Tapenade

History of similar dishes

Olive-based dishes with anchovies or vinegar are ubiquitous in Italian cuisine, documented in ancient Roman cookbooks dating back more than a thousand years before the appearance of the Occitan word tapenade. One of the earliest known of such Italian recipes, Olivarum conditurae, appears in Columella's De re Rustica written in the first century AD. Cato the Elder (234–149 B.C.) also includes a recipe for epityrum, an olive spread very much like a tapenade, in chapter 119 of his On Agriculture. The use of capers is the hallmark of recipes for tapenade.

Sometimes tapenade is confused with New Orleans olive salad, a critical component in the New Orleans sandwich the muffaletta. New Orleans olive salad is more properly called a giardiniera. It also does not contain capers, but does contain cauliflower, carrots, and celery.

Preparation

The base ingredients of tapenade are olives and capers. The olives (most commonly black olive) and capers are chopped finely, crushed, or blended. Then olive oil is added gradually until the mixture becomes a paste. In various regions tapenade is often flavoured differently, with other ingredients such as garlic, herbs, anchovies, lemon juice, or brandy.

Serving

Tapenade may be used as part of an appetizer served as a topping on crusty bread or crudités. It may be used as a condiment, as well. Tapenade is also used in preparing fish dishes.