Alfonso olives (Botija)
South America’s big purple olive, cured in wine to pass for a Kalamata: good on its own, but not Greek.
The Alfonso is a large, deep-purple olive from Peru and Chile, where it is also known as the Botija. It is brine-cured in wine and vinegar, which gives it a soft, juicy texture and a sour, fruity tang — and a colour and shape strikingly close to a Kalamata. That resemblance is exactly why it is so often sold, around the world, as one.
- Origin
- Peru & Chile
- Also called
- Botija
- Type
- Table olive
- Colour
- Deep purple
- Size
- Large
- Flavour
- Soft, sour, fruity, winey
- Best for
- Snacking, salads, antipasti
A good olive with a borrowed name
On its own terms the Alfonso is excellent — big, tender, almost meaty, with a wine-cured sourness that fans love. South American olive growing is real and growing, and the Botija is one of its stars. The only trouble is the name on the jar.
Because the Alfonso looks so much like a Kalamata — large, purple, wine-cured, pointed — it is frequently sold simply as “Kalamata,” or used in “Kalamata” dishes, far from Greece. It is bigger and softer than a true Kalamata, and Peruvian, not from the Greek PDO region. A fine olive ; just not the one the label claims. See the great olive name swap.