Olives
Olives are grown across the Mediterranean, with Greek and Italian olives said to be the finest. They are used not only for cooking and snacking, but also for their oil, which is perfect for pasta, salads and many Mediterranean recipes.
Olives are generally available in two types: green and black. In actual fact, their colour has nothing to do with their variety, it is merely an indication of the stage at which they were picked. Young olives are hard and pale green, whilst more mature fruit has had time to ripen and darken on the tree to a brown, purple or black colour.
Green Olives
Green olives are preserved by soaking them in barrels of brine for up to a year.
- Arbequina (Spain)
Tiny green fruit with a mild, smoky flavour. - Manzanilla (Spain)
Often pitted and stuffed with strips of red pimento (pimiento), anchovies, lemon peel or pieces of black olives and served as a snack. - Cerignola (Italy)
Large, with a wonderfully sweet flavour, ideal for adding to pizzas.
Black Olives
Black olives are intensely bitter, and so are soaked in an alkaline solution (usually wood ash (lye) or caustic soda) to help reduce this quality, before being marinated in oil or brine. They feature in a huge number of dishes; for example, they may be added whole into salads, rice and pasta dishes, or they may be chopped and used for stuffings, pizza toppings, pâtés or as a garnish.
- Kalamata (Greece)
Rich purple, almond shaped olives with a salty, fruity flavour, ideal for adding to the classic Greek salad with feta cheese. They are often sold with the stone in; left intact they give cooked dishes a particularly good flavour. - Nicoise (France)
Small purplish-black olives, with a distinctive sour flavour. Excellent when used to make Salad Niçoise (tuna, eggs, potatoes and olives) or tapenade.
