gouda you’ve hit on the reason why I started this thread!
My revelation was jalapeno-stuffed olives, but I’ve also enjoyed the garlic-stuffed ones. Oh, yeah.
So, why, oh why are most olives stuffed with pimentos?
Pimientos come from a variety of red pepper (a mild form of chile pepper), which is ultimately of New World origin. The combination can’t have existed before Columbus’ voyages.
Green and red peppers are simply varieties of chili peppers that have been bred to lack most capsaicin, the hot element in chilies.
OK, somebody asked this on Google Answers, and there is at least some belief that it goes back to the 18th century in the Provence region of France:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=46892
(quote of a quote)
This doesn’t address WHY pimento stuffing became the most common, though.
Gotta try some of them anchovy stuffed ones.
Check post #10. 
The stuffings act as a counterbalance to the olive’s natural acidity.
I don’t think we are ever going to document the “Aha!” moment for stuffed olives, because the Romans were stuffing stuff with stuff since 749BC. Who knows when it first happened. But we now have documentation back to the 18th century at least.
I find this whole stuffing thing strange. It’s not easy to find just pitted olives without anything stuffed in them.
Why do people need anything in the olive? I tried a lot of the olives with the pimiento and I haven’t sensed any taste to the pimientos themselves but I did sense that the olive taste is very weak, probably because of that.
For one thing they spoil faster than either whole or stuffed olives.
OK, this is a response to a Zombie, but:
Olives are not naturally acid.
They are naturally bitter, and it’s only in the curing and flavoring process that they become acid, and not always then (think: Oil Cured black olives).
Moved to Cafe Society.
Note that this thread was started in 2004 and is well past it’s “Sell by” date.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
You’re just in the wrong country, they’re available pitted and without stuffing in Spain. They’re sold in plastic baggies, in cans, or in large plastic bottles which are generally then resold by weight; they last pretty much indefinitely so long as you don’t open the container and keep it in a dark place. The most common stuffing here is anchovies, pimiento is probably the second one.
And Colibri, only by 7 years :), the maximum official shelf life for foodstuffs being 5 years by law even if it’s not true in practice.
I’ve long assumed that part of the reason olives are stuffed with pimentos has to do with color. The bright red center provides a pleasing contrast to the dull green of the olive, and there aren’t many other foods I can think of that maintain that bright redness when pickled. In fact, the only ones I can think of are also peppers.
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.
Me, either. Plenty of varied stuffings for green olives; none at all for black olives. I mean, I’ve stuffed some at home, but AFAIK you don’t have any commercial ones. I wonder if it might relate to the fact(?) that black olives are somewhat more fragile than green olives.
AM - the wife prefers habanero-stuffed olives in her martinis.
This needs emphasized quite a bit. On holiday, an olive grove around the idyllic villa you are staying in? 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.
I’ve had habanero-stuffed olives, and yes, I knew what they were stuffed with before I ate them. They lived up to it, believe me.
Because the shadowy powers that be that make up Big Capsicum say so.
Nothing better than an anchovy-stuffed green olive in a perfectly-made dry martini. The salt-on-salt blast is a fine complement to the last sips of icy gin. Blue cheese stuffing is nearly as good, but not quite. The pimiento, it tastes of nothing. Garlic or habanero would overwhelm the delicious booze.
There used to be a cigar bar on Rush Street called Groucho’s, and they sold a delicious vodka martini with black olives, stuffed with salmon mouse. Man those were good. I miss that place.
I never thought much about the WHY, but ever since I was a little kid (so let’s say for the past 55 years or so), I thought the red-green contrast was pretty.
And now that I DO think about it, I suspect that the aesthetic component might be key.
If my olive is to be stuffed with anything, it must be something that is made out of food. Anchovies don’t qualify.
In the UK too, most olives are sold unstuffed but of those that are stuffed it is mainly green and the fillings used are the same as mentioned in this thread.
jalapeno-stuffed olives? Count me in! I have never heard of those but I’d probably like them.