R E C I P E S

Tapenade (Olive Spread from Provence)

By Edward Behr

The world has seen plenty of tapenade, but maybe it hasn’t been said often enough that tapeno in Provençal means “caper,” and that the texture of tapenade should be smooth, whether from a mortar or food processor (the earliest recipe we have passes the paste through a sieve). I once thought tapenade — tapenado in Provençal — must be an ancient food, but J.-B. Reboul in La Cuisinière Provençale, which was published in 1899 and is the source of the first recipe, says tapenade was created by the chef Meynier at La Maison Dorée in Marseille. Reboul calls for 200 grams of olive pulp, 100 grams of anchovy filets, 100 grams of tuna, a spoonful of English mustard, and 200 grams of capers, then 200 milliliters of olive oil, a pinch of spices, “not a little pepper,” and “one or two little glasses of Cognac”! Richard Olney, in Lulu’s Provençal Table, his wonderfully collaborative 1994 cookbook about Lulu Peyraud’s cooking at home at Domaine Tempier in Bandol, wrote that her tapenade “is the simplest (no tuna, no lemon, no brandy, no mustard) I know — and the best.” Which didn’t prevent him from giving his own somewhat different recipe in another book. Recipes abound. Mine is influenced by one from the Provençal-speaking chef Guy Gedda. I’ve made the garlic optional, because it isn’t automatic and because raw garlic may appear repetitively elsewhere in a meal. In Provence, capers have a slightly peppery taste and are pickled, but I prefer the ones in salt, even in tapenade, because of their floral taste. Tapenade goes well with many things, including roast lamb or pork and grilled fish (served hot or cold), but the prime use is to coat bread or toast.

 

2 cloves garlic, optional

salt

1½ cups (200 gr) black olives, not wrinkled and intense, and preferably from Provence, pitted

⅔ cup (100 gr) pickled capers or ¾ cup (75 gr) capers in salt, drained if pickled or rinsed if in salt

a dozen salted anchovies, the filets cleaned of salt, stripped from the bones, and rinsed

black pepper

about ½ cup (125 ml) excellent, freshtasting olive oil

 

In a mortar, add the salt and, if you use it, the garlic, and pound it smooth. Add the olives, capers, and anchovies, and reduce them to a soft paste. Last, grind in some pepper and incorporate the olive oil a spoonful at a time.

Or in a food processor, combine everything but the oil, and reduce it to a paste, pausing several times to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Pour the oil in slowly, pulsing and scraping down as needed to ensure the paste is smooth.

Tapenade keeps well in a glass jar in the refrigerator for 2 weeks or more. Makes about 1½ cups (400 ml).


From The Art of Eating Cookbook

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