The Olive Appetizer Platter (How to Build a Great One)
A really good olive plate is one of the easiest, most generous things you can put in front of guests — and one of the easiest to do badly. Here is how to build one that disappears.
An olive platter looks effortless because it is — but the difference between a sad bowl of one kind of olive and a board people graze at all night is a few small choices.
Mix colours, sizes and cures
The secret is variety. Put out at least three different olives: something green and crisp (a Castelvetrano or Gordal), something black and winey (a Kalamata or soft Gaeta), and something small and intense (a Nyons or dry-cured black). Different colours, sizes and flavours keep every bite interesting.
Warm them, dress them, surround them
Warm the olives gently in olive oil with garlic, citrus peel, chilli and herbs (see how to marinate olives). Surround them with the things that love olives: cured meats, hard and soft cheeses, roasted peppers, almonds, good bread and a dish of oil for dipping.
First: room temperature, always. Fridge-cold olives are muted and waxy; let them sit out an hour and they come alive. Second: warm them — even ten minutes in gently heated oil with aromatics transforms a jar of plain olives. And the warning: put out an empty bowl for the stones. Serve olives with their pits in (they taste better) and your guests will thank you for somewhere to put them. A great olive plate is mostly about generosity — pile it high.