Blog

Tapenade was originally created in Provence, south of France, but has since become a major part of many different cuisines around the Mediterranean. Tapenade does not need to be used heavily to contribute olive flavours and consequently a small jar can go a long way.

Traditional olive tapenade is a thick paste made of the flesh of brined olives and a variety of other ingredients: traditionally anchovies, garlic, lemon juice and capers. It is usually served as an appetizer on crusty bread, biscuits or toast or used as an accompaniment to cheese. Woodlands Olive Grove tapenade is pasteurised but we do not use any preservatives, so please keep the jar refrigerated once opened and use within a month of opening.

[Click the photos to visit our Grove shop to buy]
  

Olive tapenade also makes an excellent accompaniment to grilled fish – a little paste spread onto the flesh of the fish before it goes under the heat - or spread on foccacia, bruscetta, or homemade pizza bases. Tapenade is the perfect way to pep up a pasta sauce or add that extra something to a casserole or stew.

Some other ideas include:

• Make a home-made pizza stand out using tapenade on the base and toppings such as sun dried tomatoes, artichokes, salami, black olives and a good mozzarella cheese.

• Stir a little black olive tapenade through a bowl of freshly cooked fettuccine for a simple but tasty sauce.

• Stuff some large tomatoes with tapenade and bake in a moderate oven. 

• Bake a breast of chicken rubbed with tapenade. Add thyme and a little goat’s cheese under the skin of the chicken

• Grilled whole fish such as bream - dotted with traditional tapenade

• Bake lightly a firm fleshed fish such as tuna, smeared with tapenade, in olive oil, white, garlic and fresh orange juice.