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Tapenade - a mighty mixture

PostPosted: Mon Sep 11, 2017 5:19 pm
by drew43
Tapenade is the Occitan word for capers but the actual paste goes back to Roman times. The earliest know recipe dates from the first century AD. However it is now most commonly regarded as having originated in Provence. Capers probably arrived there with people from Crete in Asia Minor in the sixth century BC. They were stored in jars with olive oil and a thick paste resulted which was and is the basis of Tapenade even though olives are the dominant ingredient



It is a mixture whose basic ingredients are black olives, capers and good olive oil. From there you can add a variety of herbs and spices as well as anchovies. There are many variations as one would expect from such an old pedigree. Many suggest the addition of a little garlic, perhaps some lemon zest, a sprig of finely chopped thyme. The main thing is the quality of the olives – not those bland tinned ones which have been stoned. Just experiment.

Ideally made with a pestle and mortar to crush the ingredients but this is rather labour intensive and a blender will work provided you do not blend too much – it should be a little chunky

It's uses are many: an appetizer with crusty bread and crudites, an ingredient in fish dishes, a sauce to flavour steamed waxy potatoes, to spread on griddled slices of aubergine with an extra slug of olive oil, with hard boiled eggs