Spanish Olives

I had the best olives I've ever tasted in Spain. Can anyone recommend a good place to find those succulent green olives?

(I never met an olive I didn't like, so if you are holding out on info about a different kind of olive......spill the beans!)

Thanks!

funghi wrote:I had the best olives I've ever tasted in Spain. Can anyone recommend a good place to find those succulent green olives?

(I never met an olive I didn't like, so if you are holding out on info about a different kind of olive......spill the beans!)

Thanks!

There are indeed some excellent varieties of Spanish table olives... Gordal de Granada, the various Manzanilla types, and -- probably best known -- the Gordal Sevillana (which are grown widely elsewhere, including in California)... Since olives are cured, they ship well, so it comes down to getting ones that haven't been allowed to sit around too long or otherwise maltreated. Jars of Spanish olives can be gotten in lots of places but if you haven't been to Deliberico, you should perhaps go there:
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=53916#53916

Up-scale groceries and gourmet shops should have good ones too, e.g., Fox & Obel, Whole Foods, either packaged one way or the other or perhaps also in an olive bar set-up.

Quite different from the typical Spanish style of curing is the Greek black olive style but there is in my opinion (and the opinions of many) no finer table olive than the Kalamata. For those, you can go to Athens Market, where the turnover is high and thus also the quality. They also offer a wide range of other Greek table olives.
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=9943#9943

In the western suburbs, Minos is a great source for Greek olives as well:
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=68649#68649

For Italian olives, including the large Sicilian green olives, you might want to try Graziano's, who also carry Kalamatas; good prices and quality always there:
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=25595#25595

The various Italian salumerie amd groceries (Bari, Conte di Savoia, Riviera, Caputo's) are good for olives and some carry Spanish olives but depending on type of olive and particular shop and the whims of Minerva, turnover isn't always optimal. Still, one can peruse them in the deli counter and see what sort of condition they're in.

For further varieties and curing styles, try also the Arab shops up around Kedzie and Lawrance (Al Khayam, Sahar, also Andy's).

I hope that helps.

Antonius

Links fixed.

Thank you!
You know your olives!

Another absolutely delicious and generally hard-to-find variety, arbequina, can be found at the Marcey Street Market, the small high-end market tucked in the back of Sam's.

Sam's Wine & Spirits
1720 N. Marcey Street
Chicago 60614
Monday - Saturday: 8am-9pm
Sunday: 11am-6pm
Phone: 312-664-4394
Fax: 312-664-7037

Enjoy!

Gypsy Boy wrote:Another absolutely delicious and generally hard-to-find variety, arbequina, can be found at the Marcey Street Market

I also regularly see arbequinas at Whole Foods and Fox & Obel. Tasty little guys, those.

Kristen