learn to love olives

I actually like the green ones now!! Just yesterday a housemate of mine offered me nicely spiced green olives in olive-oil. I actually think I’m gonna eat them!!

I’m trying, I’m trying!!

I don’t know if I’m going to succeed on this difficult goal. I just don’t seem to be able to get used to them.

Sparkle of hope, I DO seem to tolerate either the black or the green ones. I can’t remember which one, but they are the least salty tasting ones…

A couple of weeks ago, we went out for Greek food and ordered a Kalamata-Feta Cheese appetizer. Of course, if you put cheese on an old tire I’d try it.
Anyhoo, this was great! I ate almost all of it, leaving very little for my poor, dear hubby. But he was happy to see me eating olives!

The first time I tasted an olive I swallowed it whole, because I was in polite company and could not spit it out! I learned to love olives by making sure I pick only one from the salad, and then eating it, purely out of politeness. Before I knew it I loved them!

No offense to North America, but good olives were really hard to come by. I think the good ones were just crazy expensive and so I never had a chance to try any. Olives were just nasty things in jars. Now that I live in Europe they are everywhere and so_cheap and _so yummy. I could rant for hours about different varieties, marinades (is this what you call the spices, etc. that olives are mixed with?) seasonal variations…

it was tomatoes. they don’t crunch like vegetables and croutons. However, tomatoes are red and they are cheaper than red peppers—this makes them a vital part of a salad for aesthetic reasons. Also, the magazines say the easiest way to get your vitamins is to eat a variety of colors. And so, I’ve added tomatoes to every salad/sandwich for the past five years. and i like them now! love them, consider them vitally important to a good salad. i didn’t even realize it until i tried to leave them off in the ultimate econo-salad.

and now, i’m on to olives. i like the kalamatas. sort of.

visiting Turkey (the contry) or Greece. The olives there are outstanding. Try black olives sliced on sourdough bread with honey or sour cherry jam.

I had some with my lunch today. They were in a little cup with oil and rosemary. So I ate two. I think it’s the texture, more than anything else, that bothers me… but I’ll continue to try ‘em.

For me, it all started with my love of Olive Oil (and my abhorrence of olives). Then, I went to a restaurant where they added some pureed olives to their olive oil and I started seeing the similar tastes between olive oil and olives (subtle, but evident). And, I very, very slowly began eating them here and there. I’d make nachos and put one olive, finely cut, into the mix. After a while, I began enjoying the taste more and more. The rest is history.

and, if you’re trying to like green olives, start by slathering them in pesto. Every pesto lover/green olive hater I’ve known likes green olives in pesto… then eventually, start leaving off the pesto. Even if you don’t loooove them, they’re certainly more palatable.

And, the more dirty martinis, the better!