Tapenade
Black olives, capers, anchovy and garlic pounded to a rough paste. Named for the capers — tapena — which everyone forgets are the point.
Photograph credit: Tapenade dans un mortier by Berenguier Duncan · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Capers give the dish its name and should be tasted in it, so they go in at a proportion most recipes undershoot — a good three tablespoons to 300 g of olives. Use olives from a jar or the deli counter rather than the black tinned kind, which are green olives dyed with iron gluconate and taste of nothing. Pound rather than blitz if you can; a processor gives an even, slightly bitter purée, where a mortar leaves texture.
Questions About Tapenade
How long does Tapenade take to make?
15 minutes of preparation and of cooking, plus 30 minutes of standing, so allow 45 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 8.
Tapenade: Step by Step
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Check the olives for stray stones. One will break a tooth or a blade.
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Pound the garlic, capers and anchovies to a paste in a mortar, or pulse briefly in a processor.
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Add the olives and work them in, keeping the mixture coarse. Stop while you can still see pieces.
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Stir in the mustard, lemon juice, thyme and pepper.
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Work in the olive oil a spoonful at a time until it is a thick, spoonable paste.
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Add the brandy if using, which rounds the salt off.
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Taste before adding any salt — the anchovies and capers usually make it unnecessary. Leave 30 minutes before serving.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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A Few Pointers
- Real olives, not the dyed tinned kind.
- Three tablespoons of capers. They are what it is named after.
- Keep it coarse. A smooth purée turns bitter.
Swaps and Variations
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
Pairs Well With
Toasted baguette · Crudités · A glass of rosé
Leftovers and Storage
Refrigerated under a film of oil for up to 4 days. It freezes for 3 months.
The Numbers per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. The calories include 1 g of alcohol a serving, which is not part of the protein, carbohydrate or fat. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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