Types of Olives

Olives come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and flavors, which depend on how the olives are cured and when they are picked. While most consumers are familiar with canned black Mission olives and the commonly pimento stuffed green Manzanilla olive, there are many more flavors and textures to explore in the olive world. Olives are suitable for a wide variety of culinary applications: inclusion in sauces for pizzas and pastas, ground into a tapenade, or eaten plain with bread and cheese, a traditional Greek meal. Because olive trees are native to the Mediterranean, the vast majority of unique preparations for olives are Mediterranean in nature.

The only difference between green olives and black olives is ripeness; unripe olives are green, whereas fully ripe olives are black. Because the raw green olives have a naturally bitter taste, they need to be cured. Olives are cured or pickled before consumption, using various methods including oil-cured, water-cured, brine-cured, dry-cured, and lye-cured. Green olives must be soaked in a lye solution to remove the bitterness before brining, whereas ripe black olives can proceed straight to brining. The longer the olive is permitted to ferment in its own brine, the less bitter and more intricate its flavor will become. Green olives are often pitted and stuffed with various fillings, including pimientos, almonds, anchovies, jalapenos, onions or capers. Pimientos are sweet, delicately-flavored peppers that, when combined with the olive, create a flavorful, salty, mild treat that is delicious with almost anything, or just by itself.

The world's major olive-growing countries are lush, dream-vacation locales: Spain, Greece, Italy, France, and Morocco. Not surprisingly, nearly all of the U.S. crop comes from California, which has the warm, dry climate conducive to olive-growing. The two types grown in California are Manzanillo and Sevillano. While all olive varieties can be harvested at different stages of ripeness (from green to black), optimally the California Sevillanos are picked green. Unlike olives harvested for olive oil, all table olives are handpicked, because they will bruise easily and that defect will be seen in the final cured fruit. The Sevillano olive is cured using a natural brine fermentation that is predominately water and salt. This cure began with Italian immigrants with a process known as the Sicilian cure.

California ripe olives don't refer to a single cultivar but rather to large green and black olives of either manzanillo or Sevillano trees. They're water-packed, and you can find them in cans and jars all over the United States. Per The California Olive Committee, the California ripe traces its history back to the mission olives. The curing process involves a mix of lye and water baths that include air bubbles being pumped into the brine. The California Olive Committee says this oxidation is why the olives are black. To keep olives green, they don't add air. California ripe olives come in many sizes, and you can buy them chopped, sliced, whole, and pitted — they're very versatile. Mild and nutty, these olives are commonly used as pizza toppings and in Tex-Mex dishes such as seven-layer dip. 

The term "stuffed olives" doesn't refer to a single cultivar or brand. Different olives are used for stuffing, but they're almost always green since unripe olives are sturdier. You can buy them or stuff them yourself. Mental Floss says that in the United States, the pimento-stuffed green olive is perhaps the most well-known.  Pimento peppers are the sweetest peppers out there (they're rated even lower than bell peppers on the Scoville scale). Though they may be popular in the U.S., pimento olives date back to 18th century France, according to USA Today. How do those little pepper pieces get into the olive? Well, it can be done by hand or by machinery. These stuffed olives are a very popular garnish in martinis and as appetizers.  But there is so much more to stuffed olives than pimento. In Spain, you can easily find anchovies in your olives. In Turkey, lemon, orange peel, or almond are common fillers.

A Little History - The edible olive seems to have coexisted with humans for about 5,000 to 6,000 years, going back to the early Bronze Age (3150 to 1200 BC). Its origin can be traced to the Levant based on written tablets, olive pits, and wood fragments found in ancient tombs. At least one cookbook writer notes that the most ancient evidence of olive cultivation is found in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Crete. Homer makes many references to the olive in the Odyssey.

The Romans began cultivating olives around the 8th century BC. Olive trees were well-suited to the Mediterranean climate of the region, and their fruits provided a valuable source of oil, which was not only used for cooking but also for various medicinal, cosmetic, and religious purposes. Olive oil was a staple of Roman cuisine, used in cooking, as a condiment, and even as a base for perfumes and cosmetics. It was also a symbol of wealth and prosperity, and large olive estates, known as "latifundia," were established throughout the Roman Empire to produce olive oil for consumption and trade. Olive branches were used as symbols of peace and victory, and they were often given to victorious athletes and military commanders. Olives were also used in religious ceremonies and offerings to the gods. The olive tree itself was considered sacred, and the olive wreath became a symbol of honor and achievement. Using an olive branch as a symbol of peace dates back to ancient Greece.

The Main Styles of Olives:

• Spanish-style Green Olives - unripened green olives undergo a lye treatment before brine-curing
• Sicilian-style Olives
• Greek-style Olives - made from olives that have been allowed to ripen on a tree. They are dry salt cured and rubbed with olive oil. They are very strong tasting, black, and wrinkle
• Oil-cured Olives

Spanish-style Green Olives

Naturally fermented green olives, mainly of the Mission or Manzanilla cultivars, are prepared in the Spanish-style, meaning it has undergone a lye treatment before brine-curing. Spanish olives start as hand-picked, unripened green olives. They are first submerged in a bath of lye for a few hours to remove their bitterness. The fruit is then rinsed and soaked in a strong 8% salt brine for three months, causing fermentation. This gives them their characteristic tartness. The olives are then bottled in salt brine, capped and pasteurized.

Manzanilla ("man-zah-nee-ya") 

The Manzanillas are grown almost everywhere in Spain and especially Andalusia. Medium size, crisp and green. Smoky. Medium-sized with a good flesh-to-pit ratio, manzanilla olives represent what most people think of as Spanish olives — so much so that another name for them is Spanish olive. "They're tangy and nutty," "With a smooth texture."

Easy to pit and often stuffed with pimentos; in Spain the most popular stuffing is anchovies. They are the classic martini olive. Marinate them in olive oil and fresh herbs and serve them as a pre-dinner snack. A staple of Spanish tapas paired with anchovies, sheep’s milk cheese, and Rioja wine.

Manzanillas have been a popular variety in California since the 1960s. The "California black-ripe" curing method, developed circa 1905–1910, has led to the Manzanilla variety mainly being used for canned black olives.

Gordal

Large and robust, these are the ideal olives for stuffing. "A good stuffed olive is one of those perfect bites," Sibonney says. Simply split the olive lengthwise, remove the pit, and stuff it. Sibonney likes hers stuffed with roasted piquillo pepper and a whole Marcona almond, then topped with crumbled blue cheese.

Gordal Olives – Gordal olives are another popular olive of Spain. Gordal olives are also known as queen olives and are jumbo in size. They are popular table olives and are usually picked green and brined. Gordals are very meaty and have a mild flavor. They are very popular for martinis because of their mild flavor and large size.

Hojiblanca

Sibonney describes this fairly large olive as "spicy, sharp, and crisp with a nice bite." That's because hojiblancas have thicker skin than other olives. "They're beautiful in marinades or snacking on their own," Sibonney says. "But you can also throw them into stews whole."

Hojiblanca Olives – Hojiblanca olives are a popular Spanish olive. They have a great flavor with a bit of an almond and peppery flavor. The Hojiblanca is a large variety and are ripened to a light purple coloring. Even though they are used as a table olive, their most popular use is for the making of olive oil.

Cacereña

Fruity and nutty, these olives are milder than most other Spanish olives, making them a perfect introductory type for people who are just starting to explore olives. Sibonney likes to use them in stews or make them into olivada, a Spanish olive paste that can be spread on bread, used as a crust for fish, or even dolloped on top of hard-boiled eggs.

• Sicilian-style Olives: A medium green color olive that is cured in a salt brine and preserved with lactic acid. Made from a larger sevillano variety, they are crisp and salty. - green and black
  Californian, salt-brine cured and preserved with lactic acid, very crisp.
  Sicilian Colossals, these oversized olives have a dense, somewhat sour or tart flesh.
  Sicilian and Kalamata olives have similar curing methods. Sicilian olives are soaked in salt and lactic acid for one year. The same process, minus the lactic acid is used to cure Kalamata olives, as well as Amphissa, Niçoise, Picholine, Cerignola and Gaeta olives. Similarly, many “home cured” olives are prepared by soaking the olives in water that is changed on a daily basis, after which the olives are cured in salt brine for several months.
• Oil-cured Olives: These wrinkled black olives have a meaty, chewy texture and are often very salty.
• Drying or Salt Curing Dry Curing is the approach that starts with ripe, soft olives and results in salty, chewy varieties, such as the Dry Greek olive. Before curing, the olives are gently “smashed” to allow moisture to permeate their skins. Then the fruit is layered and covered with salt for four weeks. After curing, the olives are immersed in hot water to remove the salt, rinsed in cold water, and spread out to dry. The olives are then coated with olive oil (which is why they are sometimes called “oil cured”) before being packed and sterilized.

Here are some of the more popular olive varieties:

Cerignola	This enormous olive is sold both green and black. The green variety has a mild and vegetal flavor. When black, the flesh is softer and sweeter, and the pit is much easier to remove.
Gaeta
Kalamata	These big, dark purple olives are well known outside their homeland of Greece. They're named for a city in the region they come from and fall under the protection of the European Union's designation of origin. That means that many places around the world can only sell the Kalamata cultivar as "kalamata" if it actually comes from that region. Otherwise, the olive is usually sold as a kalamon (via the EU Commission).  Kalamata: Greek black olive harvested when fully ripe. Deep purple in color, almond-shaped, with a rich and fruity flavor. It is usually brine-cured, then jarred in vinegar. The Kalamata has a meaty texture with a bit of a sweet fruit flavor. Often marinated in olive oil for robust, smoky flavor. The Kalamata olive is a favorite olive of Greece. Especially popular in U.S. markets and a good choice in most recipes calling for black olives. Use: salads, tomato dishes, lamb. (Greece)
Niçoise
Oil-Cured
Sicilian Green