Instructions: I am in awe of the olive. Their ageless trees, their meaty fruit, their golden oil. They have graced the table of the humblest countryman, the canvas of the finest artists, and the groaning boards of the mightiest kings.

They found their way into twentieth-century cocktails (Martini, anyone?) yet theyre older than the Bible. A strong case could be made for the olive being the most influential and important ingredient of the last 8000 years.

Olives are all fruits from the Olea europaea tree, though today there are more than 700 cultivated varieties. Like other fruits, they consist of a pulp surrounding a seed. But unlike other fruits, their pulp is mostly oil, not water. Olives picked under-ripe are green, but they turn tan, red, and then black as they ripen.

An olives flavor varies with the ripeness and curing method. Some are slightly bitter, while other have sweet, fruity flavors. All olives are meaty, making them great matches with cocktails. A small bowl of Kalamata olives at happy hour is a grand way to spend an early evening.

First cultivated around 6000 BC, olives have coated Mediterranean culture the same way their oil soaks into a piece of crusty bread. They were the pride of ancient Greece, where the fruit was praised by Aristotle and the oil used to fuel the first Olympic torch. The Egyptians sealed their kings up with a symbol of the olive branch. There are more than 200 references to olives in the Bible, and Islams prophet Mohammed compared Gods radiance to burning olive oil.

Such a prestigious history of adoration and worship for a tiny green fruit is startling in light of its first impression. Olive trees themselves are far from noble in appearance. They sit, thick and gnarled, in clusters along Mediterranean hills like shy, elder citizens. They grow in sandy, nutrient-poor soil where other trees wont stoop to plunge in their roots. As for the fruit itself? To call a bite of a freshly picked olive an unpleasant experience would be overly kind. They are extremely bitter and flat-out inedible.

Yet much of the olives majesty is found in the effort it takes to coax its growth and, in turn, its golden oil. The trees need warmth and pruning to produce good fruit. Once picked, preparing a table olive for consumption can take months, and involves curing it in lye or brine. For oil, the fruits are picked or shaken into nets and processed at local olive oil production plants.

Olives are not instantly lovable, but the best things in life rarely are.

They charm the senses slowly, but when they finally do ....

"It is too beautiful," Vincent Van Gogh once said of an olive tree grove, "to try to conceive of it or dare to paint it."

Greek Olive Guide

The olives of Greece are the results 6000 years of cultivation and reverence.

In other words, theyre good.

Kalamata (sometimes spelled Calamata) is the most exported and recognizable Greek variety, large and meaty, with a strong aftertaste. A black, pungent olive, it is treated with brine, then marinated in oil and Greek red wine vinegar. Mort Rosenblum, in his great book Olives, said he believes Kalamatas produced the best oil; so little of it makes it across the Atlantic, however, that it is only obtainable in Greece.

Amphissa A juicy brown or black olive with a flavor that can range from slightly sweet to bitter. It tastes great with oregano.

Agriniou (Agrinion) is a big olive with a slightly sour taste and a light green color. The pulp is soft and succulent.

Atalandi (Atalanta) is a brown-purple, medium-sized olive from north of Athens. Its meaty pulp is soft and somewhat earthy.

Tsakiste is a firm, green, cracked (skin is cut) olive. Popular as a meze

(appetizer), its size can vary.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.