Black olives matter

Page 3 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
14,635
3,006
136
i've had some kalamata ones, they are maybe even better than the black ones, but i can't find them regularly.
green olives, the large, meaty ones can be good, or can be completely tasteless.
small green olives are ok in a martini, otherwise they just taste like a bite of salt.

never had red olives.
 

MongGrel

Lifer
Dec 3, 2013
38,466
3,067
121
My experiencd with black olives on pizza is that pizza shops use flavorless canned black olives. I love olives, but canned? Blah!

The wife even made a pizza tonite and I asked her "No black olives ?" and "She went into damned I forgot those" mode.



9dQjmwT.jpg


I know several people don't like these pics, but she's from upstate NY and Italian and likes the thick oily ones, I agree.

She remembered her sun dried tomatoes on her side, at least she put the mushrooms on mine :)
 
Last edited:

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
167
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
Bah. And bland, waterlogged mushrooms. :( The next time you make pizza, try some fresh mushrooms. Hell, even the cheap type in grocery stores are better than canned.
 
Sep 12, 2004
16,852
59
86
this. salt-cured aren't the only type of "real" black olives (as if the canned wet and bland ones are simply the cheap version of the same thing).

No one should be eating canned black olives. Plenty of properly brined black olives out there, and they are delicious.
They are definitely delicious. And a lot of canned black olives aren't actually black olives. They are green olives artificially turned black using a sulfur-based compound.

Unfortunately my wife doesn't like olives of any variety. It was never a part of her upbringing. She keeps trying to like them, bless her heart, but she just can't seem to grasp the salty, oily, umami deliciousness. She will never comprehend the beauty of a delectable tapenade. Her loss. Doesn't stop my love of them.
 

Auric

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
9,591
2
71
Yeah, black pitted and canned are awful mush. The big jars of Kalamata with pits from Costco (don't remember the brand) have always been good -presumably the high turn over helps too 'cause I've had similar from supermarkets that were a bit soft.
 

MongGrel

Lifer
Dec 3, 2013
38,466
3,067
121
Bah. And bland, waterlogged mushrooms. :( The next time you make pizza, try some fresh mushrooms. Hell, even the cheap type in grocery stores are better than canned.

Those are fresh mushrooms, actually, not canned.

That isn't water, oil from the fresh Italian sausage I guess.

I actually love anchovies, but the wife won't go anywhere near one.
 
Last edited:

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
167
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
Those are fresh mushrooms, actually, not canned.

That isn't water, oil from the fresh Italian sausage I guess.

I actually love anchovies, but the wife won't go anywhere near one.
Ahh, okay. I wasn't referring to the grease on top of the pizza for the water-logged, I was specifically referring to mushrooms coming from a can - they stay too moist & slimy, with very little flavor. Fresh mushrooms have much more flavor, and except on your pizza, usually don't take on that pale green color that they seem to develop in the cans.

Did you cook that pizza with raw sausage? That does seem like quite a bit of grease to be left over from the cooking process, but otherwise, does look like a reasonably tasty pizza.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,402
8,574
126
Bah. And bland, waterlogged mushrooms. :( The next time you make pizza, try some fresh mushrooms. Hell, even the cheap type in grocery stores are better than canned.
Roast your mushrooms first, then chop and add to pizza. Roast mushroom, jalapeño, and sausage = win
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
14,635
3,006
136
yeah well, you could roast, or why not, charcoal grill some peppers, aubergines and courgettes, but how much do you have to work for one pizza?

i make my dough the day before, stick it in the fridge; then it's fresh (hand shredded and squeezed) mozzarella, basil leaves (put them on the pizza when it's half cooked), oil, anchovies, and my homemade sauce.

homemade sauce (yeah, i know sauce is supposedly just raw blended tomato with oregano, but i like mine better) is a mirepoix of onion, celery and carrot, a little garlic, a little habanero. oil, salt and sugar. cook until well done (red and thick and very umami), then dilute slightly. stick blender to blend thoroughly.
cool before using.

also, i like to sweat a few mushrooms; just regular cheap mushrooms, sliced not so thin, place on paper, dust with salt.
wait 10 minutes then remove the salt and the water that has come out.

a good olive oil is essential; it doesn't need to be italian, as greek / spanish / maroccan oil is just as good, and doesn't have to cost a lot.

i use the cheapest mozzarella from tesco (47p each, less than a buck) and it works just fine.

i leave the oven on for 20+ minutes before i even consider sticking in the pizza.

mine HAS to be roman style, thin and with a little burnt black edge on the crust, and leopard spots on the bottom.
 

Gibsons

Lifer
Aug 14, 2001
12,530
35
91
My regular grocery store (CM Austin) has an olive bar, with about ~15 different olives, depending. Looks something like this:
cm-olives-2.jpg

But usually a little neater and fuller.

Anyway, if you say you don't like green olives, try some green castelvetranos. Get the whole ones, not the pitted, yes it matters. These pulled me away from kalamatas as my favorite. And I love kalamatas.
 
Last edited:

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,402
8,574
126
yeah well, you could roast, or why not, charcoal grill some peppers, aubergines and courgettes, but how much do you have to work for one pizza?
.

Roast the mushrooms in the preheating oven. Added work is about 30 seconds.

I'll note the irony of asking how much one should work for one pizza before launching into 7 paragraphs of the most complicated pizza ever.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
14,635
3,006
136
I'll note the irony of asking how much one should work for one pizza before launching into 7 paragraphs of the most complicated pizza ever.

because i wasn't hungry when i was typing that. and i wasn't near an oven and did not have a dough ball ready to accept my condiments. (hue)
 

Leyawiin

Diamond Member
Nov 11, 2008
3,204
52
91
I live in one of the biggest olive growing regions in the US. Hundred year old orchards all around my town. I hate 'em.
 

MongGrel

Lifer
Dec 3, 2013
38,466
3,067
121
Ahh, okay. I wasn't referring to the grease on top of the pizza for the water-logged, I was specifically referring to mushrooms coming from a can - they stay too moist & slimy, with very little flavor. Fresh mushrooms have much more flavor, and except on your pizza, usually don't take on that pale green color that they seem to develop in the cans.

Did you cook that pizza with raw sausage? That does seem like quite a bit of grease to be left over from the cooking process, but otherwise, does look like a reasonably tasty pizza.

Nah it wasn't raw.

I know better than that :thumbsup::thumbsup:

I think she took the oil from cooking the sausage and put that on there too.

I remember going up to upstate NY when we were getting married, we went to a local Italian bakery she grew up near and they were pulling out 4 X 8 sheets of pizza out of the ovens there the locals were lining up to buy.

It was like a sheets of plywood pizza almost, but was very good :p

People lined up there to get it, they did it one day a week.

I'd didn't seem the way they did it was really too thin of a crust for me and a hell of a lot of oil, but it was good pizza :)
 
Last edited:

MagnusTheBrewer

IN MEMORIAM
Jun 19, 2004
24,122
1,594
126
Olives, like pickles, come in a bazillion varieties. I urge all the black olive haters to make a trip to an Italian deli or grocery store and try some different varieties. You don't know what you're missing.