I know it's going to be a good party when I walk in the door and spot a bowl of cured olives on the table. These plump little fruits (and yes, they are fruits!) are the perfect appetizer: salty, savory, and satisfying without being filling. What's your favorite kind?
Freshly-picked olives are typically bitter and not very palatable. But let them age in a jar of olive oil or a salty brine for a little while, and they become tender and a bit chewy. The bitterness fades away and grassy, earthy, and fruity flavors come forward.
Every olive has its own unique characteristics and flavor profile. Greek kalamatas are well-known for their meaty texture and vinegary red wine flavors. French niçoise olives are small and black with an almost sweet flavor. By contrast, Italian cerignolas are big, green, and taste rather nutty. Most groceries with olive bars are happy to let you taste their selection before deciding what you'd like, and I recommend taking full advantage of this!
For a dinner party, I like to set out a bowl of mixed olives for snacking. Some wedges of hard cheese and a few cured meats make good companions. If there are any olives leftover at the end of the evening, they go into salads during the week, get tossed in pasta sauces, or go on top of pizza. That is, if I don't eat them all as a midnight snack.
Do you love cured olives? Which ones are you sure to have at parties?
Related: Kalamata Olive Tapenade with Shallots
(Image: barbaradudzinska/Shutterstock)
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I thought I hated olives until I tried a good plump one from an olive bar. As it turns out, I just hate the cheap canned olives. I loooove the firm green olives in brine and the little black (nicoise?) olives cured in olive oil I get from the olive bar
My absolute favorite are Castelvetrano olives! They are bright green with a lovely buttery taste. I make a beeline for them every time at the grocery store -- but I recently found out you can get a giant jar of them at Costco for the same price as a tiny bag at Giant Eagle.
Kalamatas, for sure! Like @verily I thought I hated olives... but kalamatas saved the day.
Beautiful photo.
I love olives! My birthday is in June, and it's become a tradition to have a sort of mezze outside...good cheese, good bread, good tomatoes, basil, and lots of olives.
My favorite used to be cerignola, but they might have just been edged out by castelvetrano. Jade green, fresh, plump, and almost tomato-like in flavor.
I used them in this big colorful salad with black rice, black lentils and roasted golden beets. Their fresh green flavor and color was so perfect!
For tapenade I usually use pitted kalamata olives. I make one I (half) jokingly call the best tapenade in the world. I add balsamic, pine nuts, herbs, honey, and parmesan.
I make olives most years and cure them for about six weeks in the Fall, then jar them in a mix of water, olive oil, wine and herbs. So, rather immodestly, these are my favorites!