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(Updated 2 April 2006)

OLIVES

          The high position held by the olive tree may be realized when it is remembered that Moses exempted from military service men who worked at its cultivation. The olive tree represented peace and happiness. The victor in the Olympic games was crowned with the olive leaves. The olive oil, in addition to its wide use in diet, was burnt in the sacred lamps of temples, and even in Scriptural and classical writings the oil is mentioned as a symbol of goodness and purity.
          Olea europaea is a small evergreen tree. It grows to a height of 20 to 40 feet and has a pale grey bark. It has lanceolate leaves and blooms with little whitish flowers that are wonderfully fragrant. The tree begins to bear fruit sometime between its second and eighth year.
          The dark purple fruit is not really a fruit at all, but a drupe varying from half an inch to one inch long, ovoid and often pointed, with the fleshy part filled with oil. The thick, bony stone has a blunt keel down one side and usually contains a single seed.
          Once the olive tree bears fruit it usually takes about six years to repay cultivation. The tree then continues as a source of wealth even when it is old and hollow, although the crop varies greatly from year to year. Olive trees can attain great age, with some trees in the eastern Mediterranean estimated to be over 2,000 years old!
          Olives have been cultivated since prehistoric times in Asia Minor. From there, they spread all over the world. Today they are commercially produced in Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey, Portugal, China, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Angola, South Africa, Uruguay, Afghanistan, Australia, New Zealand, and here in the United States, in California. The first olive tree was planted in California around 1769 by Franciscan missionaries. In fact, all the "mission olives" grown today in California probably derive from the same trees grown at the Franciscan mission in San Diego. But the Mediterranean area still monopolizes olive production. Of the some 800 million olive trees growing on planet earth at this moment, fully 93 percent are growing in the Mediterranean.
          If forced to categorize the olive, most folks would place it in either the "vegetable" or "garnish" food group. In actuality, the olive is a naturally bitter fruit. Olives are grown mainly for the production of olive oil. Fresh, unprocessed olives are inedible because of their extreme bitterness resulting from a glucoside. The glucoside can be neutralized by treatments with a dilute alkali such as lye, and salt applications also dispel some of the bitterness. For the fruit to truly be edible requires a multi-step curing process. After curing, some olives marinate in vinegars or herb mixtures to give them signature taste characteristics. They vary in color from an unripe pale green through pinkish-brown to fully ripened jet black, and come in a wide range of sizes and shapes.
          Now lets take a look at some of the many different types of olives available at Enos Imports.
                         

ALPHONSO, or ALFONSO - This large Chilean olive has a very tender flesh, similar in texture to a small plum. The olive is cured in a wine or wine vinegar solution which gives it a beautiful dark purple color, a tart flavor and a satisfying sour/salt rush.

CERIGNOLA, also called Bella di Cerignola  - These enormous, mildly smoky and dense fleshed Italian olives come in green, red and black varieties. All have a sweet flavor. Bella Di Cerignola is from southern Italy.

GAETA, or GYETA - The Gaeta is a small, black Italian olive with a very tender, meaty, almost melt-away, texture and a pungent, strong-flavor reminiscent of a kalamata. Gaetas are on the naturally sour side, so they are usually either dry-cured (making them black and wrinkled) or brine-cured (making them dark purple and smooth-skinned).

BLACK GREEK - The Black olive is a medium to large olive with tender flesh and a luminous shiny black skin. The most common are those of Colossal and Super-Colossal size.

                          ALFONSO                                     CERIGNOLA                                PITTED GAETA               

GREEN OLIVE VARIETIES - Green olives are just what their name implies - olives picked before full ripeness. The most common variety is the Manzanilla olive, which is generally pitted and stuffed with pimento. These are the olives you see most often in the supermarket. Imported green olives from Greece and Italy are the most flavorful. They usually have a more crunchy, sour flavor and come in the larger sizes. Green olive varieties include such exotic names as the Agrinion, Arauco, Arbequina, green Cerignola, cracked Provençal, Kura, Lucque, Nafplion (or Naphlion), Picholine, Sevillano, and Sicilian. The Sicilian-style olive is a collossal size green olive that is marinated in spices and a vinegar-oil mixture that gives it a wonderful flavor. The picholine is small, elongated and pointed, with a firm, crunchy flesh and mellow flavor. As olives go, the picholine is on the sweet side. Originally from southern France, the picholine is now grown throughout the Mediterranean. The green olive is available with pits, pitted, or stuffed with a variety of things including red pepper, jalapeno peppers, almonds, and my favorite, garlic! It's a colossal green olive stuffed with a pickled garlic clove. If you like garlic, you'll want to inhale a pound in a single sitting. A bit of advice, however. If you're in close quarters, make sure everyone gets a taste!

GREEN PITTED               GREEN STUFFED/ALMONDS               PICHOLINE PITTED              SICILIAN STYLE

KALAMATA - The Kalamata is a strong, assertive flavored purplish brown-to-black olive, with medium-soft flesh and a pronounced, powerful olive flavor and high salt content. The kalamata has a somewhat bitter aftertaste. Traditionally the skin is slit to allow the brine to penetrate.  One of the more popular black olives, the genuine kalamata is from Greece, but kalamata type (called "kalamata typo") olives are also now available from other areas, most principally Morocco and Turkey. Kalamata olives are delicious with soy products like tofu and tempeh, and work wonders with leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables.  Because of their ability to temper bitterness with acidity, the kalamata is the olive most commonly found in salads.

  KALAMATA JUMBO              KALAMATA PITTED               KALAMATA TYPO              KALAMATA TYPO PITTED

NICOISE - The nicoise is an inky dark French olive originally from around Nice, France. As with most of these olives, they are now grown throughout the region. Nicoise are lightly salted and marinated in a brine seasoned with herbes de Provence, which gives them a sharp flavor best described as sour or bitter. The small size of the nicoise olive makes them difficult to pit.

 NICOISE OLIVES

OIL-CURED - Oil-Cured olives have an assertive, almost bitter flavor and are intensely black with a wrinkled, leathery surface brought about by the dry salt curing process. They are dry-cured in salt vs. in brine, and have been described as "pruney," although that description may have a lot to do with their appearance.  Since they retain more of their natural bitterness, oil-cured olives are better when cooked than eaten straight. The bottom line, you either love'em or hate'em! Oil-cured olives are usually packaged in 5 Kilogram vacuum-sealed bags to prevent drying out.

OIL CURED OLIVE               OIL CURED BAG

SPECIALTY OLIVES & OLIVE MIXES

THROUMBES - The Throumbes is a sun-dried black kalamata olive. They come packaged in plastic vacuum-sealed bags.

THROUMBES OLIVES     

SLASH TOURNANTE - The Slash is basically the same kalamata olive marinated in a brine of vinegar, olive oil, and lemon. The marinade tends to lessen the natural bitterness of the kalamata olive and gives it a fabulous flavor.

KEFALONIA 5-OLIVE MIX - Our Kefalonia Mix is a 5-olive mix marinated in a brine with herbs. It has a delicate flavor and is basically ready-to-serve.

KEFALONIA MIX          SLASH TOURNANTE

MEXICAN OLIVE MIX - Our Mexicali mix is composed of green olives, spices, peppers and baby corn marinated in a brine. It has a slight bite to it that is pleasing to the tongue.

TUNISIAN SPICY OLIVE MIX - Now this mix is for the person that likes their olives with substance. It has a variety of green and black olives marinated with herbs, peppers and spices, and the word to describe the tunisian mix is "hot!"

MARRAKECH OLIVE MIX - The marrakech mix is a better alternative for those who wish a Spanish taste without the bite of peppers. This mix has the peppers too, but they are minimized with the use of cumin and a bit of lemon. A nice flavored mix, and not one to set your taste buds on fire.

                 
MEXICAN                                TUNISIAN SPICY                         MARRAKECH