I had a Greek salad last night and as I usually do, I just kinda avoided the olives. I’ve never liked the taste or the texture.
But about half the olives weren’t the normal shiny, patent-leather black olives I’m used to seeing in salads. These were sort of purple/brown, a little mushy looking and, when I tasted them, they were hyper-salty, olive-oily and wonderful…a little mushy maybe, but fantastic.
I must have more of them.
Any idea what kind they were?
Kalamata olives.
Yes, kalamatas. They are the most common olive found on greek salad of decent quality.
By the way, shiny black canned olives are the Kraft American Singles of olives. Welcome to the world of good olives.
For years I thought I didn’t like black olives. Turns out I just don’t like terrible black olives.
The only thing the shiny black “olives” were good for was to put on the ends of your fingers and chase your little brother arount the Thanksgiving table making monster noises. They went well with Cheez-Whiz-stuffed celery.
Thanks folks! I’m a gonna go out and get some kalamata olives today!
(And it’s good to know that the shiny black olives aren’t the default olive flavor 
)
They’ve become hugely popular the last couple of years. You should have no trouble finding them at any decent-sized grocery.