Olives!

chequita guevara · July 18, 2003, 22:33

YUM!

Olives are definately an aquired taste, and it's taken me some time to really get to like them. Not those whimpy canned California olives, but Italian, Sicilian, and GREEK olives. I used to pass an Italian grocers on the way home from work a few years back, and my ride and I would always stop in and buy all kinds of strange types of olives. My favorite had a light cure and was rather fruity.

I just bought a bottle of olives today that I'm totally loving. Krinos imported Cracked Green olives, from Greece. They're packed with olive oil, oregano, and peppercinis! YUM! I just got them cuz I saw that they were spicy olives, and I'm like, why are these so greasy, but damn they are good.

I'm gonna use some of them in a pasta sauce, but these are definately eatin' olives.

What about you?

Nubclear · July 18, 2003, 22:34

There are no foreign olives here in Logan.
However, they do sound good

LTEC! · July 18, 2003, 23:05

YUCK!

GePap · July 18, 2003, 23:10

Good olives are a wonderfull thing.

Yes, we all know how much aceitunas are loved in Mexico... Though half the people here would blanch at what is common fare in mexico...

Here in NYC we have a great selection. It was also always fun in Vienna to see the llive bars, with their big barrels of olives...

Sprayber · July 18, 2003, 23:13

Next time a waitress puts olives on a salad of mine, you all will be reading about a deranged psycho who shot up a local IHOP

LTEC! · July 18, 2003, 23:14

I have tried more than mexican olives, believe me.
kalamatas, blah, blah, blah.
bleargh.

Odin · July 19, 2003, 00:50

Black olives and olive oil are good but green olives are gross.

The Mad Monk · July 19, 2003, 01:04

I finally acquired a taste for olives last year -- it was like, "Okay, I'll have an olive -- hey! This is GOOD!" -- and I have them nearly every day now. My local supermarket's olive bar has plentiful, good, cheap olives.

The Mad Monk · July 19, 2003, 01:06

I just realized I'm stuck at work without olives.

Now I'm sad.

Giancarlo · July 19, 2003, 01:27

I am Spanish so you know how this business is.

The olives I had at Granada are far better than any of the other ones I ever had.

Neutrino · July 19, 2003, 01:30

Mmm olives.. I usually buy the black ones since they're cheaper but I like the green ones as well.

chequita guevara · July 19, 2003, 01:33

I tend to like green olives better, but not Spanish green olives, and especially not California Spanish green olives.

BTW, most black olives sold in the US are actually green olives treated with ferrous oxide to make them black. They aren't really black olives.

Giancarlo · July 19, 2003, 01:35

Sheesh... nothing wrong with Spanish olives.. in fact IMO they are the better ones on the market.

chequita guevara · July 19, 2003, 01:37

They're flavor is over the top. French, Greek and Italian olives show more subtley and nuances. You can taste the differences between different regions, where as Spanish olives are like olive bombs going off in your mouth.

Giancarlo · July 19, 2003, 01:38

You have a distorted view of how things really are. Have you ever had olives from Granada?

chequita guevara · July 19, 2003, 01:41

I have no idea, Fez. I've just had olives from Spain, where ever that is.

Giancarlo · July 19, 2003, 01:42

Granada is the Southern Province in Spain.

It depends on the region. The ones from the North are okay but not great.. the ones from the South are the ones that are best.

chequita guevara · July 19, 2003, 01:44

I know where Grenada is. I just don't know where the olives are from.

Almost bought some serrano ham but I couldn't find any manchuego to go with it, so I bought prociutto and fontinella. Itallian grilled ham and cheese.

Giancarlo · July 19, 2003, 01:46

Well I am Italian descended, so I also got loyalty to Italian products aswell.

chequita guevara · July 19, 2003, 01:49

Half dago and half dago.

Ted Striker · July 19, 2003, 02:36

I love olives but I've never eaten them by themselves.

They are really really healthy.

molly bloom · July 19, 2003, 02:41

Succulent, toothsome olives... on their own, or with herbs, in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, stuffed with preserved lemon, or anchovies, with blanched almonds, or artichoke paste.

A salad is incomplete without them. Australia has a flourishing olive growing industry, and here in Melbourne one can get Spanish, Italian, Greek Turkish and North African prepared olives. I like them especially in tagine style dishes, or with crumbly goat's cheese, or before having some bread and cream cheese and quince paste.

Proteus_MST · July 19, 2003, 07:15

Olives, yep, I often use them.

The Best Olives I ever had were from Spain.
Canned Olives with anchovies in them, to be used as Tapas.

They were just great. Too bad I haven´t found a shop which imports them from Spain

Az · July 19, 2003, 07:21

I live in one of the olive-countries. what do you think?

Wittlich · July 19, 2003, 08:22

Two words: Corning, California

(The Olive Capital of the USA)

Oh, and yes, I too likes my olives.

General Ludd · July 19, 2003, 08:23

I don't know the difference between any olives, I haven't been eating them long enough to know there was a difference (aside from colour). They can be really great on certain things (pizza toppings, for example) but are too strong for my tastes alone. I do know someone who eats them like candy, though.

lightblue · July 19, 2003, 08:27

I personally am a fan of the larger green ones, epsecially marinaded in oil, spices and garlic (jsut don't go on a date afterwards

).

General Ludd · July 19, 2003, 08:28

Blerg, replied instead of edited.

Cruddy · July 19, 2003, 08:29

Never tried a California olive - guess they can't compete economically against the closer EU varieties.

Used to be a strictly green olive guy, but over the past few years have enjoyed the black ones too.

I honestly couldn't tell by taste where an olive comes from - pretty sure most of my consumption comes from Greece & Turkey, with maybe a few Italian for variety.

@Fez; it wouldn't surprise me at all if Spanish olives are superior. Very often countries only export what they can't sell at home - so if I haven't seen any, they must be good!

Boris Godunov · July 19, 2003, 13:15

Olives are awesome, especially when resting at the bottom of my martini glass.