I've never bought olives before---any advice? (bread, butter, expensive, pepper)
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What kind are the black things put on ordinary pizzas? They don't taste like anything to me, just filler adding a little black color. I know they're bought in gallon sized cans by the pizzeria.
Exactly why I suggested to avoid any canned ones. Blergh
I find it rather amazing that in this day and age some people are still stuck on black and green canned olives. Find an olive bar and get 2 of each kind, you may not like them all, but you will never go back to canned
You have to try the Sicilian Castelvetrano olive - that's my favorite snacking olive. It's found at most olive bars and is also available in jars.
I'm serious - you absolutely have to try them.
I love most olives, I do like a good olive bar. I've never seen one with labels, however....how would I know a Sicilian Castelvetrano from any other garden variety olive bar olive?
Canned black olives are not brined or fermented like most olives. After soaking green olives in lye (a normal process for many types of olives, they are subjected to forced oxygenation and sometimes a ferrous (iron) solution to blacken them.
I love most olives, I do like a good olive bar. I've never seen one with labels, however....how would I know a Sicilian Castelvetrano from any other garden variety olive bar olive?
Look at the selection of olives and pick-out the lightest green olive that hasn't been pitted - that's probably the Castelvetrano. Once you've successfully identified a Castelvetrano you'll instantly recognize them from that point on. Even the ones in the jar are great - look for the Mezzetta brand.
I love Kalamata olives. My absolute favorite, though, are black, salty, and very wrinkled... and I don't know the name of them. My grocery store always has them in little containers at the deli section, but the name of them is never on the label. They look like the Nyon and the Beldi ones in the article I linked above. They are so delicious.
ETA: Oh, and I'll cut up green olives -- the kind that you get in a jar from a grocery shelf -- and put them on pizza (along with anchovies). I do like my salt, apparently!
From your description, those are probably oil-cured. All kinds of olives can be delicious in salads, but instead of a lettuce salad, try a Greek vegetable one with cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, and olives. You could also add in some chopped or sliced bell peppers and, most importantly, some crumbled feta. So much better than your typical lettuce concoction. Good luck!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by puginabug
I love most olives, I do like a good olive bar. I've never seen one with labels, however....how would I know a Sicilian Castelvetrano from any other garden variety olive bar olive?
The ones in the markets near me have labels, in your case I'd bring it to the store manager's attention. Nothing wrong with expecting to know what it is you're buying.
The ones in the markets near me have labels, in your case I'd bring it to the store manager's attention. Nothing wrong with expecting to know what it is you're buying.
I took a look at my olive bar. It's a small one so I am sure at the larger stores there's more details. But this one said, Greek Olives, Spanish Olives and Olive Medley. Also was Pepper Medley and Roasted garlic. Only ones that had more of a name were describing what it was stuffed with.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,326 posts, read 54,344,425 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by momtothree
I took a look at my olive bar. It's a small one so I am sure at the larger stores there's more details. But this one said, Greek Olives, Spanish Olives and Olive Medley. Also was Pepper Medley and Roasted garlic. Only ones that had more of a name were describing what it was stuffed with.
Mystery olives indeed. lol
I think a lot may depend on the level of competition in the area. I've noticed in my area that since a Trader Joe's and Whole (paycheck) Foods opened in the last coupla years the other chains are going to great lengths to improve varieties of what they have as well as customer service.
My biggest gripe with some of the olive bars near me is they're often out of the oil cured black ones I like as a base for tapenade.
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. Find an olive bar and get 2 of each kind, you may not like them all, but you will never go back to canned
) Foods opened in the last coupla years the other chains are going to great lengths to improve varieties of what they have as well as customer service.
