Olives and marble, since time immemorial

A slab of chill marble connected a blistery Greek summer’s day. On it, a small sheet with a fewer chunks of tomato and cheese, a meatball oregon two, possibly a fewer pickled anchovies, sardines oregon bonito, oregon a fewer slices of Lefkada salami. It depends. But there’s 1 point that’s ever there – connected the aforesaid sheet oregon connected different small crockery beside it – olives. On each table. A chameleon.

During fasts, during celebrations, Monday to Saturday and adjacent connected Sundays, astatine elemental mundane meals and dinners with guests. In the section kafeneio and astatine restaurants, for the affluent and the poor, paired with fancy wine oregon inexpensive beer: the olive, the astir regal, the astir plebian of Greece’s culinary treats.

Nothing tin lucifer the taste it leaves successful your mouth, something strange, similar an initiation into the mysterious world of flavor. Sharp and complex, it leaves its unique stamp connected the palate. Even a small kid trying olives for the archetypal clip will scope retired for more.

Every portion boasts its ain benignant and sanction – korfolia successful Corfu, psilolia successful Crete, mavia successful Kalamata, almadi successful Halkidiki… How they’re treated is conscionable arsenic varied, so that each olive becomes an look of a specific place, an full world. Matured successful the traditional Greek mode – successful a elemental saltwater brine – each small effect is simply a trove of goodness.

It is, perhaps, the astir past of Greek flavors, quintessential, enduring. Our ancestors astir apt ate the aforesaid olives we devour today. Imagine that – the aforesaid thing, thousands of years ago. It makes you consciousness practically historic.

Finding a bully olive is nary casual task, but the effort of doing so is simply a motion of civilization; it’s what makes it such a valuable treat, for oneself and one’s guests. It’s ever enough, wrong a crockery oregon connected the side, with a chunk of breadstuff and a tomato, oregon adjacent alone.

It represents the oldest method of fermentation successful Greece and it would beryllium wonderful if bars and restaurants today – particularly those that boast of their fermented preparations – besides prepared their ain olives. And if we brought them backmost to each table, successful each household and restaurant. It is the Greek way.

This portion archetypal appeared successful Gastronomos, Kathimerini’s nutrient magazine.