# Olives + pimiento = why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2004, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922 "2004-05-13T07:25:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/41 "2016-06-27T10:52:33Z")
Now I’ve got a craving for a pimento cheese sandwich. Had 'em all the time when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/42 "2016-06-27T11:18:36Z")
Using my historic newspaper databases, I first find “pimiento stuffed olives” appearing in the U.S. in 1897. The article says “They also sell a new and delicious preparation of pitted olives, stuffed with sweet Spanish pimientos which they call Pimolas.” I have no idea if they existed prior to this in Europe and were imported to the U.S. at this time. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/43 "2016-06-27T14:08:03Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Now I’ve got a craving for a pimento cheese sandwich. Had 'em all the time when I was a kid. Me too. I would especially love a grilled pimento cheese sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/44 "2016-06-27T14:12:25Z")
> [@The\_Green\_Feather](#): > > I’ve never heard of pimiento cheese. In fact I’ve never heard of any other uses for pimiento. Was pimiento invented just for olives, and southern sandwiches? Is it used for anything else, ever? Whenever I make a tuna casserole or Chicken à la King, I always dump in a small jar of pimientos. Deee-licious! ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/45 "2016-06-27T14:49:10Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > Why I wonder are black olives never sold stuffed? I can get green olives stuffed not only with pimentos, but with jalapenos, habaneros, garlic, various cheeses, almonds, and anchovies. I am particularly fond of blue cheese or anchovy ones in my martinis, although the others are nice, too. Black olives require a different processing, part of which is filling up the can(standard black olives are usually not often offered in clear glass containers) with an iron solution, which helps to preserve the color. Imagine a pimento-stuffed olive bobbing around in the stygian depths of a dark-colored liquid? Not too appetizing, IMO. Pity the poor pimento, though. Olives used to be stuffed with actual pieces of these mild peppers, nowadays many olives are injected with a pepper paste which simplifies production. Gotta’ love technology. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/46 "2016-06-27T14:49:25Z")
> [@pilot141](#): > > How did the pimiento become the de-facto standard stuffing for olives? Well, it _used_ to be the de facto stuffing for watermelon, but pimiento stocks were quickly depleted. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/47 "2016-06-27T15:42:11Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > If my olive is to be stuffed with anything, it must be something that is made out of food. Anchovies don’t qualify. Actually, this plays to my WAG as to why pimento became the default. It’s the lowest common denominator. All the other stuffings would be objectionable to someone, but pimento is pretty much completely neutral. I don’t particularly care for the blue cheese stuffed ones, and I LIKE blue cheese. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/48 "2016-06-27T15:46:15Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Now I’ve got a craving for a pimento cheese sandwich. Had 'em all the time when I was a kid. Out here in the west, good pimento cheese is hard to come by. WallyWorld had some, but then they switched to an inferior brand. ☹ I grew up on it, too. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/49 "2016-06-27T15:50:45Z")
I’m a big fan of blue cheese or jalapeno stuffed olives in my martinis. Three of them to be precise. When I was a kid, Dad and I would slice up green olives (with pimento) on toast and cover them liberally with old cheddar, then broil until bubbly as a late night snack. Yum! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/50 "2016-06-27T15:52:53Z")
\*Store-bought \*pimento cheese? Get a rope. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/51 "2016-06-27T16:01:06Z")
A basic recipe: 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise 1 (4-oz.) jar diced pimiento, drained 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp. finely grated onion 1/4 tsp. ground red pepper 1 (8-oz.) block extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, finely shredded 1 (8-oz.) block sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded Stir together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in cheese. Then you modify it to suit your family. Everybody’s grandmother had a different recipe. Mine, for example, would dump the onions for a touch of onion powder and add some garlic powder as well. You can play with the cheeses as well, so long as 1) sharp cheddar is the backbone, 2) it is _freshly grated_. Don’t use the shredded cheese in a bag from the grocery - it won’t turn out the same. I also add some of the juice from the pimientos to the mix. Ree Drummond adds a little adobo from canned chipotles to hers instead of the cayenne. the variations are endless. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/52 "2016-06-27T18:04:25Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Love olives and looking at those olives in the olive grove? Yeah, don’t eat them off the tree even if you _are_ heroically drunk. One of the top three worst things I’ve ever had in my mouth, and one of the others on that list is baby piss. Come on, you can’t leave us hanging like that. What’s the third one on the list? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/53 "2016-06-27T18:38:55Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > I’m a big fan of blue cheese or jalapeno stuffed olives in my martinis. Three of them to be precise. Three olives in a martini is preposterous. They take space away from precious, precious gin. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/54 "2016-06-27T18:51:13Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Three olives in a martini is preposterous. They take space away from precious, precious gin. Dig up the late actor, Jack Lemmon, and ask him about olives displacing gin in a martini. He wrote a paper in college on this very subject. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/55 "2016-06-27T20:11:23Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Come on, you can’t leave us hanging like that. > > What’s the third one on the list? My then-girlfriend’s hairspray. She was back-combing her hair after crimping it (we both had goth hair back then, 1986 or so), and I attempted an affectionate ear nibble at the same time she was doing the side I was aiming for. You don’t want to have hairspray marketed as “Mega Hold” pass though your mouth on the way to your lungs. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/56 "2016-06-27T21:07:34Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Three olives in a martini is preposterous. They take space away from precious, precious gin. See, I read that as three martinis. ---
**Author:** ![Haldurson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/51bf81/32.png) [@Haldurson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haldurson)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/57 "2016-06-27T23:33:29Z")
I remember that the first food service we had in college used to put pimentos in just about everything. After some investigation, it turned out that canned Pimento’s were cheap, and the someone at the food service decided to buy a damned mess o’ them, so they had to use them. Thus, we had Mac and Cheese and Pimento, Mashed Potato and Pimento, Corn and Pimento, etc. Fortunately, the students rebelled and we got that food service kicked out, and replaced with one that a student committee actually could set the menu for month to month based on a fixed budget. The new people were SOO much better and I can’t remember ever seeing another pimento in anything again. True story. It probably should have gone down in history as the great Pimento rebellion. I find Pimentos to be horrible tasting. It’s my theory that they are a foul plot to corrupt our precious bodily fluids. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/58 "2016-06-28T03:33:17Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > See, I read that as three martinis. Well, THAT makes a lot more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/59 "2016-06-28T03:36:25Z")
Pimientos from a jar ARE bland, compared to freshly roasted and peeled peppers. Which should be laid out on aa attractive platter, topped with good anchovies, drizzled with olive oil, and served with fresh Italian bread and chilled dry sherry. Or martinis. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922/60 "2016-06-28T07:35:38Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Which should be laid out on aa attractive platter, topped with good anchovies, drizzled with olive oil, and served with fresh Italian bread and chilled dry sherry. Little pickled onions go well too. Although personally I tend to prefer pinchos to porciones… the classic [banderilla](http://www.aceitunaslou.com/blog/la-gracia-torera-de-las-banderillas/) (the first tapa to get an official name) includes a little pickled onion, chunk of freshly-roasted red pimiento, pitted olive (can’t stick the toothpick through if it’s not pitted), guindilla (hot green pepper) and baby pickle or piece of pickle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-pimiento-why/244922.md?page=4)