Olives

[darkerhorse]

I grew up on Sicilian green olives, eaten by itself or marinated with olive oil in a salad with carrots, celery, crushed red pepper (and maybe artichoke?) after the "bones" were removed (pitted).

We also had the purple olives which I believe are Greek (kalamata).

There was a third olive, small, black, wrinkly and more bitter. Anyone know about that one?

[MarcuccioV]

I grew up on Sicilian green olives, eaten by itself or marinated with olive oil in a salad with carrots, celery, crushed red pepper (and maybe artichoke?) after the "bones" were removed (pitted).

We also had the purple olives which I believe are Greek (kalamata).

There was a third olive, small, black, wrinkly and more bitter. Anyone know about that one?

Our neighbors (from Bari) made Olive oil and cured olives as well. I know about the wrinkled bitter ones (I don't like anything bitter) but do not know what they were called. We knew the green ones as "Spanish olives". I like Kalamata's or the lye-cured black olives. The town in SoCal I grew up in (Sylmar) was named for the olive trees that grow there. It literally means "sea of trees" in Spanish. It was (and may still be) the olive-growing capital of the SW US...

The "salad" you refer to sounds a lot like "giardiniera" which is a common condiment in Chicago.

Come to think of it, I believe we just referred to the wrinkly olives as "Greek style".

[darkerhorse]

Do you mean the smaller green olives stuffed with pimento? We called those Spanish olives. The green Sicilian olives were larger and not stuffed.

Our purple olives were marinated in red wine vinegar.

The small, black olives with the wrinkles were likely dried.

[MarcuccioV]

Do you mean the smaller green olives stuffed with pimento? We called those Spanish olives. The green Sicilian olives were larger and not stuffed.

Our purple olives were marinated in red wine vinegar.

The small, black olives with the wrinkles were likely dried.

The ones we referred to as "Spanish" were large and unpitted. I went out once with Domenico (the neighbor) & picked boxes of olives.

The wrinkly bitter ones were served in olive oil.

[darkerhorse]

I only remember having capers in my Sicilian grandmother's cooking or when my mother made one of her recipes.

Two examples are veal schiacciata and pizza (faccia di vecchia?).

I think both dishes also had Sicilian green olives too. I recall liking the taste of warm olives.

Are capers common in cooking throughout Italy?

[MarcuccioV]

We make a "Chicken Cacciatore" dish (NOT like the traditional type, no tomatoes) made with olive oil, rosemary, anchovies, artichoke hearts, onions, garlic, Kalamata olives and capers. But I believe the capers may have been my wife's addition (it was my mother's & grandmother's creation). I have had capers in Italian food in restaurants, but as to Italy I don't know...

[bbivona]

I grew up on Sicilian green olives, eaten by itself or marinated with olive oil in a salad with carrots, celery, crushed red pepper (and maybe artichoke?) after the "bones" were removed (pitted).

We also had the purple olives which I believe are Greek (kalamata).

There was a third olive, small, black, wrinkly and more bitter. Anyone know about that one?

We raise olives and make oil in Sicily. Our uliveto is between Castellammare del Golfo and Scopello. The ones we raise are cerasuola olives, which is what most folks in the area raise. It turns a dark purple color when fully ripe. There's more oil in them once fully ripe, but the flavor is more intense if harvested slightly before then when it's a kind of purple/green blend. Not all the trees mature at the same rate and not all the olives on a particular tree mature at the same rate, so you have to just sort use judgment to figure out when there is the right balance. You end up with some fully purple, some still green, and some at a stage in between, but done with the right balance, the blend in the oil is delicious.

As for "Sicilian green olives" there are number of cultivars. My cousins are further inland, near Gibellina, and they raise Nocellara del Belice olives, which are fairly large green ones. Common in the Belice River Valley and around Santa Margherita and Castelvetrano. Excellent for both oil and eating the brined olives.