Olives like you get in Mediterranean markets

Apart from a good delicatessen the only olives I can find that are pretty decent are Aldi specially selected Kalamata olives. I find that they are a lot better than the bitter olives from other supermarkets.

Try Lidl. They had huge jars of , I think , Greek olives , when I was there last,

Olives (and similar food) NEVER taste as good as in Mediterranean markets, not does that bottle of yellow stuff you bought in Italy, the cheese you bought in France or the gingerbread biscuits you bought in Holland.
It’s called being on holiday.

You could try a good deli or a farmers market.

RosiesMaw2

Olives (and similar food) NEVER taste as good as in Mediterranean markets, not does that bottle of yellow stuff you bought in Italy, the cheese you bought in France or the gingerbread biscuits you bought in Holland.
It’s called being on holiday.

I know what you mean, but you must be able to get the really good ones somewhere. Probably Italian delis in London, or online I guess. I wondered if anybody had found different ones to those I can find. There’s certainly no shortage of them, plenty of choice, I’m just not keen.

Do you think some of the problem might be that we store them in the fridge here, whereas when you're served them in a restaurant abroad the olives are at ambient temperature and you can actually taste them?

I buy Nocellara olives. They are big and juicy and I've never had a bitter one.

I had two lots of terrible Nocellara tubs from the M&S chiller...
I thought the first was an aberration but won't buy those anymore.

Waitrose used to do fabulous Taggiasca ones in their No1 range but I can't get those anymore.

The Taggiasca were in jars - in case they have them in a Waitrose near you!

M&s garlic and pimento stuffed green olives in the deli section are delicious.

Thank you for the suggestions, I’ll try them all. Room temp is definitely the way to go, I leave them out of the fridge before a deli meal. Everything’s nicer on hols of course, especially in lovely weather, but I do think the standards have gone down. I’ve been buying them for decades, but I think they are not as good as they used to be. On the whole I think they are generally tougher and a tad bitter (bit like myself 🥴). Happy Christmas.

Sasta do come back if you find any lovely ones.
I have been finding that the "good" ones local to me aren't great to be honest.
The Castelvetrano (Nocellara del Belice) used to be reliable - but recently they have not been buttery at all.

I will indeed NotSpaghetti. I tasted my first olive from a market in France in 1988. I was hooked. I ate so many that first day, I couldn’t leave our accommodation all the next day. Enough said 🥴.

Sasta

Hello everyone. I’ve stopped buying the olives available to me locally, all the usual supermarkets. They are just…..not nice enough and many are bitter. I would love the delicious ones you can buy in vibrant markets in most Mediterranean towns. I’d welcome any suggestions please🤞🏼.

Try Olives et al. They are the best ever. From health food shops. There are lots of different ones. We currently h the Fennel & orange pitted mixed ones. Expensive but worth it.

Thank you Skydancer! I will.

I think the quality of the olives might well be related to climate change. Certainly the price of olive oil has rocked due to poor harvests?

Rocketed, sorry.

Yes. Not such a good year for olives apparently - but good for Brussels sprouts!

Casdon

I think the quality of the olives might well be related to climate change. Certainly the price of olive oil has rocked due to poor harvests?

Very good point. Although I’ve been finding them poor for a couple of years at least.

NotSpaghetti

Yes. Not such a good year for olives apparently - but good for Brussels sprouts!

Yes! The best in ages!

We grow a lot of olives round here and you can get them direct from the farms if you like but the supermarket fresh ones are also good. Calamatta olives, black ones, green ones etc. Worth coming to Australia for if nothing else 🌱Our climate is similar to Athens so I suppose that figures.