My younger daughter and I were discussing green olive fillings the other night. We had both noted that the standard pimiento filling didn’t work for us, mainly because the briny, strong olive flavor overwhelmed it so much. We then pondered other traditional olive fillings, and agreed that habanero did stand up to the olive, but was a mite too hot to enjoy more than one, or two at most.
We also concluded that almonds were nice, for a textural change, but that the flavor was usually lost on us there, too. We agreed anchovies held their own, but we’re not anchovy fans. Aged cheddar worked, but generally required at least 5 years of age to really please the palate. Bleu and goat cheeses can work nicely.
Then I hit on the idea of vegemite as a stuffing. Heck, I’ve still got nearly 2 kilos of it in my 2.5 kilo vegemite bucket! So we went to work, creating some vegemite-stuffed green olives.
And damn, in the right amount, it really does compliment the olive flavor, while standing up to it! Smooth, creamy, beefy, and yummy! Just don’t overstuff the olive with it, or the salt load will overwhelm. In a pitted olive I’d suggest keeping the vegemite volume to about 1/4 the available space, or less.
What do you like in your olives?