OLIVES

KALAMATA & OTHER GREEK OLIVES

Most consumers recognize Greek table olives either by their place names (Kalamata, Atalanti, Amfissa, Halkidiki, etc.) or by their curing and processing methods (cracked, split, salt-cured, brine-cured, etc.). While there are dozens of different kinds of olives, only three main varieties are commercially important as table olives. But these few types of olives come in many sizes, and from many different parts of Greece, so that they all look different and are all called by different names.

All olives change from green to black as they mature, and all are bitter and inedible unless cured. Depending on the variety and the curing method, some olives are processed unripe, or green, while others are left to mature and darken on the tree. Others still are purposely harvested late, when their skins are leathery and wrinkled.

Following is a list and brief description of Greek table olives as they are most commonly called in the market.

 

KALAMATA

The king of Greek table olives and one of the best-known olives in the world. Kalamata olives are shiny, brownish-black, and tight-skinned with a characteristic almond shape. The Kalamata is the most highly prized black olive, and it is usually slit on two sides and preserved in vinegar and/or olive oil. Volos, Amfissa, Agrinio, Stylida, and Atalanti olives, along with the Kalamata, all belong to the Conservolia variety. This is the large, oval olive which accounts for more than 80% of all the table olive production in Greece. It starts off a rich dark green when it is unripe and changes into a whole spectrum of different colors as it matures: greenish-yellow, greenish red, mahogany, and finally, a dark bluish-black. Conservolia is the most versatile Greek olive, processed with equal success as a green and black olive.

 

TSAKISTES

These olives generally belong to the Megaritiki variety and are colloquially called tsakistes, or “cracked.” Tsakistes grow mainly in Attica. They are almost always cured as a green olive, often flavored with garlic and lemon wedges.

 

WRINKLED BLACK OLIVES

There are many different wrinkled olives produced in Greece. The best known is the Throumba, closely associated with the island of Thassos in the northern Aegean. These are the wrinkled, reddish brown, meaty olives that are left to ripen on the tree and are salt-cured. Another excellent wrinkled Greek olive comes from Halkidiki. It is larger and meatier than the Thassos Throumba, with a thinner skin and brownish, not black, color.