# Olives with pits in Greek salad **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-with-pits-in-greek-salad/732968 "2015-09-29T17:55:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-with-pits-in-greek-salad/732968/21 "2015-09-30T14:03:25Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Not sure if I’m parsing this wrong, but… > > You’re not supposed to remove the pits before inserting the olives into your face. You insert the olives, the spit out the pits. Do it the way you eat cherries. > > Olives with pits tend do tend to taste a lot better, IMO. > > Mmm… olives. Call me whatever, but I love sucking on a Kalamata pit once I chew off the flesh. Salt! ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-with-pits-in-greek-salad/732968/22 "2015-09-30T17:50:40Z")
Pitted kalamatas are an abomination! Since they’re long and thin, relative to the varieties used for the typical black or green olives, attempting to mechanically pit them results in heartbreak. You either lose too much flesh or the pitting process mangles the olive. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-with-pits-in-greek-salad/732968/23 "2015-09-30T18:13:54Z")
Yes, having to spit things out of your mouth is so classy. Are these also those places where you throw the peanut shells on the floor? Do they have a little spittoon next to your plate? I admit that I don’t really like green olives (too sour), but I have gotten them in salads on occasion, and they’ve always been sliced and pitted. Though I’ve never gotten a “Greek” salad–this was from salad bars. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-with-pits-in-greek-salad/732968/24 "2015-09-30T20:09:20Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > …Though I’ve never gotten a “Greek” salad–this was from salad bars. If you don’t eat Greek salads, why do you care if they come with pitted olives or a giant, unhusked coconut? Eating the olive flesh and then briefly sucking the pit is part of the joy of a Greek salad. The olives have pits, crabs have shells, fruit has seeds. Deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-with-pits-in-greek-salad/732968/25 "2015-09-30T20:35:00Z")
If I ever order a salad and it comes with an unhusked coconut on it, I’m asking for my money back. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-with-pits-in-greek-salad/732968/26 "2015-09-30T20:58:39Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Don’t know how strict a definition you are using for “spit”. I try to hit the waiter in the eye. 😉 > [@](#): > > I was taught to put the olive in my mouth, remove the fruit by biting through and peeling with my teeth (mouth closed, of course), then raise my fork back up- right against my closed lips, then gently eject the pit onto the fork, lower the fork and use it to place the pit onto the side of the plate. This sounds mighty complicated and specific. I guess I’ve never really paid attention to how I actually do it, but I’m pretty sure fingers are involved. Although maybe I should look into the finer points of pit-ejection etiquette, just in case I’m ever invited to having a Greek salad with the Queen. ---
**Author:** ![missouri65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@missouri65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missouri65)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-with-pits-in-greek-salad/732968/27 "2015-10-01T00:13:42Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > I try to hit the waiter in the eye. 😉 > This sounds mighty complicated and specific. I guess I’ve never really paid attention to how I actually do it, but I’m pretty sure fingers are involved. > > Although maybe I should look into the finer points of pit-ejection etiquette, just in case I’m ever invited to having a Greek salad with the Queen. The Miss Manners etiquette rule is that you remove food from your mouth the same way you got it there. If you’re eating with a fork, then back on the fork it goes: [Take Food Out the Way It Went In - Miss Manners | UExpress](http://www.uexpress.com/miss-manners/2010/9/23/take-food-out-the-way-it) I don’t remember ever getting an unpitted olive in a salad, but after this thread and how common it is, I’m assuming I have. Apparently it doesn’t bother me. I do get irritated when the vegetables aren’t sufficiently chopped, though. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-with-pits-in-greek-salad/732968/28 "2015-10-01T01:19:12Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > This sounds mighty complicated and specific. Not so complicated. Ship me a jar of nice kalamata olives, I’ll make a video of the technique and post it on YouTube.\* \*Not _totally_ a joke. I do not feel particularly inclined to post a video of myself eating olives, but if someone buys me a jar of olives and ships it to me, I _will_ post a video. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-with-pits-in-greek-salad/732968/29 "2015-10-01T01:25:59Z")
SO many filthy jokes come to mind… ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-with-pits-in-greek-salad/732968/30 "2015-10-01T12:01:29Z")
What nobody has mentioned is that with a properly cured Kalamata olive, the pit has separated from the flesh inside, so it’s trivially easy to remove the pit with the olive in your mouth using only your teeth and tongue. Most other olives aren’t that way (just try to do it with an unpitted Queen olive), which is why they have to be pre-pitted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olives-with-pits-in-greek-salad/732968.md?page=1)