Last week NYC hosted the 23rd annual Spain’s Great Match event. The celebration, held at the IAC building, and hosted by the Spain Tourism Institute honors and showcases everything that makes Spain so special, from food to wine, and of course, the culture itself. The event, also the largest wine tasting in the U.S. featured dozens of various wine distributors who set up shop, allowing press and trade to sip, taste, swish, and taste some more. But it wasn’t just their extensive collection of wines Spain was showing off, but the many other fruits of their labor as well. Or in this case, the cheeses, condiments, and olives of their labor. Cue Olives from Spain.
The United States produces 65,000 tons of Olives (mostly black) and imports around 140,000 tons, with Spain as the main supplier, meaning the #1 olives eaten in the U.S are in fact, olives from Spain. Their growth relies on several factors other than just taste and versatility, including the rising trend of cooking with olives, and the Mediterranean diet. Hoping to expand on that growing popularity, a selection of varietals were displayed showcasing the many talents of the Spanish olive. This sampling of bites included an array of flavors, and preparations illustrated what makes olives so special and the many ways you can enjoy them.
A blending of salty, sweet, bitter and sour flavors makes them a perfect addition to so many dishes. Olives from Spain can be harvested, prepared, presented, and most importantly eaten in dozens of ways you may never have even known yourself. Their colors; green, black, or purple, depends on their level of ripening when harvested. Preparation can include a variety of marinades, and when it comes to presentation, the options are endless. They can be pitted, chopped, sliced, stuffed, seasoned, and more. But before I risk continuing and sounding like Bubba from Forest Gump, I’ll let your own imagination take over from here, as well as some visuals.
Some people may just be satisfied snacking on olives from the jar in their fridge. But after my experience at the event, I can never look at them the same way again, nor be happy with just a simple snack. How can you, after diving into a pool of all new flavors and experiences?
First bite: A cheese stuffed green olive, (which I may add was my favorite), garnished with two contrasting tastes, honey and apple.
The second bite: A blending of green olives with roasted red pepper, blue cheese and marcone almond for a slightly saltier, savory taste.
The final bite in this 3 course sampling was the prettiest by far. Ripe black olives offset by fruit to clean the palate.
Learn more about each varietal below and scour olive recipe ideas here
Click to learn more at OlivesfromSpain.com
This is a sponsored post with Olives from Spain. All ideas expressed and written are my own #ad
Views – 502
