The market · Fruit · Southern Europe, North Africa
Black olives
Olives left on the tree to ripen, from purple-brown to black — winier and less bitter than green. The olive of tapenade, pissaladière and much Provençal and Greek cooking.
salty · winey · bitter
What to do with it
CatalanEsqueixadaA summer salad of raw salt cod torn into shreds, with tomato, onion, peppers and black olives, dressed with olive oil.No one here has made it yetProvençalPissaladièreA thick bread dough spread with onions cooked slowly to a sweet mass, criss-crossed with anchovies and dotted with black olives.No one here has made it yetProvençalGardiane de taureauBull's meat from the Camargue stewed slowly in red wine with onions, garlic and black olives, served with the delta's own rice.No one here has made it yetCreole and CajunMuffulettaA round Sicilian sesame loaf, split and stacked with cured meats, provolone and a chopped olive salad soaking into the bread.No one here has made it yetPeruvianJuaneRice seasoned with turmeric and cumin, packed round chicken, egg and olive in bijao leaves, tied and boiled.No one here has made it yet
Kinds
- Kalamata
- Purple-black, almond-shaped, fruity and winey.
- Niçoise
- Tiny and brown-black — the olive of salade niçoise and pissaladière.
- Dry-cured
- Wrinkled and intense, salt-cured rather than brined.
Goes with
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Delis, with the stone in. Tinned, uniformly black olives are green olives darkened chemically and taste of little.
- Worth knowing
- Stone them by pressing with the flat of a knife.
