Simple Spanish Food

Finding Great Spanish Olives at Bargain Prices

Whenever Ana is shopping in a discount department store like T.J. Maxx, Tuesday Morning, etc. she makes sure to check the gourmet foods aisle.  Many times she will find really good Spanish olives at rock bottom prices.

Her most recent finds were La Masrojana olives at the Maxx.  They were a steal at $5 dollars for a big jar, and they're good olives--very close in quality to what you could find at an olive stand in Spain.  

We tried the gazpacha olives--cracked olives in a thyme- and pimentón-spiced brine, packed with small pickled cucumbers and carrots (a typical Spanish combo). They're slightly tangy and great with beer or vermouth.

We also tried big, fat gordal olives (a favorite table olive in Spain).

My favorite were the black empeltres.  They had deep complex flavor, with lots of oak- and leather notes.  They're fantastic with sherry.

 

See my post on Spanish olives for more information.  You may also like to see La Tienda's olive page.

 

Madrid's Finest Olive? Aceitunas de Campo Real

Months ago, Jim, a reader of Simple Spanish Food, asked us to identify a certain olive (pictured above) that is served in many of the best tapas bars in Madrid.

 We knew the olive he was talking about at once. We had enjoyed these olives countless times. They're small, round,  bright-green, and shiny. The texture is firm, almost crisp. The flavor is delicate but deep, with hints of oak and herbs.   Just thinking about those olives made my mouth water. But unfortunately neither Ana nor I knew what they were called.

While in Madrid for Christmas,  Ana did some investigating, and now we know. These fabulous olives are called Campo Real. They come from  a denominación de calidad of the same name, about an hour outside of Madrid.  Aceitunas camporreal are marinated in thyme, garlic, fennel, and oregano, but the herb flavors are subtle, not overpowering. They are used to bring out the wonderful taste of the olive itself.

At this time of year these olives are called Campo Real nueva--new--because they are from this fall's harvest.  That is, they've just completed their brining and marinading.  In the bottom right of the picture below (taken at a Madrid olive stand) you can see a big jar of camporreal nueva.

According to the kind bartender at Madrid's wonderful old sherry bar, La Venencia, which serves  olives from Campo Real (and only from Campo Real), these olives aren't quite as pretty later in the year, when they are no longer nueva, new.  That said, we've had them in May and even October and they looked gorgeous to us.

Unfortunately, aceitunas camporreal are not available in the U.S.--or any place else outside of Spain, so far as I know. Until recently even in Madrid they were  sold only in large quantities and served mainly in bars.  So these olives are yet another reason to visit Spain. 

There's no real substitute for them, but if you're looking for a good Spanish olive in a similar style you might try these manzanilla olives available at La Tienda.

Olives (aceitunas)

The subject of Spanish olives is so huge that I'll hardly scratch the surface with this post.  Spain produces more olives than any other country (over  twice as much as Italy, and many times more than France or Greece). There are hundreds of varieties of olives in cultivation in Spain. These vary according to the region where they are grown and also how they're prepared. 

Enter just about any tapas bar in Spain and order a drink and it will likely be served with a complimentary plate of olives. What type of olives depends on the bar and where in Spain you are. 

They may be simple brined olives.  These range from rich and black to crisp and green, and everything in between. The flavor of brined olives often has a hint of oak, much like an aged wine.

Or you may be served large, meaty, cracked olives, spiced with herbs, garlic, and (sometimes) citrus peel.  These spiced olives seem to be especially popular in the south of the country. We always eat them when we're in Córdoba.

Or the olives may be pitted and stuffed--with anchovy (salt cured or smoked), or with slivers of almond or, yes, even with  pimiento.  But stuffed olives in Spain are much, much, MUCH better than the stuffed olives usually sold in U.S. supermarkets. (Keep reading for more info on the problems with most supermarket olives).

If you're throwing a tapas party, you want to have good olives.  Like bread and wine, olives are very nearly indispensable when it comes to Spanish food.   Whether you choose simple brined olives or cracked, spiced olives or stuffed olives is up to you.  All three can be outstanding--if they're quality olives.  That's an important "if": not all olives labeled "Spanish Olives" are good.

Sadly,  U.S. supermarkets still tend to carry the worst Spanish olives.  The cheap (and sometimes not so cheap)  jars you see labeled "Spanish Olives" taste nothing like the olives eaten in Spain.  I can only imagine that some entrepreneur generations ago realized that anglos didn't know much about olives and got rich selling the worst of the worst.  Supermarket olives are usually way too salty. The texture nor the flavor is what it should be. The "pimento peppers" they're often stuffed with are actually a paste injected by a machine.  It's no wonder that so many people in the U.S. don't like olives. 

Even when I go to a supermarket with a pretty good olive stand, like Whole Foods, I will rarely find Spanish olives. There will be a selection of olives from France, Italy, and Greece--all pretty good--but nothing from Spain.

It is possible  to get high quality Spanish olives on-line.  La Tienda carries a great selection of Spanish olives. They have simple brined olives, cracked and spiced olives, olives stuffed with piquillo peppers. You name it.  Check out La Tienda's olive page for more information.

A new on-line Spanish food store Raposo's Gourmet & Tapas carries Serpis, a good brand of stuffed olives,  including green olives stuffed with smoked anchovies.  Check out Raposo's olive page for more information.