose crumb. If the mixture will not hold a spoon-shape after soaking, add crumb by the tablespoon.
• SoakingThe recipe allows fifteen minutes for the crumb to take up the pint of milk. A dry, coarse crumb may want longer, twenty to thirty minutes, before it is fully softened.
• Ripe olivesAlmost certainly canned California black olives, mild and lye-cured, rather than brined Kalamatas. If you substitute a saltier olive, cut the teaspoon of salt back by half and taste the raw mixture.
• Oven temperatureThe recipe says only "bake till set" and gives no oven. A moderate oven, around 350F, suits a loaf of this type; start checking well before an hour, since tin size will govern the time. It is done when the centre reaches about 165F and a knife comes out clean; overbaking dries it to a crumb.
• Turning it outLet it stand in the tin ten to fifteen minutes before unmoulding. There is no flour or gluten structure here, only coagulated egg, and a hot loaf will collapse.
• Olive sauceNo sauce is given with this text. A plain white sauce with chopped ripe olives and a little of their liquor is a plausible reconstruction.
• YieldThe recipe gives no yield; the quantities suggest roughly four to six servings as a main dish.