Overview

The olive is the fruit of the olive tree (Olea europaea). It is a major food crop across the Mediterranean region and in areas with a Mediterranean climate. Raw olives are intensely bitter due to the phenolic compound oleuropein and must be cured or fermented before consumption. The fruit is also the source of olive oil, one of the three core ingredients of Mediterranean cuisine alongside wheat and the grape.

Origin and history

The olive tree was domesticated in the eastern Mediterranean, with evidence of cultivation in Crete and the Levant by at least 3000 BCE [1]. Wild olives (Olea europaea var. sylvestris) were gathered earlier, but the transition to domesticated trees producing larger, oilier fruit occurred over centuries. Olive oil became a central commodity in Minoan, Greek, and Roman economies, used for cooking, lighting, anointing, and trade. Spanish colonizers brought olives to the Americas in the 16th century, establishing groves in Peru and Mexico. Today, about 90% of harvested olives are pressed for oil; the remainder are cured for table use [2].

Varieties and aliases

  • Manzanilla: Small, round, green Spanish olive, commonly pitted and stuffed with pimiento.
  • Kalamata: Large, almond-shaped, purple-black Greek olive, brine-cured with red wine vinegar.
  • Castelvetrano: Bright green, mild, buttery Sicilian olive.
  • Niçoise: Small, brown-purple French olive, brine-cured, used in salade niçoise.
  • Botija: Peruvian black olive from Tacna, cured in salt and oil, used in pulpo al olivo.
  • Mission: Black olive variety developed in California by Spanish missions.
  • Halkidiki: Large green Greek olive from the Halkidiki peninsula.
  • Picholine: Elongated green French olive, crisp and nutty.

Culinary uses

Olives are eaten whole as a table fruit, chopped into salads, pastes, and sauces, or pressed for oil. Green olives are typically harvested earlier and cured in brine or lye; black olives are ripened on the tree before curing. They appear in tapenades, puttanesca sauce, muffuletta sandwiches, and as a garnish in cocktails (the martini olive). In Mediterranean cuisines, olives are paired with bread, cheese, tomatoes, anchovies, capers, and herbs like oregano and thyme. Olive oil is used for dressing, frying, roasting, and finishing dishes.

Cross-cuisine context

Olives are not native to Mexico or Mesoamerica, but they entered Mexican cuisine through Spanish colonization. They appear in festive tamales (tamales de cambray from Chiapas, tamales colorados and tamales negros from Guatemala), in Peruvian tamales criollos and juane, and in Salvadoran tamales de gallina. In Filipino cuisine, green olives are a signature ingredient in kaldereta, a tomato-and-liver-paste stew derived from Spanish caldereta [3]. In Levantine and Armenian cuisines, olives are a standard meze item, served alongside labneh, za’atar, and flatbread. In Persian cooking, olive oil is used in finishing soups (ash) and in salad dressings like Salad Shirazi. In Russian cuisine, olives appear in solyanka, a sour soup with pickled cucumber and brine. The olive has no direct analogue in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cooking; its role as a briny, fatty accent is functionally closest to that of capers or pickled chiles in some contexts.

Where in LA

Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center in National City (San Diego area) is a farmworker organization with mission-aligned Mexican/Latino food heritage education. It is not in Los Angeles proper. Olives are widely available at grocery stores and specialty markets throughout LA, including Mediterranean and Middle Eastern markets in Little Arabia (Anaheim) and Armenian markets in Glendale and Burbank.

Notes for cooks

  • Curing method determines flavor: brine-cured olives are salty and firm; oil-cured olives are wrinkled, soft, and concentrated.
  • Pitted olives are convenient but lose some texture; whole olives can be pitted with a cherry pitter or the flat side of a knife.
  • Store opened olives in their brine or oil in the refrigerator; they keep for several weeks. Olive oil should be stored in a cool, dark place and used within a few months of opening.