Over 300 million olive trees grow in Spain, making it the world's leading producer of olive oil and table olives. The fruit of the olive tree is a drupe but, unlike other stone fruits, the sugar content is very low and the flavor very bitter. This means that olives cannot be eaten raw. In order to make them edible and to preserve them, they are processed in different ways depending on the variety, their ripeness and the traditions the different regions. In some cases, the traditional methods for preparing table olives are as old as the human need for preserving food and are based on a resource that has always been plentiful in the Mediterranean, salt.
Gilda |
Table olives can be made from green or black olives or any of the intermediate colors of the fruits as they ripen. In Spain, the usual method is to use green olives picked before they are fully ripe and pickled by what is known as the Spanish or Sevilian method. The Spanish table olive sector offers olives in a variety of trade presentations - stoned, stuffed, halved or quartered and seasoned, amongst others. The latter are olives with or without their stones and stuffed or empty, with other ingredients in the brine, such as peppers, capers, gherkins, pickled onions, etc. It is frequent for the brine to include herbs and spices, in line with traditional presentations. The best varieties for table olives are Manzanilla from Sevilla, which is a fleshy olive with a fine texture, spherical shape and medium size, and the famous Gordal olives, which have a very low oil content and are larger than most. Of the many ways in which green olives are industrially processed and presented, stoned olives stuffed with anchovies, pepper or almonds tend to be amongst the most popular for their flavour and colour. The Hojiblanca variety, characteristic of Andalucía, is a dual-purpose olive, that is, it can be used either for making oil or for table olives. The Manzanilla Cacereña variety is grown in the provinces of Cáceres (Extremadura) and to a lesser extent in Salamanca (Castilla-León). It is used to make delicious, seasoned black olives. Another dual-purpose variety that mostly reaches consumers as black olives is the Empeltre, from Aragón. |
Pick a Pickle!
Pickles are products, such as scallions and gherkins, which have been acidified, generally in vinegar. Alongside them are capers, the closed flower buds of the Capparis Spinosa, considered in ancient times to have medicinal properties.
Banderillas are a combination of pickled or brined vegetables on a skewer. A typical banderilla might include little onions, cucumber pickles (whole or sliced), various sorts of peppers (both piquant and mild), and, almost always, a pitted olive. Many banderillas also include pickled or brined fish. Anchovies, both cured (anchoas) and pickled (boquerones) are probably the most common.
A Gilda is a combination of gherkin, olive, pepper (sometimes also onion) and canned fish, usually an anchovy, served on a stick.
Banderillas are a combination of pickled or brined vegetables on a skewer. A typical banderilla might include little onions, cucumber pickles (whole or sliced), various sorts of peppers (both piquant and mild), and, almost always, a pitted olive. Many banderillas also include pickled or brined fish. Anchovies, both cured (anchoas) and pickled (boquerones) are probably the most common.
A Gilda is a combination of gherkin, olive, pepper (sometimes also onion) and canned fish, usually an anchovy, served on a stick.
