Interesting Facts about Kalamata Olives
Kalamata is a variety of olive named after the city Kalamata in Greece where they were originally cultivated. Kalamata olives are a popular choice for table olives as they are quite meaty and preserve well in vinegar or olive oil. Kalamata trees have leathery, thin leaves that are twice as big as most olive tree leaves, white flowers during spring, and sweet, juicy green olives that ripen to black in late May. Kalamata olives are delicious paired with marinated feta or roast chicken and are an integral part of olive tapenade and traditional Greek salads.
How We Use Our Kalamata Olives
At Green Olive at Red Hill, we grow Kalamata olives for table olives on the menu at our Tasting Centre which we process using the traditional salt and water method. We also use Kalamata olives to make olive tapenade which we serve on both our olives dishes and Farm Platter and sell jarred in our Farm Store. Our Olive Tapenade is one of our most popular products! We harvest all of the olives in late May, depending on the season and the ripening of the fruit.
Greek Salad with Kalamata Olives
Ingredients
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 4 tomatoes, cut into wedges
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 1 green capsicum, cored and thinly sliced
- 150g Green Olive Kalamata olives
- A pinch of Green Olive Herb Salt
- 4 tbsp Green Olive Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 block of feta cheese (don't crumble, leave in large chunks)
Method
- Prepare the vegetables. Place the onion, tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum and olives into a salad dish. Season with Herb Salt to taste.
- Pour the exta virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar over the salad and toss. Add the feta cheese. Serve with crusty bread.
Recipe modified from the original by The Mediterranean Dish.
The other varieties of olives that we grow are Frantoio, Picual and Manzanilla, each labelled with coloured tags that are the same ones that were written by Sue’s grandfather, Cyril, when the olive grove was planted all those years ago. Check out the range of products we create using our farm grown olives:
