Chargrilled swordfish with olive & caper salsa

Grilled swordfish is easy to overcook and easy to bore. A raw salsa of green and black olives, capers, lemon and good oil fixes both problems at once — salt, acid and fruit that cut clean through a rich, meaty fish.

Some sauces you labour over; this is not one of them. An olive-and-caper salsa is really a seasoned relish — chopped olives, capers, lemon zest and juice, parsley and a generous pour of extra virgin, left to sit while the fish grills. It belongs on anything firm and rich: swordfish, tuna, a thick fillet of oily fish, even grilled lamb. The whole trick is balance and timing, not technique.

Why olives and fish get along

Swordfish is dense, meaty and slightly sweet, and it dries out the moment you look away. What it needs alongside is not more richness but contrast: salt to season, acid to lift, and a little bitterness to keep everything honest. Olives and capers deliver all three in one spoonful. Using both a green olive (firm, sharp) and a black one (soft, mellow) gives the salsa two registers — a bright top note and a rounder base — instead of a single salty hit.

Building the salsa

Pit and roughly chop a good handful each of green and black olives — keep the pieces coarse so they read as olives, not paste. Add a spoon of capers (rinsed if very salty), the zest and juice of a lemon, a big handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley, and enough extra virgin olive oil to make it loose and spoonable. Taste before you reach for salt: between the olives and capers, you almost certainly will not need any. Let it stand an hour or two so the lemon softens the raw edges and the flavours marry.

Grilling the fish, and the finish

Brush the swordfish steaks with plain oil, season lightly, and cook them fast over high heat — a few minutes a side, no more, until just opaque through. Overcooked swordfish turns to cotton wool, so err on the side of underdone and let it rest. Spoon the salsa over at the table, off the heat, so the raw brightness stays raw. Keep a little good extra virgin back to thread over the top. That is the difference between a fillet with sauce and a plate that tastes composed.

Element	Do this	Not this
Olives	Both green and black, hand-pitted	One kind, pre-chopped from a tub
Chop	Coarse, so they read as fruit	Fine paste that disappears
Salt	Taste first — usually none	Salt on autopilot
Timing	Rest salsa 1–2 h; dress fish at the table	Cook the salsa or dress too early
The fish	Fast, high heat, slightly underdone	Long and slow until dry

Getting it right

• Use two olives — green for sharpness, black for body.
• Taste before salting; olives and capers carry the seasoning.
• Let the salsa rest so lemon can soften the raw edges.
• Undercook the fish a touch and spoon the salsa over raw, at the table.

Olive & caper salsa: common questions

What fish works best?

Firm, rich fish that stands up to a bold relish: swordfish and tuna are ideal, but a thick fillet of oily fish, or even grilled lamb, works beautifully too.

Do I need to salt the salsa?

Almost never. Between brined olives and capers there is usually plenty of salt — always taste before adding any.

Can I make it ahead?

Yes, and you should. An hour or two of resting lets the lemon soften the raw olive and caper edges and the flavours marry. Keep it at room temperature.

Green or black olives?

Both. A firm green olive gives sharpness and bite; a soft black one adds mellow depth. Together they give the salsa two layers instead of one.

How do I stop the swordfish drying out?

Cook it fast over high heat and pull it while it is just opaque, then rest it. Swordfish goes from juicy to woolly in under a minute of overcooking.

An original olives101 kitchen note on raw olive-and-caper salsa for grilled fish.